Add at least on shelf large enough to hold wash baskets.

Do your really need to store all that water in your laundry room? Could it go on a shelf in the garage?

Better lighting on the left side.

Shelves above the appliances for detergent, etc.

My one or two things would be to change out the floor and convert that wall of shelves to some nice white cabinets. And paint the walls and ceiling. Does paint count toward my one or two 😜? It’s cheap and impactful.

I also think you could save a ton of money by not doing the skylights and just installing some really good lighting.

I love all of these ideas-Thanks for the fresh perspective! Yeah-Definitely tackling shelves and the floor!

*Taking out middle horizontal shelf to make room for laundry baskets.

*Painting as much white as possible (yeah painting is quick and cheap so that doesnt count :) then

*Adding water bottle holders like these below the shelves

and white cupboards to hide them. Kinda convienient to keep them there since the cooler is just around the corner.

Would love to do lighting to-but it will have to wait until later-gah! fluorescents. Thanks everyone :D

Post pictures when you’re done - your before and after will be awesome!!

Trust me-will do, it can only go up from here! haha

I would convert that wall of shelves to cabinets -- everything behind closed doors. And yes make sure at least one of the shelves in the cabinets will accommodate laundry baskets. You might also consider leaving one portion of the cabinets shelf-less and instead install your hanging rack inside the cabinetry to get it all out of your face as soon as you open the door. I

I'm all for efficient maximization of space, so to me I just see wasted wall space that can be put to use -- if you change the washer to a front-loader, you can put a counter on top of the machines, and then cabinetry above that. Maybe something like this (minus the sink portion). You can store you laundry supplies in the cabinets right above the machines:

Or do non-pedestaled and just a counter and bank of cabinets above, something like this:

I used Wallpops floor tiles to make a very striking and budget-friendly change to my MIL's laundry closet. I'll share photos later.

Would you please add photos of the washer wall and the clothes rod wall?

yep just a bunch of coats and clothes (could prob get rid of 70% of them) and one lonely cabinet. Not sure why the one wall is plastic-every other wall in this room and in the house (1920’s mountain house) has had plaster or wood paneling and we have replaced everything with drywall-was saving this room for last since we spend the least amount of time in it. They will be drywall eventually so I’ll hold off on the extra cabinet work until then. In the meantime might see what paints/wallpaper would adhere to it and definitely put covers around the plumbing. There is a really akward jog in the wall behind the dryer too -which is why I’ve kinda just focused more on the wall that you see the most from the door.

Thanks for additional photos. The room has three purposes at the moment: storage for water bottles and other bulky things (sleeping bag, vacuum, paper towels, etc.), clothes storage (on clothes rod) and laundry. Here are some comments:

1- I agree that adding the water bottle racks would be the first priority. They can go conveniently to the right of the entrance where the hanging clothes racks are.

2- Remove the 70% of clothes that you say you can get rid of. Can the remainder go in regular closets elsewhere?

3- Take everything else out to declutter unused things. Many of us have a stash of "dog towels" that we use frequently for cleanup, but sometimes this stash needs weeding out with extras donated to the local veterinarian or animal shelter.

4- Try using a towel bar to hang things that need extra attention before washing that you are not quite ready to tackle. It gets those things off the floor, out of the baskets, and off the tops of the washer and dryer.

5- An alternative laundry method that keeps the area clear of "pending" laundry is to bring only one load of laundry to the laundry area at one time. For example, one load of sheets, not all the sheets in the house, is brought in and started in the washer. When you move that load to the dryer, bring in the next load for the washer. For clothes, this method means using good size laundry hampers or existing laundry baskets in each bedroom. Sort the darks and lights before you bring one or the other to the laundry room.

6- Removable wallpaper or large colorful artwork can cheer up a room.

Here are some good examples: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/bold-wallpaper-brings-color-and-fun-to-the-laundry-room-stsetivw-vs~80779095

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I agree with a lot of the suggestions above. Paint will go a long way. I removed my laundry cabinets and bought some simple semi inexpensive Ikea wardrobes to hold coats and towels and cleaning supplies. For $500, my laundry looks so much brighter and is much more functional. I like the idea of a fun wallpaper on the plastic wall. Maybe some simple peel and stick flooring for the short term.

First you need to just eliminate the clutter, and, secondly you might want to consider making it brighter in there. I agree that some things are best kept behind closed doors and at least one cabinet would be good, but those shelves look pretty darned sturdy!

If you are keen on keeping those things hanging there at least zip up the jackets and straighten it all out and hang it neatly. What is hanging there looks like a mix of things stored and things just hung from the dryer.

Those hanging storage things are always much less efficient than you expect them to be. That looks like stuff that needs to be in the dresser drawer or just gotten rid of. Whatever is in there does not seem to justify that hanging there.

It seems that what advice and opinions that you might get about what to do depends on if you are looking for it to be an image of a Houzz photo shoot or if you just want it to be more pleasing for you.

Declutter, paint and maybe add a cabinet, or not. You just need to store the stuff on the shelves in a much neater manner.

I find that one rule that works to make spaces easier to keep clean is to keep things off the floor, even the laundry baskets. I will bet that all of that stuff that is on the floor would ft nicely on the shelves and it looks as if there could be more shelving added to that.

You are not overloaded with stuff in this room. It just needs to be stored neatly .

It looks like it might be best to add cabinets instead of the shelving, and perhaps make it into a mudroom area as well since there is storage for clothing. Here are some of our laundry room designs that might help aid you in deciding how to help your laundry room:

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