How we built a Small Laundry Room in a Closet

This small laundry room in a hallway closet made great use of a previously unusable space.

When we moved into this house two years ago, the upstairs hallway was awkward and not used for much. The laundry room was also in the basement which meant hauling all laundry up and down two flights of stairs. Exactly one year ago I made over our reading nook for the One Room Challenge, but at that time I didn’t share the laundry closet. We finally purchased a washer and dryer and now the laundry closet is complete!

I won’t get into too much detail about how we constructed the closet, because every home is different, but here it is explained in six steps. First we demoed the old linen closet. Then we had a plumber hook into the existing vent and the water lines from the bathroom next door. We also had an electrican run a hookup all the way up from the basement. Then we framed out the new closet, concealing the vent line. Next we added drywall and taped and mudded it. The we finished the project off by adding the door that we had taken out of our bedroom and building a faux shiplap door for the other side. To build the faux shiplap door I followed this tutorial.

We paid the plumber and electrician around $500 for their work, the rest we were able to do ourselves with materials we already had! The new washer and dryer were around $1000. For around $1500 this space was SO worth it. The hardest part of it all was I was measuring so precisely so that the reading nook would fit by it’s side. I was SO relieved when it all fit together! There isn’t ANY extra room anywhere!

In the closet next to the washer and dryer we wanted to be sure there was room for a mini fridge. It’s so nice to have a place to keep bottled water and refrigerated vitamins. This closet also holds laundry baskets and laundry supplies.

We actually haven’t even used this washer and dryer yet because we still need to vent it out of the house! Venting should be pretty simple though, we’re just going to vent straight from the dryer to the front of our house.

Here’s a look from the reading nook at the new small laundry room… or laundry closet, whatever you want to call it! 

Here’s a reminder of how far this space has come! I hope that this post has inspired you to reimagine spaces in your home and think outside the box! Thank you so much for stopping by today!