Small Laundry Room Wallpaper Ideas

We don’t actually have a separate laundry room. Our laundry is unfortunately part of our kitchen, and therefore a place that we see ALL the time. This the before and after of our laundry area.

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Before we made over the laundry closet it looked like an out of control dumping ground for cleaning supplies (and everything else). Our house doesn’t have a lot of storage.

Our approach for improving the look of the laundry was to simplify. We removed storage and just gave the area a cleaner look. The steps we took to simplify our laundry area are below.

Step 1 – Remove everything including the shelves

This seems counter-intuitive to remove storage in a house with so little storage. But here’s what you should consider when you are organizing or condensing storage.

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• First rule: Get rid of anything you have not touched in a year. I wish I had the discipline to put a piece of tape on every item I touched, but I used memory recall instead. About half the things stored on these shelves are things I don’t use regularly.
• Second rule: Consolidate duplicates and throw away or donate the excess supply. For example, we had two bottles of wood cleaner, both half full. Those can be combined. We also had several detergents that I had tried but didn’t like. Why do I continue to store those? I felt bad throwing cleaning supplies away, but why? Why keep stuff you don’t like to use?

Step 2 – apply peel and stick wallpaper

I have never tried using peel and stick wallpaper before and I felt like it’s a two man job. I called my trusty handyman, Grant, to help (get my tips for finding a great handyman here).

You shouldn’t feel bad about asking for help. My husband REALLY hates doing this kind of work and I enjoy doing it with my handyman more than I would my husband.

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I found this vintage looking peel and stick wallpaper on ETSY from Decoworks. See the inspiration photo below. This seller delivered really fast and I love the quality. There are some amazing peel and stick papers available at on Amazon (see my favorites below).

The peel and stick wallpaper is like contact paper. You start at one of the top corners and pull the backing off about half way down. I didn’t resurface the wall. It has a light texture, but it was smooth enough.

It’s actually easy to put up, it’s just very slow. You have to keep pressing it flat and pushing out the air pockets. We tried using a Squeegee, but it was easier with a wash cloth just to press a small area at a time.

You can apply peel and stick paper if you live in an apartment because it peels right off without removing any of the wall texture.

step 3 – paint the cover to the fuse box

I wanted to try and make the fuse box cover disappear into the wallpaper. I used Rust-Oleum flat black spray paint. We used two coats.

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step 4 – replace the dryer vent hose

We had the typical shiny silver dryer vent hose. Unfortunately the hole for my dryer is up above the top of the washer so the hose visible. I got a thicker black vent hose on Amazon that blends in so much better than my shiny one.

step 5 – Add shelving on the side

I still needed some storage to put the essential laundry supplies. I have bi-fold doors, but they are rarely closed. I thought storage on the side would be so much easier to hide.

As a short person, this side storage is also a lot more accessible for me. I have a storage rack in my closet from the Container Store (but it’s pretty pricey). I found this door storage unit on Amazon for a lot less.

redo your laundry on a budget

If your laundry room is a source of frustration for you, it doesn’t have to cost a lot to give it a complete overhaul. Most of what you hate can be fixed, possible with just some paint and a little bit of purging.

You can find creative ways to get storage that might meet your needs better.