5 Ways to Make your Laundry Room a Selling Feature

Too often, home sellers feel compelled to hide their laundry room, rushing to close the door during a showing or even putting up a “Do Not Enter” sign. Change this habit by making your laundry room a selling point for your home, not a low point.

Here are five tips to selling your laundry room (and, of course, the rest of the house too).

Work Space

The laundry room is for getting laundry and other utility work done, so provide the space to do it! This doesn’t mean you have to renovate and create an entire room devoted to the act of laundry; a hallway installation or combined bathroom/laundry area can still incorporate this tip. Create designated spaces for the tasks you normally perform in the room. Obviously, laundry is a big one, so set apart spots for sorting, folding, and hanging dry.

Consider built-in hampers or hamper storage for separate loads. A built-in counter on top of front-loader washers and dryers is the perfect place to fold clean, warm laundry. If your space is more constrained and you have a stacked set, look into a pull-out shelf that rests between the two machines to serve as a folding area. While bulky, expandable drying racks are the usual option for drying your delicates, consider a more refined and sleek built-in option. Whether you opt for a retractable clothesline, a hanging bar between cabinets, or a drop down rack, your potential buyers will appreciate the ease of air drying clothes in the laundry room, instead of over the backs of all the kitchen chairs.

If your laundry room is larger, consider adding in a desk or island with seating. This can serve as a small home office, craft room, or homework area.

Storage, Storage, Storage

Having a place to put everything for an activity as “thing-intensive” as laundry is worth big bucks. Installing custom cabinetry or shelving around the laundry machines and throughout the room instantly adds value and will better meet a home buyer’s needs. Just be sure to incorporate the new shelving with the style throughout the rest of the house to give it a cohesive, original feel. If you opt for the current trend of open shelving, be sure to stage it with attractive bins or baskets and organized supplies. Another creative place for storage is underneath the washer and dryer—pedestals can offer large pull-out drawers that can fit bottles of detergent and other washing accessories.

Durability

Your laundry room is one of the most used rooms in the house, so make sure it can endure the constant motion. Choose materials for floors, counters, and backsplashes with durability in mind. For the floors, never install carpet—it will absorb moisture and become odorous and discolored. Instead, go with a hard material such as hardwood, tile, or even pressed or stained concrete. For the countertops and backsplashes, choose a durable tile or stone. Aluminum can also be a fun, industrial alternative. Natural stones such as granite and marble are beautiful, but be sure have a sealer applied so they don’t absorb stains. Sometimes a nonporous material such as quartz is better.

Landing Zone

If your laundry room also serves as an additional entry to the home, create a landing zone for your family as they come and go. Install cubbies and hooks for backpacks and school supplies. Create a place to store coats and other weather-related clothing. The most important zone is for shoes: prevent shoes from wandering around the house by having a boot tray for muddy and wet footwear, along with shelves for additional shoes and slippers.

A Dash of Design

Last but not least, these tips would not be as effective without a little design and style thrown in. Tie in the changes in your laundry room with the rest of your home’s aesthetic to create a unified look. Along with other staging techniques, be sure the styling is appealing to a wide range of buyers. Add small touches of personality with pattered bins, small potted plants, jars of clothespins and other cute laundry supplies, and fabrics. Add a tasteful window treatment, or install a small curtain to hide any exposed under-sink area. You can change out light fixtures to more fashionable pendants, chandeliers, or a close-to-ceiling light. Making your laundry room a comfortable place will introduce buyers to the idea of doing their own laundry here, in their new home.

These five tips will help your laundry room become the star of the show, selling your home in a flash. But maybe after these changes, you’ll just want to stay and do laundry forever. Either way, enjoy your new, improved, and ultra-useful laundry room.

Author Byline:

Nina Hiatt researches and writes articles to help people find balance and beauty in their personal space through landscape and interior design. She also assists in finding reliable, trustworthy companies to work on client homes, from Calgary plumbers to California roofers. In her free time, Nina blogs about many of her interests, which include gardening, technology news, and baking.