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If your laundry room is located in your unfinished basement, you might hate doing laundry because of how ugly it looks. Never fear, there are a lot of ways, many of them very easy, to spice up your unfinished laundry room.  From painting to lighting and storage, we’ve got lots of unfinished basement laundry room ideas for you to consider. 

1) Paint the Floor

One great idea to brighten up your unfinished basement laundry room is to paint the floor.  Painting a concrete floor is quicker than laying down tile or linoleum but still requires some work.  The concrete must be cleaned first and for the best look, you can repair cracks with a liquid cement crack filler.  Check this out for a step by step guide on painting concrete floors.

2) Paint the Ceiling

Another way to add some color to your laundry room is to paint the ceiling.  You can paint it the same color as the floor for a uniform look, or paint it a totally different color.  The choice is yours. If your basement is unfinished, chances are the floor joists supporting the upper floors are exposed.  To learn how to paint an unfinished basement ceiling, follow this link.

3) Laundry Room Rug

Once you’ve painted your floors and ceilings, you can also purchase a laundry room rug to spice up your basement laundry room.  Not only that, but laying a rug down over the concrete will protect your knees, feet, and back, giving you something soft to stand on while doing your laundry.  Click here to find a wide selection of laundry room rugs.

4) Decorate The Walls

Wall decorations are a great way to add flair to your unfinished basement laundry room.  You can hang signs on the walls announcing the purpose of the room as pictured here.  If you have nearby laundry bins to separate your clothes, you can hang signs over them to let the other family members know which color clothes go in which bins.  Your options with wall decor are limitless.

5) Lighting

Your basement laundry room needs to be well lit. There are a lot of different ways to hang lights from overhead exposed floor joists. You can hang light fixtures from the joists by drilling directly into them if they are wood, or clipping the fixtures to them if they are steel.  The simplest and cheapest way to add lighting is to hang rope lights from your joists.

6) Curtains

Hanging curtains can serve a lot of purposes in your unfinished laundry room.  They can be hung to separate the laundry room from the rest of the basement or to mask other areas of the basement from the laundry room.  Is your water heater right next to your washer and dryer? Hang a curtain to hide it. Need to separate your basement storage shelves from the laundry room?  Hanging curtains will do the trick.

7) Purchase a Folding Table

Nothing makes things easier in the laundry room than a folding table.  A big flat surface that can be used to fold and stack laundry.  Depending on how open your basement floor plan is, you can find folding tables in all shapes and sizes, from simple utility tables, to tables with built in shelves for storage and bins for dirty clothes.

8) DIY Over the Washer and Dryer Folding Table

If your space is limited, consider building a folding table that will frame your washer and dryer.  This will give you a nice flat surface over the washer and dryer and take up less space in your basement.  Building one yourself is super easy if you have a little know-how. Check out this homeowner who built her own out of plywood.

9) DIY Folding Table and Storage Shelf

If you have more space in your basement, here is a link to a DIY article that will give you instructions on building a standalone folding table with storage shelves.  Built out of plywood, table legs and a butcher block countertop, it not only provides a nice area to fold your clothes, but it also has side shelves to store your laundry necessities and room for laundry bins underneath.

10) Slim Rolling Cart

Another DIY idea for storage in your unfinished basement laundry room is a slim rolling cart that will fit snugly in between your washer and dryer.  Putting it on casters means that you can store items on lower shelves and roll the cart out for easy access. When stored in between your washer and dryer, those lower shelves are hidden away.

11) Hanging/Drying Rack

Of course, every laundry room needs a hanging rack to dry clothes.  Free standing closet organizers can be purchased from Amazon in several different sizes and styles.  These are not only a great option for hanging clothes, but many of them have shelves that can be used to store laundry detergent and other cleaning supplies.

12) ​​DIY Drying Rack

Here’s a great idea for a drying rack.  This designer has hung a wooden ladder from the ceiling.  The wooden ladder can then be used to hang drying clothes.  This is an easy install with exposed floor joists over head.  Instead of having to use drywall anchors, you can simply drill directly into the floor joists.

13) Pegboard Storage

This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone.  Installing pegboard on your unfinished basement walls is not only a great way to hide the walls but also a great way to store your laundry necessities.  As you can see here, it’s possible to hang almost anything from pegboard; baskets for storage, an ironing board, dirty clothes bins, and even decorations to liven up the laundry room.

14) Hanging Racks

If floor space is limited, you can always hang storage racks from the ceiling.  Prebuilt racks like the ones pictured above have a bonus in that they allow you to hang clothes underneath as well as store things on top.  Of course, it is also possible to build your own hanging shelves, giving you more flexibility in the number of shelves you need and how low you want them to hang.

So, there you have it, our 14 Unfinished Basement Laundry Room Ideas.  Hopefully we were able to inspire you and show you how easy it can be to add a touch of class or efficiency to your basement laundry room.  Whether it be hanging storage, better illumination, or just a simple color change with paint, there are a lot of ways to improve the look of an unfinished basement laundry room.

What do you think?  Did we hit all the bases, or did we leave something out?  Leave a comment and let us know!


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