Surprise! This Lavender Laundry Room Is the Kids’ Favorite Hangout

You know you’ve nailed a laundry room renovation when it’s even the kids’ favorite space. “When their friends come over, this is the only room I find them in,” says Kourtney, designer Mindy Gayer’s recent client in Cosa Mesa, California—with music blasting and paper-bag puppets everywhere, of course. The main priority, however, was always to create a full-on command station for the mom of three. She needed somewhere for cleaning supplies and craft storage, plus a designated place to fold clothes; the laundry room’s current spot in a utility closet just didn’t cut it.

That somewhere ended up being a spare bedroom on the second floor, now a shade of lavender that’s nearly the exact same color as Kourtney’s childhood bedroom. “My hope is that if the room is conveniently close to the kids’ rooms, they’ll someday do their own laundry!” the mom explains. Here’s how Gayer pulled off the transformation.

Treat Violet as a Neutral

The original plan was to paint the room, including all the millwork, a subtle gray-blue. But Kourtney couldn’t get the idea of lavender out of her head. “It was the color I painted my teenage bedroom when my parents gave me free rein on design choices,” she explains. It’s grounded by a checkered terracotta floor tile, and Gayer insists the shade—Eagle’s View by Dunn- Edwards—can act as a neutral.  

Double-Team It

With three rambunctious children under 13, dirty clothes pile up quickly. Kourtney needed not one but two washer-and-dryer sets. The team chose to stack each pair side by side—washers on the bottom, dryers on top. “I can sit there and toss colors into one and whites into the other,” Kourtney explains (she prefers to sort everything on the ground). When it’s time to dry delicates, a custom rack pulls down from behind the sink, keeping the floor clear for that next load. 

Call It a Wrap

Despite its primary intention, laundry is probably the least frequent thing that happens in the room. Two desks let Kourtney answer emails while simultaneously supervising homework. The three rods above a counter-height table hold wrapping paper for the near-constant birthday parties her little ones attend.

Keep It Closed Off

“My cupboards are filled to the brim with brightly colored ribbons, beads, glue guns, you name it,” says Kourtney. “I love to craft.” And sleek closed storage will always look neater than color-coded, open shelving. If she needs to reach the tippy-top shelves, where she puts her more seasonal materials (think: tinsel and holiday-only wrapping paper), she just stands on her desk chair. The floor-to-ceiling storage is worth the stretch.

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