When staging a home, utilitarian areas like a laundry room are often overlooked in favor of more ‘glamorous’ rooms, such as the kitchen.
But they shouldn’t be.
Putting effort into staging a laundry room is a great opportunity to further romance the buyer by giving them the sense that even the worst chores are enjoyable in this immaculately clean and organized home.
It’s one of those details that separates amateur efforts from professional results – and it’s the kind of technique covered in a home staging certification program.
Why bother Staging the Laundry?
The laundry is one of those areas of the house that can be easily overlooked when staging. After all, not many people want to spend time there.
The same goes for closets – another space buyers always check, but stagers often skip. Our home staging tips for closets can help you make those overlooked areas work harder for the sale.
But the truth is, most people visit the laundry at least once a day. And when they do visit, it is often begrudgingly to do a chore they don’t always enjoy.
With a bit of home staging magic, you can stage any laundry room to make this chore a little more pleasant. Not all laundry has to be messy, damp, smelly areas where the family throws their dirty clothes.
Steps for Staging a Laundry Room
Step 1: Cleaning
As with the rest of the house, cleaning is the first and most important thing you can do.
This is beyond a quick wipe-down or even a thorough cleaning for a visit from your mother-in-law.
Start by removing everything from the cabinets and shelves and wiping them down inside and out. Pull out the washer and dryer from the wall, remove all the old lint, lost socks, and old dryer sheets. Wipe down the walls and clean out the dryer vent before putting the appliances back in place. Be sure to dust all the walls in the space – laundry rooms tend to be extra dusty due to all the lint.
Next, scrub your appliances. Magic erasers work wonders in getting those unsightly black marks off the finish. Then dust the baseboard and sweep and mop your floors.
Now look around, does anything need touch-up paint or repairs done? Now is the time to take care of those chores.
Step 2: Organizing
Giving potential buyers a sense of calm is partially accomplished through organization.
Go through the items you removed from the shelves and cabinets, keeping only the essentials such as laundry detergent and softener or dryer sheets, and an ironing board.
If you find the decluttering process overwhelming – especially across the entire house – our ultimate decluttering checklist can help you tackle every room systematically.
If this is where you store your cleaning supplies, keep only a few and make sure they are in attractive containers. For example, laundry detergent can be transferred to a glass drink dispenser with a spout. Dryer sheets can be removed from the box and stored in a small basket. Household cleaning products can be neatly stored in labelled glass spray bottles and kept in a pretty cleaning caddy. The ironing board should be covered in a cute fabric and either stored away or hung from pretty hooks on a convenient wall.
If this is a large laundry area, leave an attractive (empty) laundry basket in the space.
Step 3: Decorating
Now that the space is immaculately clean and ruthlessly organized, it’s time to bring in the décor.
The beautified supplies are already part of the décor. If there is plenty of storage space left, you can add other laundry items like scent booster beads, borax, and laundry pods in glass containers to the shelves or cabinets.
However, do not fill up the space. You want the feeling that there is more than enough storage space without it feeling sparse and empty.
A cute laundry-themed sign hung on an open wall space, a simple rug, and a cute bottle of hand soap by the sink, and the laundry room is staged.
Step 4: Creative Staging
Sometimes laundry areas are in out-of-the-way corners, like a basement or a garage.
This challenge isn’t unique to laundry rooms – spaces like home offices often share the same problem. Our guide to staging a home office covers similar strategies for making small or awkward spaces feel intentional.
Often, they don’t have cabinets, shelves, or a way to organize necessary items. In cases like this, creative staging is the answer.
Bringing in shelves or cabinets is great, but sometimes the area isn’t conducive to larger furniture.
A very small portable kitchen island, a couple of cute rolling carts, or even a small table can be solutions to such logistical problems and bring a sense of a dedicated, organized laundry area to an otherwise awkward space.
Staging a small laundry room doesn’t need to be stressful – there are hundreds of ideas and inspiration photos available online.
Step 5: Ambiance
Once the space is clean, organized, and decorated, the final step is setting the right mood.
Small sensory details make a surprising difference here. Place a lightly scented candle or a reed diffuser on a shelf to add a fresh, pleasant aroma to the room. If there’s a window, make sure it’s clean and let in as much natural light as possible. Add a simple Roman shade or café curtain if the window needs softening.
Good overhead lighting matters too; if the existing fixture is harsh or outdated, swapping it for something warmer and more modern is a quick win.
The goal is to walk into the laundry room and feel that it’s a calm, functional space rather than a forgotten corner of the house. When a buyer opens that laundry room door and feels a sense of order and care, it reinforces the impression that the entire home has been well looked after.
