Washed-out to Wow!

For three laundry rooms in residential buildings mid-town and downtown, it was time to give a fresh look to some washed out spaces.

A laundry room, often overlooked despite being a vital amenity seen by nearly all the residents, can say a lot about the building itself in terms of visual appeal, accommodation, and more importantly, functionality.

In most buildings the laundry room is more often in a dingy space in an obsolete corner, installed with the mindset for mere practicality. With this in mind, my goal was to change this focus so that residents would be able to enjoy their laundering experience in a comfortable and warm environment.

The before pictures of the downtown and midtown laundry rooms

The plan for the two mid-town sister buildings was to freshen up their closed and stark-white industrial look with neutral colours. We started renovations by knocking down the dividing walls within the laundry room to open up the space. With the additional space, we were able to install large tables in the centre of the room where tenants could fold clothes.

Similarly, the building downtown followed suit with the founding neutral palette; we switched out the out-dated chicklet flooring for long wood grain tiles that continued up a feature wall. But of course, even traditional neutral schemes can always use a pop of colour! Seeing as how the building is mainly occupied by university students, we installed a youthful papaya coloured wallpaper in the lounge area. The mid-town buildings also shared a splash of colour with a feature wall tiled in a modern green. If ever they tire of the accent colours, it can be easily changed out.

To add more interest in the otherwise blank walls, we included some key art pieces. The building downtown was finished with classic black-and-white photographs in gallery frames, whereas the mid-town buildings were gifted with bold full-wall murals of serene water scenes. As part of the movement to make the destination of the laundry room more inviting, we re-vamped the lounge areas with comfortable seating and accent tables for a look that says "idle a while" for residents waiting on loads to finish.

Finally, the space was dotted with custom finishes that tie in with the modern aesthetic. This came in the form of custom millwork that doubles as a large folding table as well as chic recycling centres. I also designed new signs that are non-institutionalized, and further act as artwork as they are printed on acrylic panels.

Now the residents of the building have a modern and practical space hat has turned the tides of drab laundry rooms!