How to DIY Install Modern Classic Laundry Storage

This post is about the remodel of a small laundry area within a small bathroom. The whole bathroom and laundry area are getting a full modern classic remodel. I just finished the full height subway wall tile and bathroom/laundry floor tile with some fun brass accent inlay pieces. A black bathroom pocket door with a full length mirror is really elevating the space. So now let me show you how I remodeled the laundry area and added some modern classic laundry storage.

But first, here are the before photos of the bathroom and laundry.

The laundry is to the left of the door. Here is what it looked like when we first toured the home.

This is the old storage shelving above the washer dryer. It was functional but very cluttered looking and dirty.

The water heater is to the left of the tub/shower, along the wall with the washer and dryer. Thankfully the water heater is in good shape so we’ll keep it. But it doesn’t look very good so I plan to find a nice way to hide it.

Dryer Vent and Water Line Updates:

The first part of creating some modern classic laundry storage is to streamline the washer dryer situation. There was originally a hole in the floor (what? who does that?) for the dryer. I guess it was easier that way, but I did not want a hole in my new tiled floor. So one of the first upgrades I made to this laundry remodel was add a recessed wall dryer box for the vent that connected through the wall to a dryer vent line in the crawlspace and then out the side of the house.

Here is the new and improved wall dryer vent. You can find the recessed dryer vent wall box at Home Depot or Amazon.com.

The floor is red from RedGard waterproofing before I laid the floor tile. I figured why not add the waterproofing while I could.

You may also notice the water supply lines are now recessed in the wall. That gives just a little more space and flexibility behind the washer. I needed two separate wall boxes – one for the water supply and one for the washer drain because they are separated by a wall stud. Otherwise, most go with single recessed wall box that has all of those in one.

Washer Dryer Upgrade:

I upgraded the washer and dryer to, in my opinion, some very pretty front loading machines from GE. I chose this washer and dryer because:

1. They look good and fit in the overall look of the bathroom and laundry remodel.
2. They have good reviews online.
3. You can switch the way the door operate, meaning if you want them to open on the opposite side, you can change those out. I need that option because the washer dryer setup I have it opposite from the standard layout of the dryer on the right. I have the dryer on the left instead, and it’s too tricky to change that. So I want to be able to switch the way the doors open to each other and make laundry transfer easier.

Laundry Countertop:

Next, I want install a butcher block countertop over the washer and dryer so I have a platform to fold laundry. I plan to stain the butcher block a warm stain to bring some more warmth and natural tones into the otherwise very white bathroom.

However, washer and dryer units are typically deeper than a standard 24 inch deep countertop that you would find in a kitchen. So it was a bit challenging to find a deeper butcherblock. Thankfully, I found a perfectly sized tabletop from IKEA. It came in unfinished birch butcherblock that worked great at the time. Unfortunately, it’s no longer in stock, but this one is the same size and comes already finished. It is 31 1/2 inches deep. That works great with the 32 inch deep washer and dryer.

The countertop will rest on wall ledges and one removable leg near the water heater. Here I am using a laser level to set the wall ledge level and about 1/2 inch above the washer dryer units.

You can see the ledge for the countertop along the wall sections. It is a simple 1×2 nailed into the wall studs.

I tested a lot of different wood stains on the unfished birch. Here are my test patches on the underside of the table top. Those metal support rods come with the table top and are only on the underside.

I really like the warmth and a bit of sophisticated darker stain in the middle. That is what I ended up using. It is Carrington stain by Varathane.

Yeah I stained the full underside of the table top even though you wont’ really see it. Then I stained the top and protected everything with a few coats of polyurethane before setting it in place over the washer dryer.

Here is the stained underside with those support bars that came with the tabletop.

Laundry Storage Design Visualization:

Next, let’s add some modern classic laundry storage above the washer dryer area. My main criteria for storage is as follows:

1. Some cabinet space for cleaning supplies, soap, and miscellanous items that I want out of sight.
2. Open shelving for easy to grab towels and linens.
3. A simple way to hide the water heater while still allowing access.

Here I am testing out some layout options with blue tape. You can see I’m thinking of a cabinet on the left and shelves toward the right. I think I might create a shelf over the water heater. It is electric so it does not have vent to the roof like I’ve seen with gas water heaters. This will make it a lot easier to hide away.

I like the visual balance of an upper top shelf aligned with the top of the wall cabinet. Here it is visualized in blue tape. Maybe I won’t store much on that top shelf, but I think it will complete the look.

Install Modern Classic Laundry Storage:

I want to make adding this laundry storage as easy as possible so I will be using a premade wall cabinet and premade floating shelves from IKEA. However, I will be adding a custom wood shelf/platform over the water heater made from primed wood and plywood.

I want all my whites to match, so I primed the IKEA Cabinet and shelves with Zinsser primer and painted them a semi gloss Ultra Bright White by Behr from Home Depot in Scuff Defense for extra durability. This the same paint I will use on the doors and trim in the house. I love design consistency and using the same white will help bring the room designs together.

Here is my make-shift indoor painting station for the IKEA parts.

Here is the installed wall cabinet. Once I had that in place, I very carefully measured to place the support brackets for the floating shelves so that they lined up perfectly against the cabinet and so the bottom of the shelf lined up with bottom of the cabinet.

Here are the installed bottom shelves! They line up great! I also added a cool modern handle on the cabinet door. It is a Hackas handle from IKEA. I will also use these pulls on the bathroom vanity and in other places around the house for design consistency.

Now let’s move on to the custom shelf above the water heater. You can see I framed out the area with 1×2 primed boards that are nailed to the wall studs. The board that spans between the wall sections is connected to the IKEA shelf so they move together. The primed plywood platform is ready against the washer and dryer.

Here is the finished platform over the water heater. I decided that, yes, I do want one more shelf to align with the top of the storage cabinet even though I probably wont store much up there. I think the visual line will complete the look. So here is the final setup for the upper shelf.

With all the shelving in place, I caulked the joints where the shelving meets the wall and gave everything a final coat of paint. This removes any visual gaps and makes the storage look professionally installed.

That’s my completed modern classic laundry storage! Do you like it?

Oh, one last thing. To hide the water heater I added a white faux wood window shade that fit the width of that opening perfectly. I can pull those shades up and hop over the laundry counter if I need to access the water heater control box. Yes, that tabletop counter is removable if I need to get full access to the water heater as well. Notice the rabbit towel hook on the wall? It adds a bit of brass and a fun touch.

This is a quick video showing the window shade at work.