It was gross, recalls designer Hannah Kiemel. Her basement laundry room, which featured old, uneven laminate flooring, a lack of natural light, and dated square sink was the opposite of what she envisioned her dream set-up to be. “It was not a fun space to do laundry in,” she says. 

The Grand Rapids-based designer, who started her business, Leigh + Co Interiors, in 2020, aimed for a colorful, clean laundry room with accessible storage. Learn how she created a modern look on a budget.

Pick a Color Palette

Orange accent lights were the the starting point for this bold laundry room. She then went with Semihandmade Quarterline fronts in Agave as a perfect contrasting hue.

“I hadn’t worked with Semihandmade before, but liked the Agave because it’s not too bright. It’s a chameleon color. Some people think it’s green, but it also looks blue,” she says. Plus, she liked Quarterline’s minimal, modern edging. 

Cost-Saving DIYs

Kiemel went to school for interior design before going on to work for architecture and structural engineering firms, but yearned for her own creative outlet. “It’s been a big learning curve as I’ve only been in business for two years now,” she says. 

To further brighten up the room, she first removed the laminate flooring and painted the concrete with Backdrop’s Harajuku Morning. “There was so much glue and we had to pour self-leveler over the whole floor before we painted,” she says. “That decision was two-fold because we could DIY it, it was budget-friendly, and the white paint adds to the brightness of the room.”

For the countertops, butcherblock, a cost-friendly DIY, was a way to bring warm wood into the design, while putting together the IKEA bases and Semihandmade fronts was easy. “I would definitely recommend Semihandmade, and they have great literature on how to install,” she adds. 

Simple Changes

A stacked washer and dryer and new sink allow for plenty of storage room, while she added floating shelves and a hanging rack from West Elm. White ceramic tile from The Tile Bar is a simple, airy backsplash, while a new window, which Kiemel says was a must-add for better lighting, complete this budget remodel. Overall, she spent just $8,000 to get her dream laundry room.