The laundry room is the most underdesigned room in most homes — and honestly, that’s the opportunity. Because it’s a small, contained space where your clients spend real time, it’s also the perfect place to take risks they might resist in a living room. Bold wallpaper. Colored cabinets. Pattern on the floor. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
1. Moody Botanical Wallpaper That Changes the Whole Room
If there’s one move that has the biggest impact for the lowest square footage investment, it’s dramatic wallpaper. Dark botanical prints — think oversized tropical leaves, moody florals, or lush jungle-scale patterns against a deep background — are having a major moment, and laundry rooms are the perfect testing ground.
Dark floral wallpaper on a black or deep green background paired with white cabinetry and brass hardware is the combination showing up most consistently in the projects getting saved and shared right now. The contrast does the work — the wallpaper reads as bold, the white cabinets keep it livable.
Designer-approved pairings:
- Moody botanical wallpaper + white shaker cabinets + brass pulls
- Dark floral print + matte black cabinetry + black marble countertop
- Jungle-leaf pattern + warm wood open shelving + terracotta tile floor
What to specify: Look for Type II vinyl-coated wallpaper or peel-and-stick options rated for high-humidity environments. Mitchell Black, Rifle Paper Co., and Tempaper all offer laundry-room-appropriate finishes.
Pro tip: If you’re papering a tight space, go full coverage — four walls, even behind appliances. Half-hearted wallpaper in a small room reads as an afterthought. Commit to it.
2. Jewel-Toned Cabinet Colors That Make the Room Feel Designed
Cabinetry color is the single fastest way to communicate intentional design in a laundry room. White and off-white are fine; they’re just not memorable. If your client is open to bold, here’s what’s working right now.
Colors gaining traction in 2025–2026:
- Forest green / deep olive — grounded, organic, pairs with brass and natural wood. Sherwin-Williams Ripe Olive (SW 6209) and Benjamin Moore Backwoods (469) are both strong choices.
- Bright blue / teal — energetic but still livable. This Denver laundry room by Ashley Christensen of Lindy Design Build used blue-green cabinets with palm-pattern flooring and gold hardware — one of the most-saved laundry rooms of 2025.
- Navy — sophisticated and easier to sell to hesitant clients than darker options. Moody blue cabinetry paired with polished hardware and glossy subway tile reads sharp and elevated.
- Black — especially matte black, which allows futuristic or high-end appliances to disappear into the design. This Chicago-area project by M House Development used a two-tone black and cream cabinet scheme to achieve exactly this effect.
What to specify: For painted cabinets, use a cabinet-rated alkyd or waterborne alkyd paint — Benjamin Moore Advance or Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel — in a satin or semi-gloss finish. The humidity in laundry rooms requires a harder film than standard wall paint.
3. Encaustic and Moroccan Tile Floors That Do the Heavy Lifting
If your client’s laundry room is too small for major cabinetry or wallpaper investment, the floor is where bold pays off most. Patterned tile on the floor reads as a design decision immediately — and it costs roughly the same as plain tile once you factor in installation.
Encaustic cement tile is the workhorse of the bold laundry room. The geometric patterns — stars, diamonds, interlocking shapes — are handmade and slightly irregular in the way that makes them feel authentic rather than mass-produced.
Moroccan-pattern tile brings an artisanal, bohemian quality. Dave Fox Design Build in Dublin, Ohio layered green cabinetry, tropical wallpaper, and Moroccan tile flooring in a laundry room that became one of the most-shared projects on Houzz this year.
Penny round tile is having a genuine revival. The small circular format creates texture and movement underfoot, tricks the eye into making narrow spaces feel wider, and the contrast grout option (dark grout with white tile, or vice versa) makes each tile pop.
Black and white checkerboard never actually goes out of style, and in a laundry room it reads as retro-chic rather than dated. Pair it with a vintage-style utility sink and aged brass hardware and you’ve got something that will photograph well for years.
What to specify: For laundry room floors, specify a slip-resistant surface rating (R10 or higher for wet areas). Encaustic cement tile needs sealing before and after grouting. For penny rounds, order extra — mosaic sheets can vary between production lots.
4. Geometric Wallpaper for High-Contrast Drama
Not every client is ready for a botanical jungle — but geometric wallpaper is a slightly more restrained path to the same impact. High-contrast black and white patterns in particular create editorial-level drama without the commitment of color.
A Phoenix mudroom and laundry room project by McIntyre Development used square-dotted tile flooring paired with a black-and-white dotted stripe wallpaper for a graphic, high-contrast scheme. A farmhouse sink and arched pet door completed the space — functional details given style context by the bold graphic backdrop.
Patterns that work in small spaces:
- Vertical stripes (elongate the room visually)
- Small-scale diamond or ogee patterns (add texture without overwhelming)
- Graphic checkerboard or houndstooth (strong but balanced)
What to specify: In a room with a washer and dryer, steam and humidity are real factors. Avoid traditional paper wallpapers. Pre-pasted vinyl or peel-and-stick with a moisture-resistant backing are the safer specifications.
5. Color-Drenching: One Bold Color, Everywhere
Color-drenching — painting or finishing every surface in the same shade, walls, cabinets, trim, and ceiling — is one of the most effective ways to make a small laundry room feel like a considered space rather than a leftover one.
When everything is the same color, the eye stops measuring the room and starts reading it as a whole. A deep forest green room feels immersive and intentional. A dusty terracotta room feels warm and Mediterranean. Even a saturated navy room reads as a deliberate design statement rather than a space that couldn’t decide on a direction.
Colors that work for full-room drenching:
- Forest green — Sherwin-Williams Ripe Olive or Benjamin Moore Backwoods
- Deep terracotta or clay (pairs with Japandi-adjacent styling)
- Slate blue (cooler and calming; works well with brass)
- Charcoal (creates a moody, spa-like feeling)
What to avoid: Avoid very dark colors in basement laundry rooms with no natural light — the effect shifts from moody to oppressive. In windowless spaces, go one or two shades lighter than your first instinct.
6. The Statement Backsplash Behind the Sink
If wallpaper feels like too much commitment and tile floors are cost-prohibitive, the backsplash behind a utility or farmhouse sink is a contained, lower-risk place to go bold.
Zellige tile — the hand-glazed Moroccan ceramic with slight variation in color and surface — is particularly effective in small doses. Even a 24″ x 18″ backsplash in a rich teal or cobalt reads as a designer detail.
Large-format patterned tile used as a single-row backsplash creates a strong visual without requiring square footage.
Mixed mosaic tile — small diamonds, triangles, or medallion patterns — turns the backsplash into an art moment. Mercury Mosaics’ fish scale tile is a specific product that consistently photographs beautifully in laundry spaces — and they have a full laundry room tile guide worth bookmarking.
What to specify: Backsplash tile in a laundry room needs to be water-resistant and easy to wipe down. Glazed ceramic and porcelain are both fine. Natural stone should be sealed. Avoid unglazed matte finishes directly behind a sink.
7. Two-Tone Cabinets: Upper and Lower in Contrasting Finishes
If a client wants interest but isn’t ready to commit to a single bold color throughout, the two-tone cabinet approach is an effective compromise — and it’s showing up consistently in the most-shared laundry room projects right now.
The most common execution: Upper cabinets in white or cream, lower cabinets in a saturated color. This grounds the room visually (darker color at floor level reads as stable) while keeping the ceiling-adjacent surfaces light.
A less common but stronger execution: Invert it — color on top, white below. This is more unexpected and works particularly well in rooms with lower ceilings, where the visual weight at the top draws the eye up.
This Chicago-area project by M House Development used black upper cabinets and cream lower cabinets, with a dark stone countertop and mosaic tile floor — a combination where the appliances (also black) essentially vanished into the design.
Hardware note: Two-tone schemes depend heavily on hardware consistency. Pick one finish — brass, black, or brushed nickel — and use it everywhere. Mixed hardware in a two-tone room reads as unresolved.
8. Vintage-Inspired Retro Details That Feel Fresh
The laundry room is one of the few spaces where a retro aesthetic lands without feeling costume-y. Vintage-style utility sinks, checkerboard floors, and mid-century cabinet hardware all read as design choices rather than The laundry room is one of the few spaces where a retro aesthetic lands without feeling costume-y. Vintage-style utility sinks, checkerboard floors, and mid-century cabinet hardware all read as design choices rather than nostalgia in a room that’s inherently utilitarian.
Specific details worth specifying:
- Apron-front farmhouse sink in white or fireclay — adds vintage weight to the room
- Exposed pipe in matte black — industrial but intentional
- Vintage-style toggle light switches — a small detail that reads loudly
- Retro-label organization jars in matching finishes on open shelving
For wallpaper, mid-century pattern prints — geometric, low-frequency designs in terracotta, avocado, or mustard — are increasingly available from Rifle Paper Co. and Tempaper. These give a vintage feel without requiring vintage sourcing.
9. Mixed Material Floors: Pattern + Texture Together
The boldest floor treatments combine more than one material or finish within the same space. This is more advanced from a specification standpoint but creates a genuinely custom result.
What this looks like in practice:
- Encaustic cement tile in the main floor area with a penny-round tile border or transition strip
- Herringbone wood-look porcelain transitioning into patterned cement tile at a threshold
- A single bold tile material used as a focal “rug” area in the center of the room with a complementary border tile around the perimeter
This project by Ashley Christensen of Lindy Design Build in Denver used a showstopping palm-pattern floor tile with gold accents, a gold-veined quartz countertop, and brass hardware throughout — a room where every material was in deliberate conversation with the others.
Installation note: Mixed materials require careful coordination of grout line alignment and transition strips. Specify this in the design documents before installation begins.
10. Lighting That Treats the Room Like a Real Room
BoldBold design ideas lose impact if the lighting stays utilitarian. A single overhead fluorescent fixture negates whatever tile, wallpaper, or cabinet color you’ve introduced.
What to add:
- A statement pendant over a utility sink — even a simple ceramic or rattan pendant shifts the room’s register entirely
- Under-cabinet LED strip lighting — useful and atmospheric; makes the countertop and backsplash tile visible in a way a ceiling fixture doesn’t
- A wall sconce near a folding station — reinforces the idea that this is a designed room, not just a utility space
Look for pendants rated for damp locations if the laundry room has a sink. IP44 or higher ratings are appropriate for rooms with regular moisture exposure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use bold wallpaper in a laundry room? Yes — and a laundry room is actually one of the best places to do it. Because the space is small and often used solo, it can handle pattern and color that might feel overwhelming in a larger room. The key is to use wallpaper rated for high-humidity environments, such as vinyl-coated or peel-and-stick options with moisture-resistant backings.
What cabinet colors are popular for laundry rooms right now? Forest green, navy, deep blue-green, and matte black are all strong choices in current laundry room design. Two-tone combinations — color on lower cabinets with white or cream on upper — are also gaining traction as a way to add interest without full commitment to a bold color throughout.
What tile works best for bold laundry room floors? Encaustic cement tile, Moroccan patterned tile, penny round tile, and black-and-white checkerboard are all strong choices. For a laundry room floor specifically, look for slip resistance ratings of R10 or higher, especially in rooms with a utility sink. Cement tile should be sealed before and after grouting.
Is it a mistake to use dark colors in a small laundry room? Not necessarily. Dark colors used intentionally — especially in color-drench applications where walls, cabinets, and trim all match — can make a small space feel immersive rather than cramped. The exception is basement laundry rooms with no natural light, where very dark colors can tip into oppressive. In those cases, go one shade lighter than your first choice.
How do I make a laundry room look more expensive without a full remodel? The highest-impact low-investment moves are: replace cabinet hardware with a consistent finish (all brass, all black, or all brushed nickel), add wallpaper to a single accent wall or full room, replace overhead lighting with a statement pendant, and add under-cabinet lighting above the countertop. These four changes can substantially shift how a laundry room reads without touching the cabinets or floor.
Haus & Hōm is an interior design and styling resource for people who care about the rooms they actually live in — not just the ones they photograph. Browse the full archive for more room-by-room design thinking.