Laundry Room Design in Phoenix: How to End the Clutter for Good

Written by Lorrie | Jul 27, 2026 9:40:36 PM

In This Article | Hochuli Design & Remodeling Team In this article

Why buying more bins never fixes a cluttered laundry room, and the question that does.
The one move that unlocked a full wall of storage in a real Phoenix laundry room.
What a laundry room actually costs here, from a $5,000 refresh to $50,000 and up, and what moves the number.
Which features do the real work, whether to stack the machines, and how little space you really need.

Laundry Room Design · Phoenix

Laundry room design in Phoenix, in one answer

A laundry room works when every task has a home. Sorting, washing, drying, folding, and putting away each need a dedicated spot, or the work ends up on the floor and on top of the machines. The fix is to design the storage and the counter space around how your family actually uses the room, not around where the plumbing happens to sit today.

In the Phoenix area, a laundry room runs from about $5,000 for a refresh that leaves the machines where they are, to $50,000 or more for a full build-out with new cabinetry, counters, a sink, and a mudroom entry from the garage.

Here is what the room actually looks like on a Tuesday.

There is a basket on the floor because there is nowhere else for it. There is a folded stack on top of the dryer that has been there since the weekend. The detergent, the stain stick, the dryer sheets, and a box of light bulbs that ended up in here for no reason are all sitting out on the one flat surface in the room. The door does not open all the way.

And every few months you decide to fix it, so you buy more bins.

The Real Problem

Why don't more bins fix a cluttered laundry room?

Because the problem was never a shortage of baskets. It is a room that was never designed to hold the work that happens in it.

Most laundry rooms in Valley homes were drawn as an afterthought. A builder found a spot where the plumbing was convenient, set two machines against a wall, hung a single shelf above them, and called it a room. Nobody asked where the dirty clothes would wait. Nobody asked where the clean ones would get folded. So those things happen wherever there is space, which means they happen on the floor.

A bin does not change any of that. It just gives the pile a container and moves it six inches to the left.

Storage you have to look at is not really storage. A well designed laundry room hides the work. It does not put it on display.

How We Work

How do you design a laundry room that actually works?

You start with a different question than most people do. Not "where can I put more storage," but "what has to happen in this room, and where does each of those things live?"

Answer that honestly and the layout almost designs itself. This is how our lead designer works through every laundry room we build, and it comes down to three steps.

List the tasks, not the products. Sorting, washing, drying, folding, hanging, putting away, plus whatever else this room absorbs in your house — the dog, the recycling, the shoes at the garage door. Every family's list is different, and the list is the brief.
Give each task a place. Hampers go where clothes get taken off or dropped. The folding surface goes next to the dryer. Everyday supplies go behind a door at eye level. Once each task has a home, the clutter has nowhere left to land.
Settle it on paper, before anything is built. Where the drain sits, where the gas line runs, how deep the counter is, which cabinet holds the hampers. These are cheap decisions during design and expensive ones after the tile is down.

That third step is the one people skip, and it is the one that costs money. Moving a drain on a drawing takes a minute. Moving it after the room is finished is a different project.

What Earns Its Place

Which laundry room features do the real work?

A few things show up in almost every laundry room we design, because they solve a problem the room actually has rather than filling a wall.

Feature	Why it earns its place
Pull out hampers	Built into the cabinets, so sorting happens as you go instead of in a pile on the floor. This is the single feature that does the most to keep the room clear.
A utility sink	Hand washing, soaking a stain, filling a bucket, rinsing something you would never put in the kitchen sink. Adds a plumbing line if there isn't one, which is why it belongs in the design conversation and not the punch list.
Drying racks	Flat and hanging. Air dry clothes have to go somewhere, and without a rack that somewhere is the back of a door or a chair in the bedroom.
Open cubbies	For the grab and go items you reach for every load. Behind a door is right for most things; a few things are faster in the open.
A dog wash station	With a handheld sprayer. Worth planning around the dog you actually have — a low threshold for a big one, a raised basin so you are not bent over a small one.
Cabinetry that holds up	This room takes abuse from water, heat, and detergent. We routinely spec Belmont for the mix of build quality and finish options.

The Decision That Matters Most

Should you stack the washer and dryer, or leave them side by side?

In a small or average sized laundry room, this is usually the decision the whole design turns on. Two machines side by side consume a run of wall that is the only place real storage could go. Stack them and roughly half that wall comes back.

It is a trade, not a free win, and the trade is the flat surface on top of the machines that a lot of people fold on today.

	Side by side	Stacked
Wall space used	A full run, typically most of one wall	Roughly half of that run
Storage you get back	Little to none on that wall	Enough for cabinets on both sides of the stack
Folding surface	The machine tops, if they are front loaders	Has to be designed in elsewhere, usually a counter
Loading height	Comfortable for both machines	The upper machine sits high; worth checking in person
Best for	Rooms with a spare wall for storage, or a top loading washer	Small rooms, closets, and any room where storage is the actual problem

If you have never loaded a stacked dryer, stand in front of one at a showroom before you commit. It is a small thing that people either do not notice or notice every single day.

The Cost

How much does a laundry room remodel cost in Phoenix?

Between about $5,000 and $50,000 or more. That is a wide range, and the width is the honest part, so here is what actually decides where you land.

Around $5,000 is a refresh. The machines stay where they are, the plumbing does not move, and you are updating cabinets, counters, paint, and fixtures. At $50,000 and up you are building a room rather than updating one: relocated machines, new plumbing, a full wall of custom cabinetry, a sink, storage lockers, and a mudroom entry from the garage folded into the same footprint.

Note that the size of the room matters far less than how much you change about it.

What moves the number	What it involves
Moving plumbing or the gas line	The biggest single driver. Relocating the machines, or adding a sink where there never was one, means new supply, new drain, and often new venting.
How much cabinetry	Usually the largest line item by dollar. Three feet of cabinets and twenty four feet of cabinets are very different projects in the same room.
Counter material	Granite, quartz, or a laminate top. A laundry counter is small, so the material choice moves the number less here than it would in a kitchen — but it still moves it.
A pet washing station	Its own basin, its own plumbing, its own tile and waterproofing. A real scope item, not an add on.
Tiled walls	Labor and material above the counter or in the wash station. Nice, and optional.
Folding in a mudroom entry	Lockers, a bench, hooks, durable flooring, and often a wider opening from the garage. This is the change that most often takes a laundry project to the top of the range.
Ways the number comes down	Leave the machines where they are, reduce the run of cabinetry, or skip the sink. Each of those saves real money and gives up something you may want back later.

If the laundry room is one piece of a bigger project, see our whole house remodeling page for how it folds into the larger scope.

A Real Project

One Phoenix laundry room, before and after

A few years back we remodeled a laundry room for a family here in Phoenix. They knew the room was cluttered and they had no idea where to start organizing it. That is almost always how this call comes in.

The washer and dryer sat side by side and ate an entire wall, which left almost nothing for storage. So we stacked them. That one decision freed up the space the room had been missing the whole time.

The layout of an actual Phoenix laundry room we remodeled. Stacking the machines is what unlocked the storage.

From there it came together fast. We added three feet of cabinets on each side of the stack, with pull out hampers along the bottom and hanging space up top. Down the left side as you walk in, we ran eight feet of storage cabinets and open cubbies. Along the right side, eight more feet of base and upper cabinets, a sink and faucet, and granite counters.

Same footprint. A completely different room.

The homeowners were blown away by how organized and efficient the space became. Nothing about the room got bigger. It just finally got designed.

Machines stacked, not side by side 3' of cabinets on each side of the stack 8' of storage and cubbies, left wall 8' of cabinets, sink and granite, right wall

Not one square foot was added to the room. Every bit of that storage came out of the wall the machines had been sitting on.

Two Questions We Get Constantly

How much space do you really need?

Less than you think. Small rooms often gain the most, precisely because stacking the machines is available to them and it is usually the single move that unlocks the room, exactly as it did in that Phoenix project. Even a former closet can hold a hamper system, a folding surface, and a wall of cabinets once the machines go vertical.

For general planning proportions and clearances, the National Kitchen & Bath Association is a useful starting point. But proportions are not a plan, and a room that meets every guideline can still be a room you fight with.

Should your laundry room double as a mudroom?

If the door from the garage is where your family already drops everything, then yes, and it is one of the best moves available to you. The mess is already happening there. Combining the two gives it somewhere to land: lockers or cubbies for each person, a bench, hooks, durable flooring, and the laundry right where the dirty clothes come off.

Two things to know before you commit. It is the change most likely to push a laundry project toward the top of the cost range, because it usually means more cabinetry and sometimes a wider opening from the garage. And it only works if the traffic pattern is real — if nobody in your house actually comes in that way, you have built a very nice room that no one uses.

You can see more finished rooms in our project galleries.

What Clients Say

Don't take our word for it

Phoenix area homeowners have been writing about what it is like to work with us for years. You can read our reviews on Google and judge for yourself.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

An excellent experience working with the Hochuli team on our home addition, which also included a complete kitchen remodel. They are very organized and communicate super well. Everyone who came to our house was professional and kept us in the loop as the project was being built.

Jerry

Phoenix Addition & Kitchen Remodel

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

We fell in love with our Paradise Valley home, but it was outdated and needed serious upgrades, and we were overwhelmed by how much work that was. Calling Hochuli was the best thing we ever did. They made the process so easy from start to finish, and handled everything for us. We will definitely be using them again for our next big project.

Alex F.

Paradise Valley Whole-Home Remodel

Common Questions

Laundry room questions, answered

Straight answers. No runaround.

Roughly $5,000 to $50,000 or more. A refresh that leaves the machines and plumbing where they are, updating cabinets, counters, and fixtures, starts near the bottom of that range. A full build-out with relocated machines, a wall of custom cabinetry, a sink, and a mudroom entry from the garage reaches the top of it and past it. The biggest single driver is whether plumbing or the gas line moves.
In a small or average sized room where storage is the problem, almost always. Stacking gives back roughly half the wall the two machines were using, which is usually enough for cabinets on both sides. The trade is the flat surface on top of the machines, so a folding counter has to be designed in somewhere else. It requires a front loading washer.
Need, no. Want, usually. It absorbs every messy job that currently happens in your kitchen sink or a bathtub. The reason to decide early is plumbing: if there is no supply and drain in the right spot, adding one is a scope item with a real cost, and it is far cheaper on a drawing than after the room is finished.
Yes, and the laundry room is usually the right place for it, because the plumbing and the durable finishes are already going in. It carries its own basin, plumbing, tile, and waterproofing, so treat it as a scope item rather than an upgrade. Build it around the dog you have — a low threshold for a large dog, or a raised basin so you are not bent over a small one.
Smaller than most people assume. Once the machines go vertical, even a former closet can hold a pull out hamper system, a folding surface, and a wall of cabinets. Small rooms often improve the most from a remodel, because stacking is available to them and it is the single move that frees the space.
If the garage door is already where your family drops everything, combining them is one of the best moves available. Lockers, a bench, hooks, and durable flooring give the mess a place, right where the dirty clothes come off. Two caveats: it is the change most likely to push the project toward the top of the cost range, and it only pays off if that entry is genuinely the one your household uses.

Content last updated: July 27, 2026. This post is reviewed and updated as our work and pricing evolve.

Ready When You Are

The fix starts with a plan, not a purchase

If your laundry room is fighting you, one more trip for bins is not going to settle it. Our design team can walk your space, work through the task list with you, and show you what the room could actually hold — before anything gets built or bought.

Working out the bigger picture first? See how a laundry room fits into a whole house remodel.

Let's Start the Conversation

Relax. You're in safe hands.

Hochuli Design & Remodeling Team is a design-build remodeling firm at 2501 N. Hayden Rd, Suite #102, Scottsdale, AZ 85257, serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and the surrounding Valley. Design is led by Lorrie Hochuli, Allied ASID, and one team carries a project from the first drawing through the final walkthrough — which is why the layout decisions in this article get made on paper instead of discovered on site.

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