Laundry Room Cabinetry
Most laundry rooms fail on one detail: there is nowhere to put anything down. Almost everything else follows from fixing that.
Three very different laundry rooms
Laundry cabinetry is a sizing exercise before it is a design exercise. Machine dimensions vary considerably, front-loaders need clearance for the door swing, and a pedestal or a stacking kit changes every height in the room. We work from your model numbers.
Beyond that, the useful additions are consistent: a folding surface, a rod for hanging things straight out of the dryer, a hamper system that sorts rather than piles, and enclosed storage so detergent is not a permanent feature of the room.
The unfinished basement laundry, common in older North York and Scarborough houses, usually has low ceilings, exposed joists and a concrete floor. The design has to work around a floor drain and often around a support post.
The second-floor laundry closet, standard in newer builds and townhouses, is a stacked pair behind bi-fold doors with almost no space around them. The gains there come from the vertical: a shelf above at a reachable height, and a pull-down rod.
The condo laundry is usually a stacked unit inside a closet shared with the mechanical equipment, which restricts what can be enclosed. That constraint is worth identifying before anything is drawn.
What this usually looks like
Most projects settle into one of these. They are starting points for the conversation rather than a menu.
- 01
Counter over side-by-side machines
A continuous folding surface bridging both machines, with a small gap behind for hoses. The most valuable single addition to a laundry room, and it needs the machines' exact heights to sit correctly.
- 02
Uppers above a stacked pair
Cabinets above the dryer, sized so the bottom shelf is actually reachable. Above roughly 1,900 millimetres, storage stops being used, so the shelf heights matter more than the cabinet count.
- 03
Tall utility and broom storage
A full-height cabinet for the vacuum, ironing board, mop and bulk supplies, which is usually the item that removes the most visual clutter from the room.
- 04
Hamper and sorting pull-outs
Two or three tilt-out or roll-out bins integrated into the cabinetry, so sorting happens at the point of use rather than in a pile on the floor.
- 05
Drying provision
A hanging rod under a cabinet or in a dedicated bay for line-dried items, and where there is room, a pull-out flat-drying rack for knitwear.
- 06
Laundry sink surround
Cabinetry around a utility sink, with the sink specified before the cabinet is built so the top and the plumbing agree.
What is included, and what is optional
The written scope on your project lists this specifically. Nothing here is implied — if it is not on the document, it is not in the price.
Included as standard
- Site measurement including machine dimensions and clearances
- Counter height set from the machines rather than assumed
- Layout drawing showing reachable shelf heights
- Manufacturing coordination and finishing
- Installation, levelling and wall fixing
- Hardware fitting and adjustment
Available as options
- Counter surface supply and coordination
- Utility sink cabinetry and plumbing coordination
- Pull-out hamper and sorting systems
- Retractable or fixed drying rods
- Removal of existing shelving or cabinetry
- Access panels for shut-off valves and clean-outs
- Ceiling and pipe boxing in a basement laundry
The choices that matter for this work
Laundry rooms are humid and occasionally wet. We specify moisture-tolerant substrates and a wipeable finish, and we keep cabinet bottoms clear of the floor where there is any chance of standing water — particularly in basements with a floor drain.
Painted MDF is the workhorse of custom cabinetry because it is dimensionally stable and holds a flat, even colour that timber cannot. These are the families most projects choose from.
Warm white
Reads soft rather than clinical under Toronto's low winter light, which cool whites do not.
Bone
A step warmer again. Forgiving on older houses with existing cream trim.
Greige
Neutral enough to sit with both warm and cool countertops, which is why it is so widely used.
Mushroom
A mid-tone that hides daily marks noticeably better than a pale finish.
Deep clay
Warm and grounded. Works well on a lower run with lighter uppers above.
Forest
A strong colour that behaves like a neutral once it is on a whole run.
Charcoal
Warm rather than blue-black. Reliable on islands and media walls.
Off-black
Dramatic, and it shows dust. Best in matte and best in a room with good natural light.
What we would tell you
- Look at any colour in the actual room, at the times of day you use it. North-facing GTA kitchens make cool greys read blue, and the same sample will look like a different colour in a west-facing room at five o'clock.
- Matte finishes hide substrate imperfections and show fingerprints less than gloss. Gloss photographs beautifully and needs more upkeep than most households expect.
- A two-tone kitchen usually works best with the darker colour below, which grounds the room. The reverse can be done deliberately but rarely happens by accident.
These are representative of the directions we work in, not a stocked catalogue. Colours shown on a screen are approximations — we confirm what is actually available for your project and put a physical sample in your hands before you commit to anything.
Things worth settling early
Each of these is straightforward at drawing stage and expensive or impossible afterwards. We raise them; you decide.
- 01
Get the machine model numbers first
Height, depth including the door, hose projection at the back and door swing direction all change the cabinetry. A front-loader door that opens the wrong way into a counter is a common and avoidable problem.
- 02
Allow for hoses behind the machines
Machines rarely sit flush to the wall. Around 100 to 150 millimetres behind them is normal, and a counter that ignores it will not sit down properly.
- 03
Shut-offs and drains must stay reachable
Water shut-off valves, the standpipe and the floor drain all need access. Building over any of them creates a problem that only reveals itself during a leak.
- 04
Basements have their own constraints
Low ceilings, ducts, beams and a support post in an awkward place are normal. These are measured and drawn rather than discovered on installation day.
- 05
Dryer venting takes priority
The vent run has to stay short, properly supported and unobstructed. Cabinetry is planned around it, never over it.
- 06
Reachability beats capacity
A cabinet whose bottom shelf sits above about 1,900 millimetres will hold things you never take out. Fewer, lower cabinets used daily are worth more than a taller run that is mostly decorative.
The same five stages, every project
- 01
Initial conversation
Tell us about the space. We tell you what is involved and what it depends on.
A phone call or a video call, usually 20 to 30 minutes
- 02
Site consultation and measurements
We measure the room properly — including everything that is out of square.
Typically 45 to 90 minutes on site
- 03
Design and material selection
Drawings you can read, and a written scope listing every cabinet.
Usually one to three weeks, depending on how many revisions you want
- 04
Production and scheduling
Manufacturing runs while we lock in dates, access and the other trades.
Typically four to eight weeks, depending on scope and finish
- 05
Installation and final review
Installed, adjusted, and walked through together — with anything outstanding in writing.
One to four days on site for most residential projects
Laundry rooms: what people ask
Can you put a counter over my washer and dryer?
Yes, provided they sit side by side and are close enough in height. We take the exact heights on the measurement visit and set the counter so it clears both machines with a small tolerance. If the machines are a stacked pair, the equivalent gain is usually a pull-out folding shelf instead.
What if I replace my machines later?
It is worth telling us if that is likely. We can design the opening with a little tolerance so a future replacement of similar size fits without altering the cabinetry. A dramatically different machine footprint would still require changes, but most swaps stay within a workable range.
Is a laundry sink worth including?
If you have the width, most people who install one use it constantly — for hand washing, soaking, filling buckets and cleaning up. It does need plumbing work, so the decision should be made before the layout is finalised rather than added later.
Can you finish an unfinished basement laundry?
We handle the cabinetry, counters and any boxing in of pipes or ducts within the cabinetry run. Broader basement finishing — framing, drywall, flooring and electrical — is separate work, and we will tell you clearly where our scope ends so nothing falls between trades.
How do you handle a condo laundry closet shared with mechanical equipment?
Carefully, and with the building's requirements confirmed first. Access to the fan coil, shut-offs and filters has to be maintained, which usually means removable panels rather than fixed cabinetry over that section. We would rather establish that at the measurement visit than build something that has to come back out.
Where this often goes next
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Ready to talk about laundry rooms?
Send us the room, a rough idea, or a few photographs. We will tell you what is involved and what it depends on — before anyone talks about price.