DIY Wood Laundry Room Countertop

Last updated on April 22nd, 2026 at 10:40 am

Learn how to build a simple DIY wood laundry room countertop for your small laundry room. It’s quick and easy, and will add so much storage and functionality to your laundry room!

Our laundry room is a great size, but it doesn’t have any storage in it. I needed a place to work, so I decided to build a super simple DIY laundry room countertop to help me out.

Adding it has been a huge help and has made a very big difference in how the entire space functions for us. This was just the ticket to make the chore of tackling the laundry feel a little less awful.

Adding a laundry room countertop when you don’t have any of support or cabinets to work off of can be tricky, but this counter still looks like new a year after building it, so I feel confident that we’ve landed on a good solution!

I promise this simple wood countertop is a no-brainer to build, and it’s very beginner-friendly! We’ll jump right to the tutorial, but first, here’s a little compilation of my Instagram stories from this project, if you’re the type that prefers to see it come to live in video!

Laundry Room Countertop Video Recap

How to Build a DIY Laundry Room Countertop

Tools & Materials Needed

Note: The amount of wood you need will vary depending on the size of your laundry room and how large you want your counter to be. I’m listing what I used to build our 66.5″ long counter, you can adjust as needed for your specific space!

• (2) 2x4s, ripped in half lengthwise
• (3) 1×12 pieces of select pine
• (1) 1×3 piece of select pine
• Kreg jig + pocket hole screws (this is a cheaper version if you’re on a budget!)
• Power Drill + screws
• Nail gun (learn how to use one and which one to choose right here)
• Stain (I used Summer Oak mixed with Golden Oak)
• Varathane’s Triple Thick Poly
• Paintbrush

Step One: Add Ledger Boards

First, you need to determine how deep you want your counter to be. Our washer and dryer have slight curve to the front, so we measured from the wall to the widest point of the curve, and had our counter end about there. I’ll also note that when you’re measuring the height of your counter, double check that your soap dispensers will still open once the counter is installed! Our completed counter sits about 1/2″ above the washer to ensure it wouldn’t block anything.

You’ll start by installing all of the supporting pieces (they’re called ledger boards) that will help hold your counter up. We used 2×4 boards that we ripped in half using our table saw. That way, they wouldn’t be visible from underneath once the counter was installed. You can purchase 2×2 boards if you don’t have a table saw. Just know that it tends to be hard to find straight ones that aren’t warped! So, take your time picking them out.

We started with one piece on either side of the room that ran the depth of the counter (drilling into studs wherever possible), then we used pocket holes to attach one long piece going between them, as shown above.

A Note on the Ledge:

Our counter doesn’t go all the way to the back wall – we added a ledge. This is because the controls for our water shutoff valve sit slightly above the washer and dryer. They blocked us from going all the way to the wall (you can see it in the before photos). So instead, we built a little ledge (with a removable front piece) to hide them. More on that later!

If you don’t have anything blocking your way like we did, it’s even easier! Simply install a ledger board along the back wall by screwing it into the studs. You can skip the pocket holes and your counter will be even sturdier than ours is.

Step Two: Add Middle Supports

I didn’t get a good photo of it (because we added it further along in the process), but we also ended up installing one more support piece running along the front of the counter – also using pocket holes to install it – along with a middle piece running from front to back. So, the base of our counter is supported by what looks like two side-by-side squares. You can kind of see what I mean in the photo above.

We did this to make the countertop to be as sturdy as possible. We wanted to prevent any sagging! I was going to be installing tile on this wall shortly after installing this, and I’d need to stand on the counter. So, we really needed it to be able to support an actual human standing on top of it. Most laundry room countertops likely won’t need this intense level of support, so the additional supports in the middle may not be necessary. But, they’ve worked well for us!

Step Three: Adding Support for a Ledge (Optional!)

You may not need a ledge if you don’t have shutoff valves or other controls blocking your way. But, if you still want one, there’s no reason not to install it! I’ll note that if you don’t have anything blocking your way, I’d recommend taking your base counter all the way to the back wall and then building the ledge on top of it. It’s much easier and will be sturdier in the long run.

But if you’re like us and didn’t have that option, here’s what we did:

• We used more 2x4s (also ripped in half) to frame out the ledge. Subtract 3/4″ from the size you want your ledge to be, and that’s the size your support boards should be. For example, our ledge is 5″ tall and 4″ deep, so our support boards are 4 1/4″ tall and 3 1/4″ deep.
• We used construction adhesive and nails to attach these to the wall as shown. Not pictured is the long support board that we attached at the front of the ledge using pocket holes. This adds structure to the ledge and gives you something to nail into! It should just run the length of the counter, just like the cross pieces from the base counter!

Step Four: Cut + Stain Your Countertop Pieces

We ended up needing two lengths of 1×12 boards and one length of 1×3 board for our counter. We could have ripped them all down to a uniform size before joining them together (so there wouldn’t be one small piece in the middle), but we decided it wasn’t worth the extra effort.

You also could easily use 3/4″ plywood for the top of your board if you’d like. I just really wanted the grain and texture of actual pine boards. If you choose to go with plywood for your laundry room countertop, simply cut your piece (or have them cut it at the store) to the exact measurements you want the top of the counter to be and set it into place!

For our countertop, we used pocket holes to attach the three pieces together. Move slowly, clamp them together, and check regularly that they’re all flush and level as you work!

Once your counter is assembled, you’re ready to stain it. We ended up distressing ours a bit (by adding a scratch here and there with screws and some dents with a hammer – it was already in rough shape so I decided to just lean into it!). Then, I stained it using one coat of Summer Oak by Varathane, with a light coat of Golden Oak on top.

Once the stain was dry, I sealed the whole thing with one coat of Varathane’s Triple-Thick Poly. It’s my favorite to use for projects like this because it only requires one coat, it goes on like a dream, and it works perfectly!

At this point, you can go ahead and cut your front trim piece (from your 1×3 board) and the pieces for your ledge. They should just be measured from wall-to-wall and cut to fit perfectly in there!

The ledge pieces can be ripped down from your 1×12 boards. We needed one 5″ piece for the front, and one 4″ piece for the top of the ledge.

Step Five: Assemble Your Countertop!

Once your pieces are all stained and sealed, you’re almost done! Start by bringing the countertop piece in, and laying it on top of the support boards. We simply nailed ours into place with our18-gauge brad nailer.

Then, install your front trim piece along the front of the counter to cover up the support boards. Again, we used our brad nailer.

And finally, you can install the ledge pieces if you’re doing a ledge. We nailed the top of the ledge into place, but we used screws on the front of the ledge – this is so the front piece is easily removed if we need to access the valves at any time. We’ll just need to pull the screws out, and the board will come right off.

And then, you’re done!

This little counter of ours is far from perfect. We ended up with warped wood, we made a few mistakes, and we couldn’t head back to the store for more supplies because we were working on this at the height of the 2020 lockdowns and we weren’t going into stores. But I’m really pleased with how it turned out, and I kind of love it for all of the flaws because it will forever remind me of this wacky, difficult-yet-special time of quarantine.

How Has The Countertop Held Up?

We installed this countertop in 2020 and moved out of the house in 2025. Over the course of those five years, I used this counter every single day. I had to stand on it multiple times to reach things higher up, and it saw a lot of action.

I also installed some (very heavy, stone) tile along the back wall – see the related posts below for those details – and the countertop was able to handle the tile and me on top of it for multiple days in a row with no sagging or creaking at all.

We didn’t have a single issue with this countertop over the five years of use it saw. So, I think it’s safe to say this is the best countertop building method I’ve got! I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

A Few Related Posts You May Find Helpful

New to DIY? Here are a few posts that you might find helpful if you decide to tackle this project.

• How to use a nail gun
• How to stain wood
• How to use a miter saw
• Small laundry room ideas

Laundry Room Makeover

Here are the other posts in my laundry room makeover series!

• Laundry room intro + plans
• Installing a laundry room backsplash
• How to seal porous tiles
• Laundry room reveal