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Roll-out shelf. In this compact laundry room, a stackable washer and dryer left plenty of room for storage next to it. The extendable shelf can be pulled out as an ironing board base when needed. Designer Amy Storm says she designed the shelf so that her client could stash a small portable ironing board there and use the shelf as a base for the board. For quick touchups, she could also throw a towel on the shelf and iron an item on it.
Colored cabinets. Interior designer Cynthia Soda designed this laundry room for her mother. “My mom said she wanted ‘an eclectic-modern-retro-vintage-cheerful laundry,’” Soda says. “I said, ‘Mom, that’s not a thing, those are just a bunch of words linked together,’ but I tried to hit each one of those words in the design.” Soda added some retro charm with light blue cabinets covered in Benjamin Moore’s Gossamer Blue and a vintage-inspired light fixture.
Dedicate a spot to hand-wash. Swimsuits and other delicate items will last far longer if they are treated gently. If you have a sink in the laundry room to wash delicates, great; if not, no worries. Collect hand-wash items in a plastic dish pan or tub and tote it to the nearest sink when you’re ready to wash. With either setup, be sure to store mild laundry soap and a drying rack nearby.
Laundry nook. This broom closet is really a fully equipped laundry station, complete with a washer and a dryer. Mop, broom and cleaning supplies are stored in doors with built-in shelving and hooks. This is really the ultimate space saver, as there is no need for either a stand-alone broom closet or a separate laundry room — this laundry niche does it all.
Don’t overlook air-drying systems. For clothes that are destined to be air-dried, here’s a great feature the British have been using for centuries: a ceiling-mounted pulley system. The rack is composed of either four or six laths suspended between two cast iron ends and anchored to a marine-style wall cleat. To load and unload, lower the pulley to your desired height by pulling on the cord. Raising it upward keeps longer articles from brushing the floor and also makes use of warmer air at the ceiling level. When not in use, it’s out of the way.
Install a deep, elevated sink. A deep sink comes in handy in the laundry room. Most standard sinks range between 8 and 10 inches in depth. The 12¾-inch bowl depth in this laundry room allows for scrubbing and spraying to minimize splashing water outside of it. (These sinks can also do double duty as pet bathing stations.) The problem with a deep sink installed in a standard 36-inch countertop relates to ergonomics. It causes you to stoop over to reach the sink bottom. For example, if you take the 12¾-inch depth of this sink and subtract it from the average 36-inch countertop height, that’s only 23¼ inches high. Measure up from the floor and see where that dimension hits your body — probably somewhere on your thigh! If you’re going to install a deep sink, make sure it’s elevated. The one shown here was designed with a height of 42 inches, making its interior bottom surface 29¼ inches, about the comfortable height of a dining table.
Embrace open shelving. Open shelving makes any quick reach easier. You’ll also likely find you’ll keep things neater too, since things are on display. For frequently used items, a shelf height of about 62 inches is the most comfortable dimension for most people in a standing position. Reserve higher shelves for occasionally used items. Don’t think that open shelving is reserved for just above the countertop. Lower open shelving is great for quick access. Plus, you won’t have to push full laundry baskets out of the way to open cabinet doors.
Off the Master Bedroom What better place to put a washer and dryer than right next to your bedroom? Linse designed this large laundry room and hobby room in Cupertino, California, just off the master bedroom for an avid sewer. She knocked down a few interior walls to gain more space and expand the master suite, bathroom and laundry room. “Laundry should be near bedrooms,” says Linse. “That’s where laundry lives — in bedroom dressers. It makes sense to have it close.” Pros: Imagine pulling clothes from the dryer, folding them and simply turning around to put them away. This option cuts down on trips between the hamper and the laundry room, and keeps the function out of sight of guests, meaning that you can still sneak off to drop in a load even if you’re entertaining. It’s superconvenient for single people or couples without kids living at home. (You wouldn’t want your kids cutting through your bedroom at all hours searching for a shirt to wear.) And if you’ve already got an en suite bathroom, it should be relatively easy to route water connections for washing machines. Cons: If your bedroom is located far from where you spend most of your time, then the proximity of the machi...
The clients of designer Andi Wheelband of Two Birds Design wanted to move their laundry room from their dark basement to the second floor, where all the bedrooms are. While adding this en suite master bathroom above an attached garage (you can see the former exterior brick of the house on the left), she was able to carve out space for a custom laundry closet, seen here.
Special Features Once you have the basic function of your laundry room pinned down, it’s time to look at your budget again to see how you can make your space more comfortable and stylish. Use Houzz to create an ideabook of photos of laundry rooms you like. Counter space for folding is perhaps the most popular special feature. If you’ve got front-loading machines, consider adding a countertop above them. Or if you’ve got the space and budget, consider a large island on which you can spread out all your laundry. As for countertop material, stick with something durable, such as quartz. You want a material that can stand up to spilled detergents and bleach. The second-most requested special feature is probably a deep sink for soaking or hand-washing delicates and a spray attachment for the faucet for doing spot treatments. Here are a few additional features to consider: -Rod for hanging clothes -TV or radio -Window -Wine fridge -Pet-washing station -Rolling laundry carts -Fold-down ironing board -Drying rack for delicates -Additional storage closets
Carved-out space. This laundry area proves you don’t need a completely separate room to have a lovely laundry space. Jetton Construction, Chambers + Chambers Architects and Amber Interiors joined forces to create this laundry cove in a San Francisco home, complete with countertop space and overhead cabinets.
Out of sight design. Laundry is inevitable, but you don’t always have to look at it. That’s the idea the team from Kitchen Design Concepts brought to this Dallas home. “With all the closet doors shut and the ironing board folded away, you would not know this was the laundry room,” says Mary Kathryn Reese, owner of Kitchen Design Concepts. “Our clients love that this space can always be clean and tidy no matter how much laundry needs to be done.” A favorite component is the fold-away ironing board. Other features, such as the red washer and dryer and laundry hampers on roll-out drawers, are concealed behind the wall of doors on the right.
Drying Racks If these top photos are any indication, 2015 will continue to be the era of the drying rack. This 10-foot by 18-foot galley-style laundry room, by Rabaut Design Associates, was one of the most popular laundry room photos in 2014. What did users love about it? Well, almost everything, from the five custom-designed drying racks — two of which have beadboard backing — to the apron sink and Rainwashed paint color on the walls.
There are four primary areas and functions of laundry rooms. Entry and prep. If you install a laundry sink, you will probably want to place it where you enter the room and set down the items to be washed. Here you can sort, apply fabric treatments and soak stains if necessary. Washing. It is good to have a countertop where you can place your sorted loads before putting them in the washing machine. Drying. You’ll also want another section of countertop for items that need to be line dried, as well as space to fold dried laundry. Storage and ironing. Following the typical sequence, you then need space to put things in preparation for ironing. (Note that ironing space may be less desirable in this room if you want to watch TV while you iron, or if the dry cleaner does much of your pressing.) Folded ironing boards measure about 14 inches wide, 60 inches long and 3 inches thick (36 by 152 by 7 centimeters). Nice extras. Of course, some people with large spaces want to use their laundry room as a craft or sewing area, mudroom or dog washing station, or to hide the litter boxes. These are very specific to each of us; planning spaces with a little extra room for these functions let...
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