When a new year dawns, many of us are thinking about how to do things better, how to manage aspects of our lives in a more efficient way that brings us more pleasure or at least less stress. As many of us think about cleaning up our act a bit in 2024, my thoughts turn to laundry rooms.
In England they are often called utility rooms, so what I’ve gathered here is intended to make sure your laundry room addition or remodel doesn’t turn into a futility room. Just like a kitchen, one of the hardest working rooms in our homes, laundry rooms should be both highly functional and attractive. Laundry isn’t everyone’s first choice of activities, but if the space where we do it is appealing, the work becomes less of a chore.
Let’s start with the room itself.
First, it doesn’t have to be a room. It might be a corner of your garage, a hall closet or an area within a bathroom, bedroom, mudroom, craft room or pantry. Ideally, though, you don’t want your laundry space located where other activities will intrude, making it difficult to accomplish the work: sorting, washing, drying, hanging, ironing and folding. And, even though today’s machines are far quieter, there is some noise and it’s best if the hum and rumble don’t negatively affect adjacent spaces.
Be realistic about your limitations of space and other resources, as well as how the whole issue of laundry works in your home. You might love for family members to sort their laundry into bins in the laundry room, but your space may simply not be adequate. So be willing to do some work — and perhaps compromise — to ensure that your resources and laundry system mesh.
Here are factors to consider, for starters.
Work areas and storage
Depending on your space and budget, your machines might front-load, top-load or stack.
If they front-load, you can fold clothes on top of the machine. Many homeowners prefer a counter surface above that for seamless folding and for storage of other items. Other people prefer their machines on so-called pedestals, many with storage, for easier loading and unloading of clothes without a lot of bending. But that raises the machines enough that a separate folding surface is needed.
Folks with top-loading washers often find that they still want and need space above for laundry supplies and even decorative items. A shallow half shelf works nicely.
Stacking machines have less capacity but may be necessitated by floor space. They work well in closets with folding and hanging space to the side. For tiny spaces, there are even machines that both wash and dry. These are perfect for small apartments or perhaps a second, upstairs laundry area. With the most compact closets, some designers hang shelving on the side wall to hold laundry supplies, placing the least-used items toward the back of each shelf.
The desire to reduce clutter and make our homes function more smoothly has created a demand for all manner of storage solutions. People can find wall-mounted pull-downs and slide-outs, including, for laundry rooms, drying racks, folding tables and ironing boards. (Think Murphy beds for the laundry.) Decorative wall hooks may work better for air drying, depending on your space. More-utilitarian hooks on a pegboard or a slat system might be just the thing for an unused stretch of wall when floor space is at a premium. I have even seen wall-mounted receptacles for lint, socks without a mate, and coins that fall out of pockets.
Style
As with a bathroom or kitchen, your laundry room or niche should be as appealing as the rest of your home, consistent in style and feel, even if it is in the garage. Though some homeowners like to inject a little more industrial feel into these hard-working spaces or a vintage feel of sheets drying in the fresh air at Grandma’s, the space should reflect the style of your home.
Think too about whether to conceal the function of the room behind handsome cabinetry, show it off or do some of both. An all closed-cabinet laundry space can look, well, closed off. Yet too much accessibility can look cluttered without a plan.
If you want your laundry items to be easily within reach, consider storing them in coordinating baskets, bins and jars. If you have a collection of containers, consider them for storage and aesthetic appeal infused with your personality. Generally the look should be cohesive, but it doesn’t necessarily need to match.
Doorways
Depending on whether you want to conceal your laundry area or draw attention to it, you have options for covering the opening.
Doors with frosted glass, perhaps even with a “laundry” decal, call subtle attention and lend a vintage look. French doors show off your space; rolling, barn-style doors both draw attention and conceal. A pocket door saves coveted floor space, but it can be hard to open if your arms are full. Think about a swinging butler’s door instead.
If a door isn’t practical, consider curtains suspended from rings on a tension rod.
Lighting
Lighting is important. It should be bright enough to illuminate the workspace and not located where you would consistently cast a shadow over what you are trying to see.
Many homeowners are going for a touch of whimsy by hanging small chandeliers in their laundry rooms. Others choose stylish lighting consistent with that in the rest of their home.
And speaking of style, try to incorporate artwork or family photos into the space. One of my clients, a high school art teacher, hung small, framed reproductions of two of her students’ paintings of clothing in her laundry room: jeans and a kimono.
Chris Ettel is founding partner of VB Homes. He has served on the board of directors of the Coastal Virginia Building Industry Association and is past chairman of the association’s Remodeler’s Council.
