Much as I discussed last week about kitchens, the laundry room has become another room where a lot of effort is given in new construction and remodel projects.
Laundry is no longer just “women’s work” as the entire household is now spending time doing more chores. At least, so I am told!
It seems apparent as this room, which used to be sometimes in a closet or bathroom, now is being designed as a large space with multiple functions.
Considering clothes, bed linens and towels are being cleaned in this room, most people choose a nice, clean white and “sparkly” white cabinet with white counters. Once in a while, a client likes to incorporate elements from their kitchen into the laundry room, to complete a flow.
Some people will step outside their box and use wild and funky wallpapers, artwork, cabinets and counters. It is the one room where guests don’t visit, so they can make it very personal and a room they will not tire of easily. Maybe it lifts their spirits on a day of house chores.
I will sometimes design a gift wrapping station in a laundry room. There is usually enough counter space to use for such a task, and a nice wide drawer stack can house wrapping papers, tissues, ribbons and gift bags. We seem to collect a lot of them these days, and if you donate to some charitable organizations, they will mail you a variety of these items including stacks of return address labels! It is nice to have a place to organize all of these items.
A nice large sink can be a great place to pre-soak a clothing item, rinse a stain or even wash a paint brush. I find some clients wanting to have fun with a farmhouse sink over a regular under mount. Consider your laundry room tasks and select the right faucet. Maybe a taller faucet with a spray option will work well for you?
Consider which washer and dryer you want to use and have your cabinet maker build the cabinets to fit your appliances, just like they do in kitchen projects. If you have a front loader washer and dryer, maybe have a drawer made to fit under them to lift the appliances for ease of use.
An ironing board is important. Would you like to build one in the wall, or have a tall cabinet house a regular board you can easily pull out? And don’t forget an outlet to plug in the iron.
Also, consider secondary storage. Make the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling and utilize this upper space for items you don’t need every day.
Drawers are important as a laundry room can house many small items that need to be organized.
The pictures I provided are of a laundry room I designed that had so much space that I was able to add some functional, yet creative pieces such as an old time rack on wheels and a table that has leaves that flip out to make a larger surface when needed to fold clothes, yet fold in to offer more space on a daily basis.
I love adding some whimsy in a laundry room. The colorful birds on a wire picture was cute, but not quite large enough. So I cut some jute and glued pieces between the birds feet and then pulled the jute to each side wall and tired it off, bringing the artwork to life by creating a more 3-dimensional effect.
The overall look is clean yet has plenty of storage!
