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Design Dilemma: A Better, More Efficient Laundry Room

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When it comes to laundry rooms, we all want a layout that allows for fast and easy loading, unloading and folding. So why do so many laundry rooms seem to lack these basics? Maybe it’s because the laundry room, in all but the most modern of homes, is an afterthought. Usually carved out of space designated originally for other purposes, we squeeze in the washer and dryer where we can and leave it at that.

But if you want to improve the efficiency of your laundry room, as well as it’s look, it’s enough to approach the design of the room with the care you approach other, more public areas of your home:

1) Think storage.

If you have the space, add shelving units and bins, like in the room above. The shelves allow for the storage of linens and towels, as well an under sink cabinet for soaps and detergents. Another great feature of the above laundry room is the clothing rack which allows you to hang clothes right out of the dryer, discouraging wrinkling. It also gives you a space to hang clothing before its time to iron.

Here’s another space that begs the question, can there be such a thing as too much storage?

And what if you don’t have the space?

Above, the “laundry room” is really just a closet. But it’s just as efficient as a much bigger space. A rack on the door allows for the storage of soaps and detergents. A small storage unit and a swinging clothes hanger attached to the wall take the place of a clothes rack and built-in cabinets.

Here’s another example of a smaller laundry room that makes fine use of basic storage elements:

There are no built-cabinets. Nothing here but a stand alone sink and the a washer and dryer. But a couple of shelves hold all necessary detergents and a few hanging baskets do the duty when it’s time to sort and separate. What could be more efficient than that?

And if you have the extra room, why not add a folding table. The laundry room below feels classically elegant, thanks to subway tile and a carrerra marble folding table:

2) Think style.

Have you noticed how ugly laundry rooms usually are? Maybe that’s because most of us don’t hang out in the laundry room long enough to really care. But then again, maybe we could be encouraged to make better use of this room, if it were just a little more stylish.

The laundry room below is filled with light, warmth and character, due to lots of windows, recessed lights, warm wood detailing, antique mirrors and an eye-catching kilim.

 

Below,  a crisp laundry room features a black and white linoleum floor, mint green walls, industrial lights and carrera marble countertops.

This laundry room gets its style thanks to bright red appliances and pops of bright color in accessories and linens. It just goes to show how simple injecting a little pizazz can be:

3) Think multi-functional.
One major affliction of the poor laundry room is that it serves one purpose — the cleaning of clothes. But why should it be so? It’s possible to make a laundry room multi-functional, increasing not only its style quotient but its efficiency. Below, what could have been just a laundry room has been adapted to several purposes. It acts as a sort of mud room, with a bench for removing shoes and hooks for hanging jackets. A desk means this space can also be used as a study area. Family photos on the wall and colorful pillows make the space feel lived in: