The average American spends 17 minutes a day (or roughly 85 hours a year) doing laundry. That’s quite a bit of time to hang around in the least exciting room in your home.
Fortunately, laundry rooms can come to life with the right bit of design and storage options. We’ve outlined a few of our favorite custom laundry room design options, including storage and layout elements that’ll make you happy enough to whistle while you work.
Laundry Layout #1: Pragmatic and Pretty
If you see your house as both a place to live and a place to curate treasured things, your design creativity doesn’t have to stop at the threshold of the laundry room door.
When you want a functional laundry room design that’s also a thing of beauty, you’ll want to optimize your visible shelf space. Add custom countertops to provide ample folding space and laundry storage space.
Consider a mix of open and closed shelving. Closed shelves give you a space to store the essentials – your iron, a fold-out ironing board, your basket of unmatched socks. Then on your open shelves, you can focus on storing items in a way that shows off some of your favorite containers.
Every part of this laundry layout can be both attractive and functional. Pretty vases, apothecary jars and baskets can be used to attractively hold laundry supplies or just to add some charm to the space.
We also suggest incorporating tilt-out baskets to neatly stow laundry, so everything is in reach but neatly organized. For an added touch, you can consider custom lighting for your shelves to highlight the interesting curios on display.
Other options to enhance your laundry room’s appearance and functionality might include:
- Adding baskets to sort and organize items on your shelves
- Using stackable appliances to leave more room available for custom cabinetry
- Including a closet area to hang clothes as they come out of the laundry or after they are ironed
- Using drawers to store items like dryer sheets, spot cleaners, detergents, rags and more
Laundry Layout #2: Sleek Storage
A custom laundry room isn’t complete without custom laundry room storage.
Why stop at a cabinet or two when you can maximize wall and floor space top to bottom?
Store towels, sheets, and linens in addition to candles, extra plates, and other, seasonal items that might be too fragile for closet or garage storage.
As a bonus, we also like to incorporate some of our favorite custom closet elements to boost functionality and create more usable space in the laundry room.
Wondering whether your small laundry room is too small to add some of these features? Spoiler alert – it’s probably not.
For example, a hutch and an adjustable rod can add extra storage and utility to a compact laundry area.
Clothing and valet racks are also excellent laundry room space creators (and time savers!). You can use them to hang items that need to be air-dried or that wrinkle easily.
Laundry Layout #3: Comfy Corner
In many homes, a full laundry room can seem like an unrealizable dream. Instead of spreading out, the homeowner must squeeze their laundry room into a small space and try to make the most of every functional inch.
Good news…you can still make even a small laundry room space work by being thoughtful in your design choices. Some of the top ways to save space in a small laundry room include:
- Adding cabinets above the washer and dryer to store laundry detergent and accessories.
- Installing a small countertop above the washer and dryer to fold and organize clothes and linens.
- Including an adjustable rod for air drying or hanging delicate clothing items
- Using accessories like a pullout ironing board to reduce floorspace needed in your laundry/utility area
- Choosing tilt-out hampers or other baskets to incorporate your storage into one unit, rather than having baskets for dirty clothes and loose socks scattered around your laundry area.
A small space can be functional, organized and attractive. Once you’ve installed your laundry room space savers, a few decorative details can make it feel less like a space for drudgery and more like a cozy, cheerful corner.
For example, one client added a wall collage of her children’s baby pictures – something that made her smile every time she put in a load of laundry. Other unique touches can include attractive containers for your laundry supplies or adding a fun wallpaper or paint color to brighten up the space.
Laundry Layout #4: Modern Mudroom
As we’ve discussed, many people are trying to do more with smaller spaces as they manage the demands of daily life.
In this scenario (remote work, more time spent at home, etc.), dedicating an entire room to laundry can feel like a misuse of valuable square footage. That’s why multi-purpose utility rooms are on many homeowners’ wish lists.
If you have a laundry room/space near a garage, side or back door, consider creating a multi-use space for kids (and pets) to wipe their shoes, hang their gear, and organize their mess. You’ll cut down on clutter in the rest of the house as well as having an attractive and functional place to get your laundry done!
When designing a laundry room/mudroom, think first about the function of the room. Will you expect kids to make it their first stop when they enter the house? Will they store items like sports equipment or musical instruments in the space?
If you’re expecting all the members of your household to bring in their daily items, consider adding enough hooks for everyone’s smaller items (keys, purses, jackets, etc.), as well as enough shelf space for bulky daily-use items like backpacks and lunchboxes.
You can almost never have too much storage space and being intentional about mudroom storage can help reduce clutter in other parts of your house.
Consider a bench for shoe storage, shelves and cabinetry to store out-of-season gear (winter coats in the summer, swim gear in the winter), and dedicated drawers or baskets for keeping up with those little things that seem to get misplaced – keys, wallets, headphones and more.
If the mudroom is the first place your family members see when they return home each day, you’ll want to also ensure it feels welcoming. Consider a pop of color by adding cabinetry with a bright finish. Add a family calendar or a whiteboard for notes or a pull-out mirror so you can give your outfit one last once-over before you head out of the house.
Other small laundry room design features that can make a big difference in the look and feel of your space might include:
- Choosing interesting hardware for your cabinetry and drawers
- Using neutral colors for the space, then bringing in a bit of brightness or personality with your baskets and storage items
- Taking advantage of any natural light available in the space
Laundry Layout #5: The Doggy Den
We recently talked with a woman whose dog followed her from room to room, keeping her company as she managed her chores. When you have a good boy (or girl) like this, you want to make sure they have a comfy place to hang out while you’re washing, sorting and folding.
If you have a medium to large laundry room, you can make more space for your furry friend. Configure your custom laundry room cabinets to fit a dog bed; your design consultant can work out the spacing possibilities. For the most ambitious pet owners, you might even incorporate a half-shower unit to as part of your very own, in-home grooming station.
If any of these custom laundry room designs sound appealing, you can go a step further and truly customize it to fit your needs and lifestyle. Download our planning guide to see which options look the most suitable for your space, then schedule a consultation with one of our designers to discuss how they can take your space to the next level.
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