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Organizing Laundry Rooms – Growing Trends

By: rbonnevie / Projects

Laundry Room Organization

For those of you who are looking for ways to update and organize your laundry rooms and still have a sufficient amount of work space as well, you have to check out this blog. I did some research on closets and laundry rooms when I started designing my retirement home a few months ago and realized I wanted a better approach and new ideas to the closets and laundry rooms. Both are used constantly and usually have little to no organization.  After doing some online research with the different trends in the residential housing industry, this is some of what I found but if your interested in the topic please check out the popular web site Houzz for even more articles and discussions. The site is an excellent resource for inspiration, ideas and discussion. Click here.

 

Here’s a good article in “this old house”  with some great advice and pros & cons on 1st floor installation vs 2nd floor installation vs basement installs. Below is a quote from the article…
“The laundry room has finally come into its own as a bright and organized cleanup command center, whether in a tidy corner of the basement or a nook next to the kitchen.” Click here for more.

 

Easy Living…a simple design, easy to maintain and doesn’t require a lot of space. It has an area on top of the washer & dryer for folding and sorting of laundry. Deep sink for even more convenience and a place for air drying items. Cabinet space to hide all the cleaning items you need to keep everything smelling fresh and clean.

 

The working Room… Not sure I would want to work in my laundry room, but I guess if your a multi-tasker than this is your dream laundry room.  This would also work great for the seamstress or arts enthusiast in the family with a large work surface, perfect for laying out projects. Notice the sink to the left of the washer & dryer plenty natural light and ventilation with a row of pendant lighting above the large work table.

 

Simply Modern… is a nice clean look that wouldn’t be very expensive to pull of…if you have the space. The added sink is handy for smaller more delicate items or just handy for cleaning up. If you have a small unused room adjacent a bath room wall, add some cabinets and inexpensive flooring, bingo you have an efficient laundry room that just might take some of the work out of doing the laundry. Notice the recessed lighting and mechanical ventilation in the ceiling. I don’t see a washer pan here, an inexpensive way to avoid a major problem if a leak happens.

 

The back entry… has to be the right fit but if you have kids that are in sports, their in and out of the house with their messy clothes and shoes all day long. A back entry mud room/ Laundry Room could be the answer to keeping order to your home. Full size cabinet draws keep items organized and within reach for little ones. Tile flooring and lots of glass gives this space a well lit durable entry to the main house for the family & friends.

 

Classic meets modern. There’s plenty of counter space, cupboard space, and the washing machine setup is sleek and blends in nicely with the cabinetry. It’s well lit and has plenty of natural ventilation with the large mulled window. What no sink… the drain and water lines are right there, and after all the is where the trend is going.

 

What I like about this traditional setup is the storage spaces for the laundry baskets. The hanging bar over the machines for drying dedicates. The black and white sort of colors with the machines and walls contrast nicely keeping it very simple and functional. Ceramic tiled back splash makes splashes and breeze to clean up.  Again notice the sink in the counter…this seems to be the “trend” in laundry rooms lately as you have seen in the previous pictures. Don’t forget the lighting, recessed, pendant, low voltage or LED…  if possible window’s for natural ventilation and light.

 

There is no one size fits all with respect to closets, laundry rooms or organization in general. You can create many different shapes and styles to suite your needs and available space. I have seen some pretty remarkable closest spaces and have built some as well. I remember doing one in a high rise on the pent house floor in Danvers MA. The project took almost 2 months to complete and involved some pretty cool stuff. Most of us don’t need that sort of extravagance, nor could we afford it. But with some careful planning, incite and imagination we can achieve something just as nice with functionality and overall organization.