Laundry Room Ideas

Did you know that the average household does seven to eight loads of laundry every week? The laundry room used to typically be a spare closet in the hallway near the kitchen or in the garage.

Today, new homes are being designed with more practical locations. They are being put in less used bathrooms or on the second floor near the bedrooms, which is where the most laundry is. In the design process of building your new home, take a little time to add the laundry area to the plans to ensure it will be large enough and in a location that will be most convenient and efficient for you.

Here are some practical ideas to keep your laundry area efficient:

1. It is never a good idea to place the laundry room in a high traffic area such as the kitchen or garage.
2. Avoid combining the room with another. As an example, do not combine the laundry and a home office in one room.
3. The master bedroom should never have the laundry room in it. You will never be able to get away from those daily chores if you have to look at dirty clothes every time you go to bed.
4. Place the laundry room as close as possible to the largest source of dirty laundry. The most household laundry normally comes from the bedrooms where, of course, the clothes are kept and changed.
5. Leave at least 48 inches of clearance in front of each unit so you'll have room to walk around the open doors.
6. Add a cupboard or shelf over the laundry appliances to allow for storage of laundry supplies - and extra cleaners.
7. If you are limited on space for the laundry machines, consider a stack set. Although they are tall, they only take the width and depth of one machine. The cost is the same as individual machines.
8. Always install shutoff valves at your machines water supply in case of leaks or the need to move the machines for repair.
9. Leave extra space in the area where the machines are installed. Do not create a custom size space that is only suited for a specific laundry set because someday if the machines need to be replaced you may not find a set the same measurements.
10. Add insulation to the wall and floor area of the laundry room to lower the noise level.