Find your kitchen style!
October 17, 2018
Times are a changin’
February 13, 2019
Create a laundry room you’ll love
How to create a functional (and fun) space
There are few rooms in the home that needs to work as hard and fulfil as many duties as the laundry room. Besides the obvious – a place to keep your washer and dryer – many laundry rooms often double as sculleries, mudrooms, storage areas, and even home offices! It’s no wonder that, for most of us, the laundry room is the last place you want your visitors to peek into!
But it doesn’t have to be that way! With a little planning and ingenuity, you can transform even the smallest and messiest laundry room into a washing haven.
Plan
As always, the first step in creating a room that works for you is planning. Take a moment to critically think about what you need your laundry room to be. Make a list of everything you would like the room to do for you. Perhaps you’d like some storage for seasonal decorations, a place to do your sewing, or a designated area for muddy boots. Don’t be afraid to think out of the box – it’s your laundry room after all!
Install bespoke cabinetry
Once you know all the functions you would like your room to fulfil, you will need cabinetry that supports your vision. Start with the non-negotiables – your washer and dryer. If they are both front loaders, you might want to consider stacking them to free up some floor space and putting them into a unit. Encasing your appliances reduces visual clutter, and is also an easy way to get extra storage by adding some shelves to the unit. Once you have them sorted, consider how to get the most out of the rest of the floor space you have available. A great option is to hide your hamper in a drawer, like this one we recently installed for a client.
Make it multitask!
Think about how one thing can serve two or more purposes. For instance, if you can’t or don’t want to stack your appliances, consider putting your them on pedestals with drawers underneath. This creates more storage while making it easier to access your washing. Similarly, a cleverly-designed cupboard can be used to store your ironing board, as well as all your detergents and other laundry essentials.
Think three dimensionally
A small room doesn’t always mean little storage or low function. Once you’ve made the best use of your space with your cabinetry, take a look at your walls – and ceiling! Consider adding items such as a collapsible folding table or a suspended drying rack to make your life even easier.
Put the FUN in functionality
Just because it needs to fulfil a purpose, doesn’t mean it needs to be boring! Let your personality shine through with items that do their job and make you smile. Here two fun DIY ideas to get you started:
