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What would you include in laundry? Would love suggestions...

16 years ago

We are planning our laundry room, and would love to hear others suggestions for what we should include. Of course we'll have a W/D, sink, counterspace (we want to use the room for kids arts/painting/crafts too). And hanging space, and ironing center. But we wouldlove to hear others suggestions....what do you like best in your laundry, what would you do differently next time?

Any and all suggestions are welcome, and photos too...this is our first effort. Our former laundry "room" was basically a W/D in an unfinished basement with little to no lighting. :)

Amy

Comments (10)

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    My laundry room is small,just basic but my neighbor has sewing machine in and does crafts too. Maybe small tv/dvd hanging on the wall to watch and follow crafty videos.Comfy bean bag chair if you have a child that learns to read. My mom made us read to her so she would helped us if we needed. This way you can iron at same time.
    Make sure you have enough electrical outlets for future plugins. Eraser board for messages? I like lots drawers.Couple of shelves besides the cabinets? Shoe closet? Cleaning supplies closet?.
    I have shoe closet in my laundry room and I love it!

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    A drain, floor sloping towards it in case of floods.

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I am anal about separating laundry in groups. Whites, towels, jeans, dark & warm, light & warm, etc. If I could have one thing in my laundry room it would be enough space to store laundry baskets so that everything could be sorted as soon as it goes into the laundry room. Unfortunately, I barely have room for one basket, let alone several. It would save me soooooo much time spent on sorting!

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Overhead cabinet depth!

    If you have FL machines and are planning overhead cabinets think long and hard about the depth of the cabinets. FL machines are deeper and taller (if on pedestals) than TL machines. The builder designed our laundry room around standard size TL machines; so the cabinets are the standard shallow ones used in laundry rooms across America and standard TLs fits under them perfectly. However, our FL machines stick way out from the cabinets--making the shallow cabinets unreachable.

    My husband is 62", but because out machines stick out so much and the cabinets are so shallow he cannot reach beyond the first shelf. If he needs anything on the second shelf or above, he needs to get out the step stool.

    IÂm 5Â1", I can't even reach the first shelf unless I put on a pair of platform heels--and then I can just snag a cleaning rag off the shelf. If I need anything from the cabinets, I must get out the step stoolÂwhat a nuisance! Our home was constructed 2 months ago so my husband is not going to let me remodel the laundry room.

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    1. tv
    2. comfortable chair
    3. beer fridge
    4. maid

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    220v washer & dryer, shallow depth, indestructible
    laundry sink w/jet
    foldaway ironing board
    mangle
    sewing machine, etc.
    great storage tailored to needs
    central work table with comfortable chair(s)
    tv on wall
    perfect task lighting
    plenty of windows
    a door to the yard

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Dear hubby built nice shelves to hold all my washing products. I do keep my BIG buckets of Sears laundry detergent on the floor, but they're out of the way, beside the washer. (My washer and dryer 'face' each other, as my laundry room is longer than wide.)

    I like having hampers for each type of laundry I do - that way, it's already sorted when I wash. Everyone puts their clothes in the hampers after taking showers, and I have a separate one for towels.

    I have baskets for each family member's clean folded clothes, and each one also has a bicycle hook on the wall for hanging clothes. We each put up our own clothes. (I trained the kids on using the hampers and putting up clothes when they were little.) I also have a tension rod which extends from wall to wall above the dryer. I keep my hangers there, so they are always available when unloading the dryer. I also have Tide hangers there for hanging washed clothes which can't go in the dryer. All the things I've already mentioned are essential to me.

    I wish I had room for my ironing board in the laundry room - though I rarely need to iron. It would be nice to have a sloping floor with a drain in the middle, though we've only had one washer to overflow, and that was close to 30 years ago. So that would not be top priority for me.

    Higher priorities for me would be a bit more counter space to fold laundry (especially sheets), more windows, and an outside door - I'm hoping to get a clothesline soon.

    Dear hubby's granny always kept her sewing machine and supplies in her laundry room (custom-built by his grandad) - she loved being able to mend a garment right then and there. If/when I get my dream laundry room, it will have all those features.

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I second the beer fridge, and I was going to say a bar :)

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Lots of counter space, priority #1. Storage. The extra's...a TV would be nice.

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    We're just putting our laundry room together, after buying the cabinets a couple of years ago. It's about 70% done. We're using Ikea cabinets and had to make some modifications to their limited cabinet choice. DH is currently converting doors to 24" wide x 24" pullouts for the 2 opens spaces left of the washer, the upper cabinets need cover panels for the top, sides and bottom and we need a faucet for the sink to the right of the dryer. We will put a counter on top of the cabinet left of w&d and on top of the w&d for now.

    You can't really tell in the pictures but the w&d and the cabinet to the left of them are pulled out from the wall about 6" while we're still putting things together. We plan to replace the w&d in the next couple of years with models that don't shake the house as much (2nd floor laundry room in an old farmhouse.) They will either be on pedestals or on a shorter home made platform. Either way they will be taller than what we have now (and most likely won't need a counter above them.)

    North and South Walls:

    {{gwi:1877994}} {{gwi:1877997}}

    East and West walls:

    {{gwi:1877995}} {{gwi:1877996}}

    North wall: Center drawer has a fold-away ironing board for quick touch ups (which is about 99% of the ironing I do---and even that's not very often.) An outlet is nearby for the iron. The counter is the folding area. Cabinets underneath will hold separate laundry baskets for clean clothes. 4 baskets for family members, 1 basket for items to go downstairs (kitchen towels, etc.), 1 basket for miscellaneous.

    East Wall: Open white cabinet: has space for hanging and lots of open shelves that I think will be used for storing out-of-season items (hats, mittens, etc.) One long drawer will be used for wrapping paper and one smaller drawer for ribbon, etc. The north wall folding area will used for wrapping. Drying racks will be stored in front of the window/to right of north wall cabinets. Tall storage: one side will have pull outs (inner drawers)& space can be left at the bottom for a laundry hamper. The other side will house vacuum cleaner and full size ironing board.

    South wall: wall mounted drying rack.

    West Wall: cabinet for sorting dirty laundry into categories includes 2 deep drawers and 2 24"x24" pull outs (one may have 2 hanging bags from a frame and other may be left undivided space for bulky items.) Like ebear1271, I have quite a few dirty clothes catergories (lights--cold or warm, darks--cold or warm, dh has his own catergory--extra dirty, towels/sheets/washclothes--hot, socks & underwear--hot.) I can use space in a tall cabinet for another hamper and I could have a hamper on wheels in front of the east window. There is a laundry sink to the right of w&d. We plan store a steam generator in the sink cabinet for a shower we're building on the other side of the wall. We plan to store an air tub turbine in the dead corner space to the right of the sink cabinet (the north wall cabinet next to this space can be pulled out for access).

    I only use the dryer for towels & washclothes, sheets, socks, and underwear. All clothes and blankets get hung to dry. The space gets tight when we put up the drying racks (in winter) but I can also use the guest room that is through one of the doorways. We will scatter hooks throughout the room for hanging items to dry (I usually hang pants by a belt loop) and items can also dry on hangers. We may put hooks high on the wall at the north end of the room from which lines can be stretched when needed but this may be unnecessary.

    Concerns: flooding, since this is the second floor above the kitchen we recently renovated. We have the washer hooked up to a sensor that will turn off the water supply if any leaks are detected under the washer. We're thinking of putting the eventual new washer in a pan that will hopefully be deep enough to contain the water used in a fl. This is why we think we may build our own platform instead of using pedestals. Another thought is to put the washer in a shallow pan that drains into a deeper plastic box stored under the pedestal (with the leak sensor still in use for closing off the water supply.) We also plan to get as good a quality of hose as we can find. Right now I only wash when I'm home and I turn off the water supply after each load.

    We will mount a fire extinguisher near the entrance to the room and will put a smoke detector in the room.

    I plan to set up the sewing machine in the spare/guest room just through the east doorway.

    I hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck!