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Laundry room design help

7 years ago

We are building a new house in the mountains, and we've never done this before! I would appreciate any guidance in designing the layout of our laundry room. I am tall and need a place to put a drying rack--for 10 pieces?--as I don't dry most of my clothes. I would also like a wall-mounted ironing board. What else do I want? Sink in front of the window? Tall closet for...? Where do I put a bar for hanging clothes? Help! Here is the room as laid out by the draftsman. Room is 8 ½ ft x 13 ½ ft, and unfortunately has to be a walk-through from the garage.



Comments (19)

  • 7 years ago

    You could put the washer and dryer on either side of the sink and eliminate the cabinets on the left side of the room and use it or hanging space for drying and coats.

    HU-901071083 thanked Suki Mom
  • PRO
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Lay out your ideal laundry room incorporating all your wants and needs independent of your current house design. Redesign your house to accommodate your ideal laundry room. Repeat this process with each of the rooms you want in your house until you have your ideal house. (Hint: you may not want to do this with a "draftsman")

  • 7 years ago

    Look for drawer drying racks like these:


    Kiawah Classic Cassique · More Info

    Rockland · More Info


    and ironing board in a drawer like this:


    New · More Info



    Hang your clothes above the washer and dryer. I'd put your tall pantry cabinet to the right of the sink in the corner.

    HU-901071083 thanked shead
  • 7 years ago

    It will be easier to vent the dryer (and clean the dryer vent) if it's on an outside wall. So I'd swap the sink run and w/d run. Or have sink, w/d all on the outside wall (nice if you ever move something wet from the sink to the washer) and then use the inside wall for your folding, ironing, hanging space. (Be sure the outside wall is well insulated of course since there will be pipes there.)

    HU-901071083 thanked chicagoans
  • 7 years ago

    Can you post a bit more of the plan? Showing surrounding spaces.

  • 7 years ago

    It has exterior walls on almost three sides. One door goes to the garage, the other goes into the hallway to the rest of the house. The right side of the photo is the front of the house.


    chicagoans, I hadn't thought about venting at all....


    shead, cool ideas! I have more clothes to hang dry, though, than those racks would allow. Would I do twice as many drawers?


    suki, I'm not sure about splitting the washer and dryer. Do I need to have the sink in front of the window? It seems nice, but I don't know if it really matters.


    Mark, not really an option, both because of the advanced stage of design we are in and money.



  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Absolutely, place the dryer on an outside wall to facilitate venting. This is the time to plan that properly. A straight shot out is MUCH better for dryer function than going through an attic or requiring multiple turns. Mine is on an outside wall, at a corner, and the wall outlet is set too close to the corner. I have to set the dryer at an angle to avoid kinking the ducting or the airflow is obstructed and the dryer overheats (mine has a monitor for that, throws a fault code when it happens). Pay attention to those sorts of things.

  • 7 years ago
    I mounted a bar for hanging clothes above my washer and dryer (front loaders). I actually use it instead of a drying rack. I fold clothes over plastic hangers to dry. Works for all but a few items that wrinkle in the corners because the hangers are too narrow.
    HU-901071083 thanked bgal231
  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    How often do you iron? I’m asking for a reason. My best friend irons a minimum of once a week, a full basket of stuff. Whereas I iron one item at a time as needed. She sets up her board in her family room, puts on Netflix or puts me on speaker and she gets it done. I have a wall mounted flip down board that I frantically set up when someone needs a presentable piece of clothing and tap my foot waiting the iron to heat up all the while yelling at whatever kid that they should have gotten this done the day before. Thankfully my wall unit has a burn stop plate that means I can put a still hot iron away before sprinting out the door.

    So my set up would drive her crazy and vice versa lol.

  • 7 years ago

    Annette, that is me exactly! That's what spray bottles are for. :) I love the wall mounted ironing board, because I can forget it's there but it's handy and quick on the rare occasion I need it. I didn't know you could get one that would accommodate a hot iron. That would be so great!


    bgal231, that's something I hadn't thought of. It certainly would take less space, and you're using a space that is already there.

  • 7 years ago

    I’d make the door into the hallway a pocket door. For some reason people on here are always poo-pooing pocket doors, but I’ve had 2 in my house for over 20 years and they still work perfectly.

    Then you could put the wall mounted ironing board on that wall.

    HU-901071083 thanked Annette Holbrook(z7a)
  • 7 years ago

    I love my laundry room and the shape is similar to yours. Here’s what I would do.

    Leave the washer and dryer where they are. If you have a basement the dryer can easily vent that short distance. Down and out. Use a “Dryer Box” to get your washer and dryer close to the wall. Mount a wall rod above the washer and dryer for hanging items on hangars to finish drying. I dry very few items completely and 5 ft is plenty. This gives you about 5 ft of hanging.

    put the sink to the left of the washer. You don’t need a huge sink...

    get the sink off of the counter space in front of the window which is prime space for folding and organizing. In front of a window, no less. Leave some space under the counter empty to tuck baskets, dog, food, whatever you need to get off or out of your way. Put an outlet under there.

    put an Iron Away between the studs between the entry door and the counter. You may have to close the door to use it, but I’m on my third one and I love it.

    we just moved in and everything is a mess or I would get pics.

  • 7 years ago

    PS...just read Annette’s note. Great idea on the pocket door from laundry room into the house. Mine actually is a pocket door. Archectict designed a thicker wall there.

  • 7 years ago

    ILoveRed, I love those ideas! Plus, I’m kind of obsessed with red, so we must be kindred spirits. :) I don’t spend much time at my laundry room sink, but folding clothes is a whole other story. I love the idea of doing it while looking out the window. Please post picks when you get all moved in!

  • 7 years ago

    Annette, I was going to ask exactly the same about the ironing. I usually do all my washing once a week and do all the ironing the following day when it is dry. I would not want to be stuck in the laundry room for a couple of hours staring at the washer. It would make me feel as though I'd been banished to the steward's quarters. I don't have the discipline to iron stuff as I need it; I'd just end up wearing creased clothes. I'm definitely in the Netflix camp.

  • 7 years ago

    HU..I don’t iron but my persnickety dh does but as needed so our Iron Away is in our master closet. It fits perfectly between studs. I will try to get my laundry room straightened up a little and take a couple of pics for you. My laundry room is not huge but it is efficient.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    So if you leave the W/D as in plan, I’d put a pass through door at counter height into the closet. Put a base cabinet on the other side maybe.

    If you are a gardener it would be good to have the sink right near the exterior door. That’s how I have mine as I use it as a potting station, or for arranging flowers. When I had chickens, it was also where I brought in the eggs and washed them before putting in cartons.

    ironing station on wall,

  • 7 years ago

    Do you need room for a spare fridge/freezer? Do you need a tall broom/mop closet/cabinet? Do you have pets and will their bowls go in the laundry? Do you want a surface for folding clothes? Go through your wants and needs to figure out what needs to be in the space. My laundry room is almost exactly your size but I don't have a window.

    Here's my laundry room with my crude adjustments from the original architect's rendering. The space between the fridge and the tall cabinet has upper wall cabinets, a counter and then blank space underneath for my dog bowls.

    I went back and forth on installing a rod for hanging clothes above the sink instead of cabinets, but ultimately decided on this. It's mounted on the right wall and I only extend it out when needed. Otherwise, just hangs on the wall very much out of the way. My ironing board is hanging on the wall behind the door.