Designing for Convenience: Laundry Room Edition
Today’s post is all about designing for convenience! Specifically, convenience in the laundry room. I am going to share my favorite tips and tricks for bringing convenience into one of the hardest-working rooms in your home.
Whether you are planning a full laundry room renovation or a minor refresh, we have tips to make this essential room in your home feel less like a place you have to be and more like a place you want to be!
The laundry room is one of my all-time favorite rooms in the home to design. My team is based in Seattle, WA, and most of our available laundry room space is compact. This presents a multitude of challenges in terms of fitting in all of the things our clients want and need in their laundry rooms.
My team and I have to get really creative in these smaller spaces in order to pack a design punch! Our design goals include using the space we have available to its fullest potential and ensuring that we are designing every square inch of the room to maximize the convenience factor for our clients.
While we strive to design laundry rooms that are beautiful, our main focus early in the design process is making sure the laundry room is high functioning and designed for convenience.
Today I am sharing my favorite tips for designing a laundry room for convenience with YOU! So settle in and remember to pin this post so that you are ready to design for convenience in your laundry room project!
Photography by: Emily Keeney
Ready to design for convenience? Start here!
Does your laundry room renovation have you in a spin? No problem—I’m going to share what I focus on when I design for convenience in a laundry room. I’ve broken down my favorite areas of the laundry room to infuse with a little sparkle! As you plan your renovation, consider adding some of these clever convenience moments to your plans.
Drying Racks
Let’s start with a delicate challenge—where to hang dry your delicates! Here are some of my favorite convenient solutions for your drying rack.
Drying rack drawers
If your renovation includes new cabinets, consider including drying rack drawers. These can be a game changer for drying your delicates!
No new cabinets, no problem!
If you are not planning on adding new cabinets to your space—but you want to add convenient drying for delicates—you have options! Two of our favorite post-renovation drying solutions include wall-mounted drying racks and ceiling-installed drying racks. Both offer a convenient hang-to-dry solution that minimizes impact on your room footprint when not in use.
Ironing Boards
Does anyone out there still use an ironing board? If you answered yes to this question, you will need a convenient place to store the board (easier said than done, right?)
The built-in ironing board
If new cabinets are in your laundry room's future, you can integrate an ironing board drawer that tucks away and folds out when needed. Don’t forget to add a power outlet close to the board so that the iron will reach with ease!
Vertical storage solutions
Another option is to store the board vertically in a tall, skinny cabinet.
Wall-mounted ironing board
If you need space for your ironing board but are not planning new cabinets, a wall-mounted ironing board cabinet could be perfect for you!
Photography by: Emily Keeney
Dirty Laundry Storage
One of the best parts of designing your laundry room for convenience is finally putting that dirty laundry AWAY. Here are some easy tricks for keeping it out of sight.
Handy hamper solutions
The quick and easy solution is to add a lidded hamper to your laundry room to corral the laundry until washing day. However, if you happen to have a spare base cabinet that could be repurposed for laundry storage, I have a tip for you!
Rev-A Shelf offers some roll-out laundry hampers that can be installed into base cabinets aftermarket. If you want to jump on this laundry hamper train, you will want to measure your base cabinet carefully and choose a hamper unit that is appropriate for the size of your cabinet.
If you are planning new cabinets, the same line of laundry roll-out storage can be used, but your options just expanded! We love to layer in multiple short baskets in tall cabinets to separate delicates from lights and darks. Talk about a time saver when laundry day rolls around!
Laundry Chute
Do you have a laundry chute in your life? If so, lucky you! We are huge fans of laundry chutes for convenience! Our top pick solution for catching dirty laundry from the chute is a vintage-inspired rolling laundry cart.
The cart doubles as a vessel for the freshly dried laundry until you are ready to fold. If you would like to add a rolling cart (laundry chute or not!), think about where you will store it when not in use.
If you are planning for new cabinets, consider carving out a dedicated place for the cart to live— such as under your drying rack drawers!
The Sink
Think about your sink! Including a sink in your laundry room adds huge value. Laundry sinks offer a place to soak delicates or toss wet items until you are free to wash them. Remember the wall-hung drying rack tip? Add the rack over your laundry sink, and you have a place for wet items to drip dry without making a mess!
Photography by: Emily Keeney
The Sink
Think about your sink! Including a sink in your laundry room adds huge value. Laundry sinks offer a place to soak delicates or toss wet items until you are free to wash them. Remember the wall-hung drying rack tip? Add the rack over your laundry sink, and you have a place for wet items to drip dry without making a mess!
The Basics
Let’s not forget about the basics. Clear glass jars labeled for items such as laundry pods and dryer balls help keep your laundry room organized. Trays or small baskets are another great way to organize your laundry room essentials. Even the smallest details can make a big impact when you’re designing for convenience in the laundry room!
Photography by: Emily Keeney
The end result: a room that works as hard as you do!
When we design for convenience in the laundry room, we take away the stress of piled up dirty laundry, messy laundry pod containers, and cumbersome drying solutions. The end result is a fresh, clean room that you enjoy being in and that makes your life easier!
