Good design can ease laundry task

Do the wash more efficiently with room that suits needs

By Ann Robinson and Annie Vernon
For the Deseret Morning News

Does it seem like your laundry piles are usually more like mountains than molehills? Is getting family members to pitch in and do laundry harder than getting out grape juice stains?

This renovated laundry room includes plenty of floor and counter space, a built-in ironing board, bins for each family member's laundry, and room for an extra refrigerator. See this project. Renovation Design Group

It's an architectural fact that household facilities that cater to your family's lifestyle make it easier to keep your home clean and organized. The creation of a well-designed laundry room can help you get your laundry done more efficiently, saving you time and energy for things you'd rather be doing.

If you live in an older home, your laundry "room" or area probably consists of a washer, a dryer, and a small cabinet or two. In contrast, think of the convenience of a laundry room with a large utility sink, plenty of cabinets for storage, generous floor space for sorting dirty clothing, ample counter space for folding clothes, a built-in ironing board, cubbies or bins for each family member so they can do their own laundry, and even a TV or DVD player.

Your needs and lifestyle should drive the design of your laundry room. For example, do you do a "laundry marathon" once a week, or just one load a day? The more laundry you do at one time, the more floor space or clothes bins you'll need for sorting and the more counter space you'll need for folding and stacking.

Also, if you typically do a lot of laundry at a time, you could cut your laundry time in half by having two dryers to keep up with the shorter cycle of the washer. (If you're concerned about how all those appliances would fit in your laundry room, remember that today's front-loading washers make it possible to stack full-sized appliances.)

Another way to increase efficiency in doing the laundry is to make the laundry room conducive for all household members to pitch in. We like a sign that hangs in the renovated laundry room of one of our clients: "Equal opportunity laundry." Family members can each be given a space for a cubby, basket, or bin in which their clothes are placed for them to fold and/or put away themselves.

Finally, choose a location for your laundry room that will be the most convenient for your household. If you do the laundry yourself, you'll probably want the laundry area to be close to where you spend the most time in your home (usually the main floor). If you want the whole family to participate, it is best to have the laundry room situated near the family bedrooms.

We can't promise that your clothes will be cleaner, but we can say that a well-designed and well-placed laundry room will make doing the laundry much more efficient and yes, even enjoyable.

Related Articles:
- A well-designed mudroom helps keep the house organized

Architects Ann Robinson, AIA, and Annie Vernon, AIA, welcome your design questions at Ask@RenovationDesignGroup.com. Robinson and Vernon are founding principals of Renovation Design Group, a local architectural firm specializing in residential remodeling design.

To register for "Designing a Remodel with Character & Class," call 533-5331 or click here for details.

© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company