What We've Learned About Laundry Rooms
from my own laundry room, our clients, and from the community
We had great feedback from our previous post all about the best design choices for mudrooms (read it here if you missed it) and we thought that it would be just as helpful to do the same thing for the laundry room. This is a highly functional space and there are so many layout, aesthetic, and functional possibilities. Today, we’re breaking down each of these elements and sharing some of our favorite laundry room inspiration photos.
FUNCTION
The way that a laundry room functions is very dependent on you/those in your household and how you like to do your laundry. We turned to our community here on Substack and Instagram to narrow down the overall preferences for the function of a laundry space.
These were the common opinions when given the choice:
Half of you prefer front loaders and half prefer top loaders. This definitely comes down to personal preference and the amount of space you’re working with.
The majority of you said you wouldn’t stack your washer and dryer.
A drying rack or hanging rod is your most preferred option for air drying space in a laundry room.
Many people mentioned that installing cabinetry around machines or a countertop above, makes it more difficult to maintain and access your machines.
Almost 90% said they would prefer to have a sink in the laundry room. (Great for taking care of stains and handwashing).
The most popular laundry basket solutions are collapsible baskets, a basket in everyone’s individual closets, rolling carts under the counter, and open shelving in the laundry room with baskets.
When asked what you would change about your laundry room, these were the four most popular responses: make it a little bigger, move it up from the basement or in a room with more light, have a drying rack, and have a space for folding clothes.
LAYOUT
In order to figure out the best layout for your laundry room, it’s important to take into account the way that it will function (as we talked about above). In my own home, I definitely wanted a laundry room on the top floor where all the bedrooms are. In order to get a Primary Suite, three bedrooms, a bathroom and a family room on that floor, the laundry room had to be small which I was okay with because I am also of the mindset that the bigger the laundry room, the more opportunities for things to pile up and for it to get junky.
(see my floor plan below)