Laundry Room Renovation Tips

5/27/2020

There’s nothing more satisfying than having a clean and functional laundry room, whether it’s a fully dedicated space just for laundry, or a tidy corner in your basement. When renovating your laundry room, consider location, layout, safety, and sinks.

LOCATION:

Basements: The greatest benefit of having your laundry room in the basement is it’s out of the way, you can’t hear or feel the vibrations, and if any leaks occur, you don’t have to worry about damage to the main floor and basement ceiling. 

Keep this in mind: If you tend to do laundry during the day, consider lighting options. Perhaps you’d prefer a laundry nook on the main-floor where there is more natural light.

Upper floors: Upper floors are great for proximity to the other main rooms in your home, which eliminates walking up and down stairs with overflowing laundry baskets. Having your laundry room on the main floor may also open up options for tapping into existing plumbing lines near your bathrooms or kitchen. 

Keep this in mind: If you’re thinking of having your laundry on the main or upper floor, consider closeness to rooms where you might not want to hear the noise of a washer or dryer. Extra insulation or padding might be needed to lessen the noise. If you’re setting up in a closet, you’ll also need additional space for ventilation for your dryer.

LAYOUT:

Create an efficient layout:

  • Map out your laundry process and plan accordingly. Everyone does laundry differently; maybe you don’t need a folding area, but you do hang dry a lot of your clothes, so you might want more drying rack space instead.
  • Measure everything! You want to have space to open and close all doors and cupboards, and you want to ensure you have appropriate gaps if you’re building shelves around your washer and dryer (usually 1”).
  • Stack washers or place them side by side. (If you don’t want to build too much storage, consider front loading machines with drawers on the bottom).
  • Ensure you have space to set your hampers or baskets so you can easily transfer laundry in and out of the washer and dryer. 
  • Create a cubby or shelf for your most used items like detergent, dryer sheets, and stain remover. 
  • Create another cubby to tuck your hampers when they’re not being used. 
  • If you’re stacking your washer and dryer, create an adjacent countertop workspace for folding, ironing, mending, etc. or build a shelf above your washer and dryer if they’re side by side. Be sure to consider what’s more comfortable for your height.


SAFETY: 

Nobody wants to absorb the cost of a flood, or a fire, so take precautions when installing your washer and dryer.

  • Swap the rubber washer hose for a steel one. They won’t split.
  • Use a metal dryer-vent pipe and foil tape instead of a plastic flex hose.
  • It might be worth it to invest in an automatic shutoff valve if there’s a leak or burst hose.


SINKS AND MORE:

These deep sinks are perfect for soaking items (large and small) or hand-washing delicates. They’re also extremely durable if your laundry room sink doubles as a utility sink.