Doing laundry is a task that many of us may find tedious, and unfortunately, if your home has limited space it can make the task even more difficult. However, not all laundries need a large area or even a separate room to be functional. An efficient laundry just needs to be practical, well organised and ultimately efficient as it’s more than likely a space that is probably used regularly, if not every day.
There is no shortage of clever design ideas and products out there that can make the most of the space that you have available. Here are our top six small laundry design tips.
One clever way of creating an efficient laundry is to embrace the concept of a ‘European laundry’. Increasingly popular in Australia, this refers to any sort of laundry that isn’t stand-alone and can include incorporating your laundry area into another room in the house.
Laundries, kitchens and bathrooms share many of the same installations including things like sinks, taps and drains, so combining these is not just practical, it’s an effective use of space as well. It’s also convenient (wash dishes, yourself or your clothes at the same time!) and efficient as there is no need to pay for additional plumbing configurations.
Laundries don’t necessarily have to be situated in an actual room – a well-sized cupboard that’s accessible and close to bathroom or kitchen plumbing will do the job. Using a hallway nook is also a clever small laundry design idea and the addition of sliding or bi-fold doors will keep everything stylishly hidden from sight.
Off-the-wall laundries are also a popular way to make use of minimal space, however one thing to keep in mind with these options is that dryers and washing machines can sometimes make a fair bit of noise, so you’ll need to ensure wherever your compact laundry is situated, it won’t cause too much of a disruption.
Light colours make rooms look not just brighter but bigger, and because of their reflectiveness can maximise the effect of natural light and help make a space feel more open and airy. For the optimal effect, select white or soft tones of blue and green, and try painting your wall trimmings in a lighter colour than your walls, which will make the space seem bigger.
Allow as much natural light into the area as possible with sheer window coverings or ideally, none at all to completely open up the room’s interior. If your compact laundry is situated in a cupboard, be clever about your use of artificial lighting – keep work areas well lit and consider automatic lights that switch on whenever the doors are opened.
When it comes to small laundry ideas a combination of adequate space and clever storage is crucial so that you can minimise clutter and store essential laundry supplies like washing and ironing products within easy reach.
Use the area’s vertical space as much as possible – wall hooks and over-the-door storage solutions can all work wonders in terms of saving space, and open shelves combined with labelled basket organisers will allow you to utilise even the smallest spaces, from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
And invest in a couple of large portable laundry hampers – one for whites and one for darks – which will save you the hassle of sorting through mounds of dirty clothes when washing day rolls around (again!)
The ideal compact laundry should include ample bench space for you to work efficiently (drop-down workspaces work a treat), which can be maximised with the use of a fold-out or an under-the-counter ironing board.
Drying racks come in all manner of designs and constructions as well from pull-down and accordion racks to racks that can be placed over doors. Over-head drying racks can also save a significant amount of space – position over your whitegoods and you’ll be steaming your clothes as you’re washing others. Anything that saves ironing time!
If you have the luxury of being able to house a separate washing machine and dryer in your laundry but still want to save space, consider wall-mounting racks and install each front-loading appliance on top of the other. If that’s not an option in your small laundry design, then investing in a washer-dryer combo is the next best thing.
Offering an additional level of convenience, these generally combine a front-loading washing machine and a dryer into the one appliance that’s about the size of an equivalent stand-alone washing machine. They wash and dry without your intervention meaning you don’t have to move clothes between appliances, and they can also be used independently. If you prefer fresh, sun-dried clothing, then you can do your washing as per normal, but still, have the option of using the dryer in emergencies.
All Bathroom Gear’s experienced laundry designers will work closely with you from conception to completion in order to get the most out of the space you have to work with. Combined with the services of our qualified installers, they will ensure the task of doing the laundry becomes something to love, not loath!
Renovating a small laundry but struggling to maximise the space you have to work with? Contact the experts at All Bathroom Gear today on (07) 3391 8628.
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