The laundry room: A space housing a washing machine, dryer, and clothing rack or cord strung across the room for drip-drying.

Sounds simple, right? Well, it's actually not.

Let me take you down memory lane to my experience as a young mother with oh-so-tiny clothing to launder for my first newborn baby girl. With extreme care I pre-spotted every stain that the bibs she wore didn't catch, and made sure to only use the purest laundry detergents (sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it?) to keep her garments clean. And it was fun to do...dresses that were no taller than 8 or 10 inches, in the most beautiful shades of pink in the softest of cotton with matching socks, tights and 'fancy ruffled panties'. While our baby napped I'd find myself in the laundry room and sure enough, by the time she rose from nap time, my laundry time was done...at least for that day.

Before we knew it, we were on to the ownership of our first home. Our washer and dryer were carried down to the basement by the moving crew. The gas piping to the dryer and a vent to the outside was hooked up as was water and drain lines, strategically ending up in a laundry utility sink.

Fast forward many years and our daughter now had a sister, and thus, the 'cute' chore of doing delicate baby laundry grew into a never-ending project that I affectionately called "Laundry Land" and try hard as I might, I could never find my way out of there. And, this lasted for decades.

There were now jeans by the dozens, school clothes, play clothes, party dresses, holiday garments, and don't forget laundry from my husband and me. Our  younger daughter had a habit of trying on her school clothes, deciding she didn't want to wear that outfit and on the floor it went... or in the hamper. Washing clean clothing? You bet!

There were towels by the dozen (requiring a non-stop effort of cleaning out the lint trap), and barely room to move in the space of the laundry room.

Stacked washer/dryer	Front load washer/dryer	Top load washer/dryer

Today's homeowners have a different point of view:

• Most families today are two-income meaning both spouses work full time outside of the home and less time at home for chores.
• Are in agreement that a Laundry is a necessary evil
• Laundry rooms must be placed in an easy to access location to allow for multi-tasking
• Carrying multiple laundry baskets up several flights of stairs is a thing of the past in many homes

Laundry rooms are located on the bedroom level of a home today, which is most convenient. Overflow pans and floor drains accommodate the worst fears of water damage. This allows for more ease in putting laundry away and more family time. Your dressing room, bathroom or closet hamper can easily be carried into your laundry area, processed and when clean, drip-dried or crisply pressed, easily put back for its next wear.

As children get older, cubbies can be built with your child's name and his or her clean garments placed within this area -- a great way to get your kids to pitch in bring their 'dirty duds' to the wash area and put their clothes away when they're done!

Smaller spaces may require stacked machines, sometimes even full size, or a glorious space could allow for multiple machines for larger families, a folding/sorting table and plenty of hanging space as well as cabinetry to hold your detergents, fabric softeners, etc.

A built-in ironing center allows for your iron to be tucked away with a drop-down for the board and a space to hang clothes after they've been ironed. 

At the "end of the day"...

Finding out what makes the most sense to you, your family and schedule will ultimately bring you to the right decision in designing your laundry space.

We hope this has helped!

Ready to start your laundry room project?