It's been estimated that Americans spend up to 17 minutes a day on laundry. While that may not seem like that long of a time to spend in your laundry room, over time, it does add up — to 8 hours a month! While the laundry room is perhaps the most utilitarian space in the house, it doesn't have to feel so cold, especially if we're spending the equivalent of a full work day there every month. From quick fixes to make this small room function more efficiently, or design touches to make our time spent in it more pleasant, there are all sorts of ways to make the laundry room feel not so... ominous.
1) Use All the Space
Though negative space in interior design is generally a good thing, it's not what the laundry room needs. The more space you have for keeping things organized, the better. If you install cabinets or shelves, make sure they go wall-to-wall. In addition to horizontal storage solutions, think about how far up the wall you can go. You won't be relaxing in here any time soon, so you might as well make every inch of the room work just as hard as you do.
2) Purge Frequently
A laundry room is a place where things pile up — dirty laundry, clean laundry, random odds and ends, old cleaning supplies, etc. Every couple of weeks do a quick sweep to remove anything that's taking up unnecessary space. You'll be in a much better mood to get the chore done if you don't have to step over piles of "stuff." A clear space makes for fast work.
3) Install Countertops
A countertop in the laundry room is a game changer. You can fold laundry on top, and also hang items on hooks below. If space is an issue, you could even try a fold down table that you can flip up when you need it, then fold it neatly back against the wall when you don't.
4) Add a Rod or Wall Hooks
You always need somewhere to hang things in a laundry room. Install a rod below a shelf or across the doorway for drying damp clothes, or add hooks to the wall to hang clothes that you don't want wrinkled straight from the dryer.
5) Add Your Design Touch
Chances are, you're in the laundry room fairly often. Make your time spent there a little more enjoyable by hanging a fun print on the wall, adding a vase of fresh flowers, or even using decorative containers for laundry soap and dryer sheets. Even if you don't feel like doing laundry, at least you'll take pleasure in how nice the room looks.
6) Use Decorative Containers
How often do you find coins or buttons in the dryer once you've taken the clothes out? Chances are, pretty often. Use a series of great-looking jars or a repurposed jewelry box to store all the treasures you find in the laundry that you don't want to throw away.
7) Have a Designated Place for Lost Socks
Until the mystery of the single sock is solved, we need a place to put them until their match shows up. Instead of leaving all the mismatched socks on the floor or on top of the dryer, put them in an attractive basket on a shelf. If a year goes by and their mates don't show up, it's probably safe to toss them, use them as dusting gloves, or put a tennis ball in them and let your pup have a ball!
Hopefully these tips inspire you to make your own laundry room a more enjoyable place to spend time every day. See all these tips in action in the gorgeous laundry rooms in Stone Martin Builders’ homes. Schedule an appointment to see them in person.
