Level-up the Laundry Room

Laundry rooms are often neglected corners of our homes that are rarely considered when we are looking to embark on a home improvement or beautification project.  After all, their function is generally 100% utilitarian.  If you have money to spend on updating your home, chances are you want to put that money into items that are in the more public spaces in the home where you spend the most time, or on projects that will recoup the highest return on investment (ROI) like kitchens and bathroom updates..  Most of us try not to spend too much time in our laundry rooms if we can help it, and when we look at ROI data for our region, when compared to other home projects, laundry room remodels are not at the top of the list for most homes when it comes to adding to a home’s dollar value.  However, having a functional and aesthetically pleasing laundry space may make your home more marketable and set it apart from the competition. In the meantime, an updated laundry will hopefully make your weekly chores slightly more pleasurable.  

If you are currently in the market for a new home, the laundry space may or may not be on your top 10 list of considerations for a new home.  If you are selling, maybe you haven’t even contemplated how your laundry room will affect the marketability of your property, but do you know you can stage a laundry room just as you would a bedroom or living area?  If you are neither a buyer or seller right now and are simply a homeowner, maybe you are looking for a new weekend project to keep your house interesting.  

Not all homes have been designed with separate laundry rooms.  Some people do their laundry in a dark unfinished basement.  Other’s venture out to a garage.  Some homes have a laundry closet and merely holds the washer and dryer, but not much else.  Laundry is an inevitable chore, and everyone has their favorite routine and tricks for getting through the piles of dirty clothes each week.  

Revamping your laundry space can be an affordable and simple project. Regardless of what your laundry space looks like or what routines you have in place, there are a few items to keep on hand and close by to make all of your laundry chores a little easier.  

What are the basics of the best laundry rooms?  We are glad you asked. Because we don’t want to take anything for granted, here are the essentials of every laundry room:

• Washing and Drying Machines:  duh, right?  You do have decisions to make when it comes to your laundry appliances though, and if you are looking to redo your space, what type of machine you pick will affect other options down the road.  For example, if you pick a top-load washing machine, you cannot put a counter top over the washer and dryer, nor can you stack them to save floor space. A top loader might also affect the height of your cabinets since you have to have the right amount of clearance for the lid.  If you get a front loader, will you get the pedestals so they sit higher?  Or will you forego the pedestal so that you can put that counter-top across the top?  Whatever you choose, make sure you get energy efficient models to save on water and electricity (or gas).
• Organization: So that the space, even if it is small (especially if it is small) flows efficiently, organization is KEY!
• Enough Storage: cabinets, baskets, bins, hooks, hangers, rods…you get the drift.
• Work surfaces: such as a countertop or table
• Utility sink: Or at least a sink close by or rinsing or soaking stained items

Now that we have the basics out of the way, most laundry rooms will need to have most of the following items on hand.  In addition to needing to host laundry accoutrements, a laundry room often doubles as a repository of all cleaning supplies. As you organize your laundry space, make sure that you have places and strategies for dealing with the following essentials: 

• Detergents: yes, plural.  Something for regular laundry, something for delicates, and maybe even a booster for extra dirty loads.
• Stain removers:  We all have our favorites for various types of stains.
• Baking soda:  So useful for all sorts of laundry and cleaning conundrums
• Other laundry additives:  bleach, white vinegar, fabric softener
• Dryer balls/fabric softener/dryer sheets: keep the static electricity at bay and ensure fluffiness
• Iron/ironing board:  Okay, we know very few people iron any more, but once in a while, it is necessary to get the wrinkles out, and an iron and iron board are the best tools to effectively accomplish this.  
• Drying rack:  there are lots of more modern options out there for drying racks that go beyond the traditional wooden floor rack.  Consider a retractable line or a wall mounted rack.  We all have items that need to air dry and it is nice to have a designated place instead of draping wet clothes over bathtubs and chairs.  
• Garbage can
• Other cleaning supplies:
  • Old towels and rags
  • Cleaning solvents
  • Brooms and mops
  • Buckets 

There is nothing frivolous about updating your laundry room to create an aesthetic that you look forward to when it is time to spend a few hours sorting and folding.  Easy ways to update a laundry room include many of the same elements you would adjust in any other room:  fresh paint, new cabinet pulls, new window treatments, some fun wall art.  You can get fancier with custom built-ins and unique storage options.  Your creativity is really the only limit.  More complicated and costlier options would include moving a laundry to a different level of the home or re-orienting the appliance hook-ups, but such extremes aren’t necessary for improving your laundry room situation.  If you have any questions at all about how much attention or what kind of attention to pay to your laundry room, please reach out to an F.C. Tucker Emge REALTOR® and Let’s Talk!