Transform your laundry room into a showpiece.
Laundry rooms used to be small closet-like spaces that contained a washer, dryer and possibly a sink. Rather than being dank, dark and unwelcoming, modern laundry rooms are much more appealing. Nowadays, people are reforming their laundry rooms to be spacious, inviting and multi-functional. A laundry room can double as a mudroom, coat closet, craft area and even a home office. When turning one of your rooms into a laundry room, make sure you design a room that fits your family's needs. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Decide how you want your laundry room to function. Will you go there just to do the laundry or will you store things there as well? Do you want to include coat racks, a pet cage, an ironing station or anything specific to your family? Make a list of all of the ways in which your laundry room will function, keeping in mind the amount of space available for the room.
2. Review your list and create a new list that details anything you need to purchase in order for your new room to fulfill those functions. For example, if you want your laundry room to double as an ironing station, make sure you add "ironing board" to your list, if you don't already have one.
3. Meet with an architect to plan the exact layout of your laundry room. Share your thoughts and plans on what you wish to include and get his opinion to see if everything is realistic.
4. Hook up the washing machine to the water line in your laundry room. If there is no water line, you will need to meet with a plumbing contractor to have one installed. If you would like to add a utility sink, you will need a line for that as well.
5. Plug your dryer into the wall. If you have a gas dryer, you will need to attach it to a gas line as well as the electricity. If your laundry room does not have a gas line, you will need to hire an electrician to have one installed.
6. Install a clothing rack to hang wet clothes by drilling the ends into the wall at a height that is comfortable for you to reach.
7. Add anything else that you would like to include, such as drawers for storing detergents and towels, hooks for coats and backpacks, a rack to clip in your brooms and mops and a shoe rack for dirty boots and sneakers. For those who wish to have their laundry room serve double-duty, as either a craft area for the kids or a home office, you will need to include a table top or desk that can house supplies needed for these activities, as well as at least one chair.
Tags: laundry room, your laundry, your laundry room, will need, craft area, have installed
