5 laundry traps to avoid

Laundries are often the overlooked and most hated areas of homes. Endless hours washing, hanging, drying, and sorting clothes can instil a hatred of laundries so strong that sometimes it’s easier to gloss over designs and layouts in order to get away from them as soon as possible. But without proper forethought, you could end up with an impractical design that will add to the amount of time you spend on laundry.

Here are some easy to follow tips on what to avoid, and how to fix, common traps found in laundry designs.

Decisions

It may seem obvious but the worst ideas are the ones made in the heat of the moment.

It’s worth taking the time to consider what kind of appliances you will want or need in the future and to plan around the potential investment of those things. Work full-time and it’s about to get busier? Then you may one day want a clothes dryer. Maybe you are already planning for a big family full of many tiny playsuits, singlets, and socks, so you think you’ll need two washing machines. It’s best to plan for these things in advance so that you don’t have to make disruptive changes in the future.

Sinks

Don’t make the mistake of settling for any old sink. Sure, sinks seem boring and trivial but the right sink will make all the difference to your laundry space. Choose a deep stainless steel washing sink will ensure you have enough room to hand-wash delicates. You want the sink the to be big enough to hand-wash and fill the mop bucket but not so big it takes up valuable bench space in the laundry.

Don’t forget about the ironing

Even if you are one of those people who thinks ‘I have never, and will never, do the ironing!’ everyone, at some point in their lives (and some more often than others), will meet with the fated ironing board.

Install a wall-mounted ironing board for ease of access. Even better, leave a small section of your laundry for a built-in ironing station with concealed storage space for pegs, lint brushes, sprays and gadgets to shrink time spent double-handling your clothes.

Visible storage

It’s easy to forget the importance of storage spaces, especially in your eagerness to get your laundry construction underway. However, space is a commodity, and all over the world, people are developing increasingly more efficient ways to get the most out of their homes.

With that in mind, why not install pull-out laundry hampers—with designated labels for whites and darks, dirty and clean. It’s a good idea to install hanging rails in any free overhead space where you can hang dry shirts. This way, you can pick up a shirt from the washing machine, iron it and hang it up straight away. Laundry will be hassle-free!

Another storage solution, one that probably takes the cake for smacking you in the face with a ‘well—duh!’ is shelving. If you can store laundry powder, detergents, even some of the nastier pest repellent/chemicals in your laundry, you are freeing up more space in your kitchen cupboards. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Exhaust fans

Laundries are often damp places. With all that washing going on, wet clothes and condensation, it’s a wonder so many home laundries are missing exhaust fans. It’s a small expense but one that will ensure your drying clothes receive adequate ventilation to avoid damp, musty smelling clothes.

It may seem obvious but if you think about it, these are all easy enough, common mistakes to make in the excitement of building or renovating. If you’re interested in alternative options in laundry renovation, call 1300 662 838 to speak to one of our smarterBATHROOM+ experts today.