Finding Space for your Laundry Room

Laundry is a necessary evil. The laundry life cycle seems never ending, especially in households with children. In a home of 4 people, the average number of weekly loads is 5 to 6. Which means, we spend of a lot of time in these rooms! So why not make the space an enjoyable one?   

Smaller and/or older homes traditionally have their laundry located in the basement. A fine and dandy place to keep it the potential mess out of sight, however, many homeowners who have the space are moving their laundry facilities to the first floor or second floors of the house. All in the name of convenience.

Let’s weigh these pros and cons for a moment. Moving the laundry room to a second or upper floor:

 

Pros

• Less heft of carrying dirty clothes from hampers or laundry baskets to the washing machine up and down flights of stairs
• Can share existing plumbing from the bathroom

Cons

• Takes up real estate of a closet in bed or bath rooms
• Noise from the machine while in use
  
  

Moving the laundry room to the first floor:

Pros

• Close proximity to where other housekeeping activities take place
• Plumbing can be shared from the kitchen or powder room

Cons

• Schlepping laundry from the first floor to the second floor
• Potential cluttering of the living space with piles of clean or dirty laundry

You’ll need to make sure the washer and other plumbing is properly installed to protect against flooding, especially with a second floor laundry room.  You will also need to consider ventilation and clearance spaces to avoid a fire with a dryer. The washer and dryer should always be placed directly in front of the utility hookups. Extension cords or expandable dryer tubing shouldn’t even cross your mind!

In the next post, we’ll talk about the design and other functions the laundry room can provide.