Laundry Rooms

It is often true that the simple things in life are the ones that make us the most happy. In our homes the unsung and hardly glamorous laundry room serves to keep the engine of our lives running smoothly. Though clean socks may not guarantee happiness, it is a start.

While it is true that a stacked washer-dryer works fine in a closet and clothes can soak in the kitchen sink, a dedicated space centralizes the chores. There are, in fact, many workarounds to a dedicated laundry room but having one is certainly the gold standard of clean clothes. The ideal laundry room can include a fold down ironing board, of course a washer/dryer, a generous sink, storage galore, and, best of all, room to fold, organize, and work.

There are three popular places in a two story home that this cleaning hub ends up: the basement, the main living floor and the second (bedroom) floor. Each location has its pros and cons.

The basement is often the default location if there isn’t room anywhere else. It is isolated and therefore unobtrusive, but is inconvenient for attending to loads of laundry and distributing the finished product.

The first floor is usually in the thick of things and is most convenient for a family that is in the midst of a dozen projects and needs the laundry room for cleaning boots, soaking delicate clothes, and constant loads of laundry that everyone is attending to. A laundry chute can mitigate the need to be constantly running up and down the stairs.

The second floor is where most the laundry is generated and distributed which makes it an ideal location for the laundry room. The main drawback is that it is not the most convenient spot when everyone is downstairs and the clothes need to be moved from the washing machine to the dryer. It can be a short walk to dressers though when those clothes need to be put away.

No two families are the same, and what works perfectly for one rarely is ideal for another and those needs change over time. Speaking as a father of three: a laundry room can be one of those simple pleasures that we all appreciate.