The laundry room is one of the hardest-working rooms in any home — and one of the most neglected when it comes to design. Most laundry rooms have a washer, a dryer, and nothing else. The result is folding on top of the dryer, detergents balanced on the machines, and clean laundry piling up because there is nowhere to put it.
A well-designed laundry room changes all of this. Here is what goes into one.
The Folding Surface
The single most impactful laundry room improvement is a dedicated folding surface. When you have a counter to fold on, you fold immediately — because it is fast and easy. When you have to carry laundry to another room or fold on the bed, the pile accumulates.
A built-in folding counter runs above the machines (for front-loaders) or to the side (for top-loaders). It should be at comfortable counter height — 34 to 36 inches — and wide enough to fold a fitted sheet without struggling.
Upper Cabinet Storage
Upper cabinets above the folding counter and machines hold detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, and laundry supplies out of sight and off the machines. They also provide storage for extra supplies, cleaning products, and household items that logically live near the laundry.
Closed upper cabinets keep the laundry room looking clean and finished, even when it is in heavy use.
Sorted Hamper Pull-Outs
Built-in hamper pull-outs — typically two or three compartments for lights, darks, and delicates — are one of the highest-utility laundry room features available. When laundry is pre-sorted as it enters the hamper, wash day is dramatically faster. No standing at the washer sorting.
Hamper pull-outs mount inside a lower cabinet section beside or beneath the machines, with each compartment holding approximately one load of laundry.
Hanging Rods
A built-in hanging rod in the laundry room is indispensable for items that cannot go in the dryer. Hanging rod placement varies by room size — above the machines, on a side wall, or as a retractable rod above the folding counter are all common configurations.
The Small Laundry Room Challenge
Small laundry rooms — and many Quad Cities homes have compact laundry spaces — benefit most from good design because there is no margin for wasted space. Even a 36-inch-wide laundry closet with stacked machines can have a small folding counter beside it, a narrow upper cabinet, and a compact hamper pull-out.
When space is limited, every design decision matters more.
Getting Started
To design a custom laundry room for your Quad Cities home, call (563) 355-8295 or visit our Bettendorf showroom at 1741 State Street.