The Evolution of Laundry Rooms in the Recent Times

In the last few years, many things have changed in terms of what people do and how. A simple example of this can be the use of laundry rooms. As a child, you may have seen your granny doing her laundry in a basement or garage. Where do you do this chore today? Most urban homes feature a stylish room or corner with floods of natural light where you can pursue this washing and cleaning job efficiently. However, it is only one aspect.

In this modern age, a laundry room also has to play more roles than the expected ones for the homeowners. For example, some have started using this space for their gardening hobbies, and others clean their muddy pets here. It has also become a go-to room for messy pastimes. With an uninterrupted supply of water, cleaning supplies, and hardwearing finishes, it can feel like a perfect corner for every such thing. Whether you have to store additional household appliances, wrap gifts, or pay bills, you can head to this part of the house to finish your task in peace and privacy.

Let’s delve deeper into a few aspects of this utility space that makes it an ideal choice for a multi-purpose room.

Location

Earlier, laundry rooms had their existence in darker or inaccessible corners of the house. Modern trends have changed this. Now, these utility spaces get the most strategic spot on main floors in different shapes and sizes. People want them to be close to the entrance door, kitchen, bathroom, garage, or garden for hassle-free access. And if a house has multiple floors, you can even find more than one laundry room with an additional laundry closet or chute.

Functionality

As hinted at already, today’s homeowners want to make this space extra functional. They want to extend its use beyond the typical work. It can serve as an additional storage space, folding area, cloth hanging and drying area, and pet room. All this comes down to its size, though. If possible, most people want to use it half as a mudroom and half as a laundry room. Still, it doesn’t mean these functional spaces lack attractiveness. They can acquire any form based on a homeowner’s needs and budget. For example, you can transform your kitchen and laundry room in a way to carve out a butler’s pantry with quartz countertops, high-quality appliances, etc.

No matter what you do, the idea is to integrate the laundry room into other parts of the house and not isolate it.

Storage

When it comes to expanding the role of a laundry room, the focus is not on choosing a prime location alone. When you talk about this, your attention can be on the choice of finishes and materials. Nowadays, you get an excellent range of low-maintenance and durable lacquer materials in the matte or glossy base for countertops. People opt for the latest cabinetry and fixtures to make their designs suitable for their goals. If they have a few extra inches to spare, they don’t mind spending on built-ins too. They choose storage on wheels for higher functionality. In addition, they mix and match different storage solutions to give their space an aesthetic edge with wire shelving, under countertop storage, hangers, hooks, etc.

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White cabinet finishes are the favorite for their cleanliness, but some people like to be playful with colors. The new laundry rooms also boast pull-out hampers, openings for pet beds, and deep drawers. If this room is adjacent to your kitchen, keeping the same cabinetry for cohesiveness can be intelligent.

Fixtures

One common sight in this flex room can be the high-grade stainless kitchen utility basin. Some homeowners are adding the latest technology faucet models to make their space safer for cleaning and washing. Besides these items, lighting is another critical consideration. Nowadays, you don’t find a single bulb or the humble fluorescent light in these rooms. The trend supports the use of signature styles even in this domain. Hence, something like chandeliers has also made its place for its appeal.

Extra household appliances

Another deviation from the old habits is adding additional appliances other than washers and dryers in the laundry rooms. Many homes install small to medium freezers in the room to store more food or perishable items that need such temperature. Then, cloth-refreshing products and automatic detergent dispensers are the other things. From wrinkles to dry cleaning, these can take care of basic things. Cloth refreshers help freshen up the look of a lightly worn cloth. Since they come in narrow designs, you can keep them in your laundry room hassle-free.

Things to consider

With changing times and lifestyle choices, laundry rooms have acquired significant dimensions for serving your goals. The designs and options of fixtures have become flexible, letting you use them the way you desire. Still, its success depends on your vision and approach. If you don’t want it to be messy, you will have to work on your habits. For example, some people don’t even realize, but they keep their spaces quite cluttered, despite having enough storage space at their disposal. You can rectify your daily practices by observing their influence on your house. If you take care of this and implement the right design for your laundry room, you don’t have to worry about anything.

A laundry room is that extra space in your house that you can use in various ways without changing its overall look and feel. Minor upgrades can also be sufficient sometimes. If you fit it out with the right appliances and storage systems, you will never struggle with your task. Plus, you can perform other routine household jobs also with ease. Or, as said once, you can access this corner to pursue your particular hobby, which can be clay art, gardening stuff, etc. Since all cleaning supplies and water resources are available in this space, you don’t have to go anywhere else. Anything that has to do with soil or mess is best to handle in this not-so isolated space.