In this blog
- Laundry Room Location
- Utility Connections
- Plumbing & Drainage
- Convenience
- Addressing Safety Concerns
- Where Should The Laundry Room Be?
- Layout & Design
Your home design should be such that it elevates your lifestyle and provides you ease and comfort. This is because your home should be the place where you unwind from your daily routine. Architects all around the world are looking to find ways to build more comfortable homes that use the provided space in an optimal manner and ensure efficiency in your day-to-day life. For this reason, spaces that were once considered add-ons such as pantries and laundry rooms are now considered a necessity and have to be placed correctly for optimal benefit. In this blog, we will focus on where your laundry room should be located.
Where Should Your Laundry Room Be Located?
Picking a location for your laundry room can be tricky as there are numerous things to consider before deciding on a place. However, you need not fret as this blog covers all facets of this decision-making process.
Checking For Utility Connections
The first thing you need to do is check for the utility connections in your proposed site. You should have a running electrical connection that can support a heavy load. Typically, electric dryers require a 240 Volt, 30-amp electrical outlet, whereas washers require a 120 volt, 15- or 20-amp, fused electrical outlet. If your proposed site has this connection, you should go for it.
Plumbing & Drainage
For a fully automatic washing machine, you need access to a running water supply as well as drainage. For a simple washer, you need a running drainage system, preferably somewhere on the outer side of the house. This will allow you to easily transport your clean and wet laundry outside.
You should also ensure that the flooring of your site is not prone to corrosion and can withstand moisture. If not, you need to address these issues prior to setting up your laundry space.
Convenience
As we have already established that your home layout plan should be such that it allows for ease of work and uses the space provided in an optimal manner, your laundry room should be placed in the most convenient places.
Try to think of the place in your house where you spend most of your time. If you live in a one-storey house, think about the house-floor where you spend most of your time, and for what purpose. The ground floor of the house is typically where the kitchen and living spaces are, whereas, the first floor is where bedrooms are located.
After deciding on the floor, pick the space or room you are most likely to spend most of your time in.
Addressing Safety Concerns
With washers and dryers and even automatic machines, there are numerous safety concerns. It is advisable to keep them in a ventilated area, with a fully functional drainage system and proper wire coverings. Your drainage pipe should be sealed and not cause any spillage, as this can cause electrocution.
If you have a child at home, it is best to keep the electrical outlets switched off with wires hung with switches at a height to keep them out of reach of children.
Now that you have gone through the aforementioned checklist of considerations for deciding on laundry room location, let’s look at some practical examples.
Where Should The Laundry Room Be?
Your laundry room location should incorporate and address all the aforementioned considerations.
In An Open Area
As most people in Pakistan use a washer and hang their clothes in the sun to dry, it comes as no surprise that in most homes you’ll find a washing area in an open space, most preferably on a terrace. A terrace allows for clothes to be washed in a safer environment and also provides convenient access to open space for leaving clothes to dry.
For single-storey houses, a large number of people keep their washing machines in an open space at the back of their houses. This is also where they then place their drying stand or tie the ropes for hanging clothes for drying.
If you have a similar outdoor laundry area and are looking to spruce up the space, check out this guide.
Near Or Inside A Bathroom
Having a laundry area inside a bathroom makes sense if you don’t have the space for a separate room. This practice is common for most people living in apartments. However, there are a number of health and safety hazards to this such as electrocution, water spillage that can cause your bathroom more prone to slipping injuries.
If, however, you decide to build a laundry area outside or near your bathroom in the open space, there’s no other better option than this. Close proximity to the bathroom means there is excellent plumbing and drainage system. If you have an automatic machine or separate washer and dryer, you can install them in separate cabinets that you can also enclose and turn off the power supply.
Basement
If you have a basement, installing the entire laundry room at the bottom of the house is the best option. This is because, in addition to washing space, you can have a folding and ironing station as well. As this is the lowest possible ground of the floor, you won’t be entertaining guests here, which means your clean and dirty laundry will be taking up productive space and can be tended to as per your ease.
Near Or Inside A Kitchen
Having a laundry area inside a kitchen is the most functional choice as you can tend to your cooking and washing at the same time. Kitchens already have access to water and a fully functional drainage system which means you don’t have to worry about getting new connections. Moreover, kitchens have doors that can be locked to stop the children from entering, and you can carry out your work without worrying.
With essentials and a site picked for the laundry room, here’s how you can make the most of the space available to you for washing, drying and ironing.
Let’s Talk Layout & Design
For a bigger space, you can install a couple of racks above your washing machine for storing your washing powder, fabric softener, brushes etc. Right beside your washing machine, place a hamper for dirty clothes. You can also invest in smaller separate hampers and put away your dirty clothes as per colors so you don’t have to worry about sorting your laundry when you decide to wash your clothes. Also, install an ironing board and a couple of extra cabinets so you can put your clothes away till you iron them. Install a railing or a hook for hangers which you can use when you iron your clothes.
If you have a smaller space, you need not worry as there are various ways. You can install a washer dryer on top of each other, as large cabinets. While you can build more cabinets around them for storing, cleaning liquids, equipment, and putting away your laundry. There are also multiple foldable options for ironing boards available that you can use and install as per your use.
Doing laundry is a long and tedious process and it is essential that you have a designated space for it so you can do it in peace and without interrupting the calmness of your home. Having a dedicated space improves efficiency and if placed correctly, your laundry room can allow you to multitask as well.
Do you have any tips on laundry room location? Write to us at blog@zameen.com. For the latest information, keep checking Pakistan’s largest property blog, Zameen Blog for the latest information on real estate.
