Top Tips for Designing Your Game Changer Laundry
By Zephyr and Stone
So you’re building or renovating and a new laundry design or utility room is part of the game plan?
Take it from us, a well-designed laundry room will cut down hours of unnecessary double handling and be a washing #gamechanger — making the daily #washdryfold much more bearable. Here’s what you’ll need to include in your new laundry design…
Zephyr and Stone • Scandi Laundry Room Design
Zephyr and Stone: Renovation Calculator
Your Laundry Game Plan
When it comes to Laundry design, laundry storage sits high on your must-have list. And to create a well-balanced design that’s super-functional, you need to think beyond standard cupboards, and customise your new laundry cabinets to your needs. Here’s what you’ll need…
Tall Laundry Storage
A tall cupboard is essential to store brooms, vacuums or an ironing board in your laundry, and you might want to include a power point inside so a cordless vacuum can be charged discreetly out of sight.
Don’t need a broom cupboard in the laundry? A tall cupboard with shelves for storing towels and linen is equally practical - so these items can be folded and put away directly from the dryer or washing line for the ultimate streamlined workflow. Or if you have a large enough laundry space — install them both for the ultimate solution!
Zephyr and Stone • Melbourne Luxe Laundry With Tall Cabinet For Laundry Storage
Benchtops
Did you know that benchtops actually fall under storage? And ample benchtop space is essential for folding and storing clothes — to avoid them accumulating in other areas of your home like your dining table for sorting! You’ll need to make your benchtop at least 650mm+ deep so that your washer and dryer don’t stick out past the face of your benchtop. This creates clean lines and provides enough space behind your sink to install your mixer tap.
Z+S Tip • Measure or check your washing machine dimensions — especially if you’ll be up-sizing your current model for your new laundry design — to ensure the washing machine cavity is designed to suit. Remember to allow a bit of extra room for the water and wastewater hoses that generally sit behind the washing machine.
Zephyr and Stone • Coral House Laundry
Laundry Hamper
Whether they’re integrated into cabinetry or free-standing bins - two are essential so that whites and darks can be sorted as they go in! But you certainly don’t have to stop there! If you have the space and family to boot, including 3-4+ laundry hampers or laundry hamper cabinets provides the convenience of separate hampers for individuals — or segregating items like hand and wool washing so they don’t accidentally end up on a hot wash cycle!
Z+S Tip • Integrated pull-out laundry hampers are our pick to maximise your laundry design functionality, convenience and aesthetics.
Zephyr and Stone • Beach House Laundry
Overheads Cupboards
Overhead or high cupboards are essential in your laundry design to store chemicals out of reach of young children. They also allow you to maximise small laundry designs by utilising the wall above your sink for storage.
Drawers
Drawers are rarely seen in laundries, yet they provide the ultimate storage for homes! The laundry is like a magnet for those items that seem to accumulate - you know the ones we’re talking about - sunscreen, spare keys, batteries all those items you need on hand and fit perfectly in a drawer.
Incorporating drawers provide the perfect spot for storing these items neatly, as well as items like sponges and cleaning clothes. You could also consider including a drawer for each family member to store bathers, spare socks, uniforms or sports gear to keep these things handy if they’re used or packed for training regularly.
Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Laundry
Laundry Sinks + Washing
If space allows installing two sinks so that you can soak in one and still have full use of the other without having to double handle
A tap with a pull-out nozzle makes filling buckets and cleaning sinks a breeze
The washing machine should be positioned next to the sink so that items can be transferred directly between the two
Zephyr and Stone • Beach House Laundry
Clothes Drying
Ensure direct or easy access to an external clothesline if you have one
Allocate space for your dryer next to, or stacked on your washing machine so that items can be easily transferred between the two
Install a hanging rail so that t-shirts, shirts and school uniforms can be hung to dry on clothes hangers. This can eliminate the need for ironing many items altogether. Also, consider an internal clothes-drying rack or including a drying cupboard for the ultimate clothes-drying solution where you don’t have to contend with the weather!
Zephyr and Stone • Hamptons Laundry
Ironing
Install an ironing centre, which is hardwired with a built-in power point. A standard-sized iron fits within the unit, so there’s no set-up required #genius - Just open up and you’re ready to iron as soon as your iron heats up. It takes seconds to open or fold away and keeps your laundry looking neat and tidy when not in use.
Z+S Tip • If opting for a fold-away ironing centre or ironing board, check the specifications when planning your laundry to ensure there’s enough space allocated for the ironing board to be opened and used in the space.
Zephyr and Stone • Beach House Laundry
Other Laundry Design Essentials
Windows or a door for natural light and ventilation, or an exhaust fan for mechanical ventilation in the absence of these
Include downlights or other ceiling lights to light up the whole room. Incorporate a secondary light source with integrated LED strip lighting to the underside of your overheads to provide task lighting directed on your work surface/benchtop
Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Laundry
An open shelf to give your laundry that designer look, keep items within easy reach, or display a curated display of special pieces
Tiles or flooring suitable for a wet area, so it’s easy to keep clean
A Laundry chute in a double-storey home to maximise efficiency
A bin if you feed animals in your laundry or to save time walking to the kitchen with rubbish
Zephyr and Stone • Retreat House Laundry
There you have it!
Our top tips for designing a functional Game-Changer Laundry for your home with all the bells and whistles! Want more inspo for your project?
Take a tour through the rooms of our Classic Coastal Project
