What’s Fresh in Laundry Room Design? Color, Efficiency, and Technology

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That’s a laundry room. If you need a minute, we understand. It’s magnificent. And while we mere mortals may never wash our unmentionables in a space so utterly breathtaking, we found some dreamy laundry room design trends a little more within reach.

Form & Function

Organization is key to a functional, eye-pleasing laundry. What’s trending right now is, according to Kristen Stringer of Stringer Construction and Design, “Anything that maintains and organizes.”  The most popular request she gets is — no surprise — cabinetry to hide stacked front-loading washers and dryers. “It’s a space saver and it looks neat and clean. We also take the same components we use for a kitchen trash slider to make laundry slider. We’re all about hiding the mess.”

Beyond that, she says, laundry rooms are becoming multi-functional spaces. They’re offices, mudrooms, and craft rooms. “Clients are adding conveniences like ice machines, extra storage, and folding areas. Built-in laundry folding tables now double as built-in gift-wrap stations. I think the laundry room used to be something that shut the door, close it off — now something people want to design and show off.”

Put the Laundry Room… Where?

We’re a house divided when it comes to the next trend. A master bedroom-adjacent laundry (the one above is located inside the master closet) seems very practical. Who wants to traipse across the house with armfuls of dirty (or rapidly-wrinkling) clothes when the whole process can be so much more efficient? On the flip side, who wants to retreat for the night only to be reminded of just how much didn’t get done that day? Uh, not me. I’m all for sleeping in denial. On Egyptian cotton. Wearing an eye mask and ear plugs. So much denial.

Small on Space, Big on Color

We’re in agreement on one thing: laundry is boring. A splash (or a stiff pour!) of bright, bold, in-your-face color can be a zippy  antidote for boring chores. If you’re really committed to color, you can add some sizzle with brightly-colored appliances.

The High-Tech Low Down

Clockwise from left: Whirlpool Smart All-in-One Care Washer and Dryer Combo; Samsung Four-in-One Laundry System; FoldiMate; PureWash

Clockwise from left: Whirlpool Smart All-in-One Care Washer and Dryer Combo; Samsung Four-in-One Laundry System; FoldiMate; PureWash

Both CES and the International Home and Housewares Show every year produce a wealth of laundry technology that promise to save time, effort, and the environment. Some of our recent favorites include a Samsung four-in-one laundry system that can handle your delicates and your towels – separately and at the same time. Yes, please. Or a Whirlpool Smart All-in-One Care Washer and Dryer Combo, much like the style Europeans have used for years, that can be programmed to run at night, while you sleep, when electricity is cheaper. This one’s so fresh it’s not even available for sale yet, so stay tuned. For the Eco-conscious, there’s PureWash, a washing machine attachment that uses ozone (oxygen) as a purifying agent, rather than chemicals or hot water.

How about a robot that folds your clothes for you? The FoldiMate supposedly does that (we haven’t had the pleasure) which if that’s not living in the future, we don’t know what is. Call us when it does fitted sheets.

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Heather Hunter is an accomplished freelance writer based in North Texas.

1 Comment

  1. Nick on February 8, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    I think you need two laundry rooms. One in the master closet and a Jack and Jill style one for the kids + guest. This is assuming that machine is near silent when opperating. What I would like is a hamper to washing machine to laundry basket connection. Where you throw your dirty clothes in a hamper and hours later they appear clean in a laundry basket.

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