Tips To Designing A Functional And Stylish Laundry

As a space that gets a lot of use, we need our laundry to be both functional and stylish. Like any other space in our home, planning is key with these tips!

When it comes to our laundries we want; space, lots of storage, natural light and ventilation. Most importantly we need the right design, including a door for when that pile of washing gets a little too big that we need to shut it off so it’s out of sight and out of mind.

Here are some tips and tricks to designing a functional and stylish laundry space you will actually want to spend time in.

1. Practical space in your laundry
Clearance space
2. Storage to suit laundry functionality
Useful laundry cabinetry
Open laundry shelving
Laundry drying rail
Sleek broom cupboard
A workable laundry benchtop
3. Ventilation for a clean laundry experience
4. Laundry design to emulate style
Colour for your laundry
Tapware and hardware to suit a laundry
Laundry splashback

1. Practical space in your laundry

Don’t underestimate the need for room to move in your laundry. No matter the size of your household, laundry is an essential task. Having the required space goes a long way to cause as little stress as possible.

Clearance space

While filling your space with appliances and extra features is great fun, don’t forget about the clearance space. This is the space required around your cabinetry, appliances and sink for safety and convenience when opening doors and drawers. A minimum 1 metre is required, but if you have the space, 1.2 metres – 1.5 metres is the ideal clearance.

2. Storage to suit laundry functionality

Even a small laundry can be super functional, so before planning your space assess your current layout first to build easily accessible storage.

Karoonda, South Australia

Useful laundry cabinetry

Wall to wall cabinetry is the best way to optimise your storage, however, if tight for space, stacking your cabinetry is a great way to utilise the space effectively, without changing your floorplan footprint.

There is no limit to the creativity of how you use your cabinetry. Think pull out drawers with clothes baskets for your dirty laundry, a folding ironing board that tucks neatly away in the cupboard,

Hot tip: ensure there is a power point close to your ironing board for your iron.

Open laundry shelving

For a smaller laundry space that doesn’t lend itself to lots of cabinetry, open shelving is multi-purpose. Not only does it create storage space, it creates more blank space to make the room feel lighter and larger.

This is the perfect space to display styling items and regularly used items in a styled fashion – wash powder in a nice jar, flowers in a vase matching the space, folded towels, scrubbing brushes and the laundry basket.

Laundry drying rail

Installing a rail above the benchtop is a great inclusion to your laundry as it allows a space for your clothes to dry without a bulky clothes airer.

Hot tip: ensure the rail is at least 60 – 80cm above your benchtop to allow enough room for your clothes to hang.

Sleek broom cupboard

A common mistake is making the broom cupboard too small, or completely forgetting it altogether. It is surprising how quickly you fill this space – broom, mop, mop bucket, vacuum cleaner, ironing board and all of those long items that don’t fit in a standard cupboard.

Hot tip: include a power point in this cupboard for your cordless vacuum. You will never forget to charge it again.

A workable laundry benchtop

Having space to sort and fold laundry in the laundry means you won’t have to bring this into other parts of your home. A simple way to instantly increase the bench space is to house your washer and dryer under the benches, as apposed to stacking them. The extra bonus is the front loaders have a better energy and water efficiency too!

Laminate benchtops, we love the polytec range, provides a superior product for a fraction of the price. With a large range of colours and textures, there will be one to suit your laundry style without breaking the budget.

Mount Barker, South Australia

3. Ventilation for a clean laundry experience

As a wet area, ventilation is so important. When not properly ventilated, our laundries can attract mould, moisture build up and other issues that are costly to repair. Including an exhaust fan, external window or large glass door, that attracts a cross breeze and lets an abundance of sunlight, in will keep your laundry looking and feeling clean at all times. After all, that is what this space is used for.

The additional ventilation will also assist with drying if you plan to include a drying rack.

Murray Bridge, South Australia

4. Laundry design to emulate style

Your laundry needs a lasting design. Matching the laundry colour scheme and cabinetry to your kitchen and bathroom creates a consistent style throughout your home. By making the room feel like another space in your home, it will help you to achieve those monotonous day-to-day tasks.

Middle Beach, South Australia

Colour for your laundry

Choosing a neutral colour palette will allow for longevity and durability as well as the addition of adding in a feature piece, whether that be through the tapware, splashback, styling pieces or all three.

A smaller space is well suited to light and bright to make the space feel bigger. Don’t be fooled to think that light and bright equals boring. There are so many ways to allow light and bright to have style.

Tapware and hardware to suit a laundry

This is the perfect place to incorporate some colour into your palette, without overcrowding the room. We aren’t talking bright colours. A simple matt black or gold theme can create a contrasting pop against white tiles or cabinetry.

Hot tip: like the benchtops, tapware and hardware can be simple budget saving items. The Kookaburra Homes standard range includes a matt black tapware and handle options which saves an extra upgrade.

Laundry splashback

Large format, small and detailed, floor to ceiling, essentials only. The splashback choices are endless.

This is your chance to bring some texture and style into this space, without compromising on space or selecting a colour that will go out of date too soon. Given that the tiled space is usually the smallest in your home, this is also your chance to splash out on that pricy feature tile you have always wanted.

Find plenty more functional and stylish laundry tips and inspiration from our past projects here.