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Sunday, June 30, 2013

The missing room: Laundry room/walk-in closet

When I did the big reveal of the "modernist nest," there was one room I didn't photograph...the laundry room/walk-in closet. Once I moved in, I decided to make some changes that I thought would result in a more efficient and attractive space, so I was in the middle of those alterations when I showed you my new home. Admittedly, it's the least exciting spot in the house, but several people have asked about the "missing room," so I thought I'd give you a peek.

For those of you new to the blog, several months ago I invited my daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons to move into my primary residence, and I designed a secondary suite for myself behind the main house where a freestanding carport and large workshop originally stood.

The room is 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) long and about 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) wide...the same length and only a foot narrower than my kitchen. One wall houses the washer and dryer in an partitioned nook at one end, as well as a large closet with a pair of bi-fold doors that conceal a broom closet with storage on one end and the hot water heater and air conditioning unit on the other. The opposite side of the room also has a partitioned nook with shelving. The rest is closet space.
I designed the apartment to simplify my life, and one of the things I did that helped streamline chores was to eliminate the traditional bedroom closet and put a clothes rod, shoe bags, handbag hooks and chest of drawers in the laundry room. Now, instead of taking clothes to the bedroom, I get them out of the dryer and simply turn around to hang them or put them in drawers...a handy little time-saver. Out-of-season clothes are stored in decorative plastic bins above the clothes rod.

I originally had a three-tiered chrome cart that I planned to put laundry baskets on, but it turned out that I liked the concept much more than I liked the reality, so I moved the cart to the patio to provide a workspace for grilling and a handy place to stash outdoor toys. To replace the cart in the laundry/closet, my daughter and I built deep pull-out shelves that hold infrequently used items in back and laundry baskets in front. I painted the shelves black for a little interest against the white walls and chose black closet accessories, such as shoe bags and hangers. The DIY project only cost about $50, but it gave me a good bit more storage space and a better system for sorting laundry.

The finished space is much better organized, and it has a less utilitarian look than it did before.


Combination laundry room/closet
with four new pull-out shelves and bins for out-of-season clothes

Close-up of  three Piet Hein grooks hung between
two sets of bi-fold doors (broom closet and a/c closet)


Labeled laundry baskets
 in a much smaller size than I've ever used...
to encourage doing smaller loads
so laundry day isn't a huge chore.

Ironing station on the dryer
for touch-ups when I don't want to set up the board
(I discovered the magnetic ironing pad on Pinterest. It's great!)

18 comments:

  1. Great job balancing aesthetics with the utilitarian. That's one real advantage of planning out your living space from the get go rather than adjusting to an already built house.

    Those monkeys look quite at home, don't they?

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    1. When I moved in, I realized that I had largely ignored the aesthetics of this room, and it seemed out of place in the house, so it was back to the drawing board. I guess even when you build from the ground up, you find things that need a little adjustment.

      I've named the monkeys George and Nelson, and they are the undisputed kings of my closet. :)

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  2. Realy great job Dana. So organized and pretty in one time! I only have a hainging rail for my clothes and I love it, because I have to be more tidy. And of corse I LOVE your monkeys...

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    1. I found that when the space was less decorated, I had a tendency to use it as a junk room and just pile things everywhere. Now that I have the monkeys in there, I feel obligated to keep things neat. :)

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  3. Really good solution for simplification having the laundry area with the dresser and the hanging rod. I like that a lot. We have a laundry/office combo that i struggle to keep neat. It always looks like a bomb went off. **sigh** I am glad you showed us the final room. On house tours, I am always hunting down the laundry room because I am curious how people deal with it. Necessary evil. When we re-do our kitchen, the laundry is connected, kind of like a butler's pantry. I have an opportunity to lay it out again. So am constantly looking for ideas... Thanks!!!

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    1. I know the combo closet and laundry room wouldn't work with families, but for a single person, it's perfect. Also, I've always had a large bin for dirty clothes, and on laundry day, I'd have to sort, which is a nice way of saying I'd have piles of clothes on the hall floor. I love that the labeled baskets are right across from the washer, so the sorting is done automatically, and all I have to do is empty a basket into the machine.

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  4. I really like the lighting you have used here Dana.

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    1. I ordered the track lighting online and didn't realize the actual lights would be so big. I'll probably replace them with smaller ones, but that's not a big priority right now. I bargain-hunted like a maniac when I was building the apartment, and all my light fixtures were super, super inexpensive. I found the ones in the bathroom and the ones over the bar for $29 each. I think I may have spent $60 for the one over the sink and $40 each for the ones in the laundry room/closet. Even though they were cheap, I really like how they look in the house...and nothing has caused an electrical fire yet. :)

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  5. I love the off-season storage bins -- did you decorate them with vinyl cling or did they come like that? If so, source please! They fit well with the MCM vibe. Loving your whole nest and the attention to detail. Cheers - CT

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    1. I thought I'd go with a little bit of a Scandinavian vibe in this room, with the monkeys (even though mine aren't Kay Bojesens), the grooks and the storage containers. They're Trofast bins and Slatthult stickers from IKEA.

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  6. I have never seen such a lovely place to do laundry!
    Your laundry room is so nice and functional.
    I bet it almost makes you happy to wash a load doesn't it. =D

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    1. Well, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say it makes me happy...but I definitely don't dread it like I used to! :)

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  7. Very convenient! BTW thanks for the recommendation for online fabric shops. I found the perfect fabric for my chair.

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    1. I'm so glad you found fabric you like. We've always had really good luck with both sites. Miles at winterbeachmodern is especially nice.

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  8. I loved your liking the concept more than the reality comment - it happens here too. I'd kill for a laundry like yours. And than ironing pad is such a nifty idea. Ours laundry is currently under our house and as we don't have internal access, I'm put off doing laundry at night. xx

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    1. Sometimes an idea seems so fantastic in my head. What happens to it from conception to completion? The three-tiered cart was such a sacrifice of overhead storage. The handle stuck out too far. It wasn't wide enough for two laundry baskets to sit side-by-side. In short, it totally sucked.

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  9. Ditto on the lighting, couldn't help yourself on the style front! The decals on the storage containers are lovely too :)
    xx

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    1. I thought the stickers on the bins were fun...and anything you can do to make a laundry room more fun has to be good, right?

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