It’s not the sexiest room in any home, but it’s one of the most important. And, if you don’t do your design diligence with the laundry room in your new custom Florida home, tackling some of life’s crucial chores can become a real drag.
It should be a workhorse space — make that your design priority — yet not in a drudgery sense. You’ll need bright overhead and task lighting to render it useful and cheerful. Then, after choosing durable, functional materials and finishes, glam it up.
Use that bright lemon-yellow paint you love. Tack up those funny plaques you wouldn’t put anywhere else. Above all, make it reflect your tastes.
Here are more tips for making your laundry room work as hard as you do.
It should be multi-functional
The washer and dryer aren’t its sole occupants. Consider other tasks such as ironing clothes and folding clean ones. You’ll want counter space to do the latter, and perhaps a pull-down ironing board to accomplish the former.
Second, consider storage. Generous cabinets and shelves in this room can house cleaning supplies, mops, brooms and step stools.
Third, consider location. Is it near bedrooms, where much of our laundry tends to pile up?
The ICI Homes floor plan you chose will site the laundry room in what should be a useful location. But if it doesn’t fit your family’s lifestyle, talk to one of our designers about tweaking the plan. Customization is one of our hallmarks. Bumping out a wall or shifting flex space to make a room more convenient is part of what we do during our no-cost customization consultation offered to every ICI Homes customer. Take advantage of yours to make that laundry room work for you.
You want a big sink
Yes, you do. Even if you think you don’t. And the biggest you can get, that doesn’t look like a mini-bathtub and still complements your overall design. Few features are as useful when it comes to really big messes and really yucky chores that’ll trash a kitchen or bathroom sink.
Where else will you handily and neatly pour out the dirty water in a mop bucket? Bone and clean fresh fish? Pot and re-pot container plants? Rinse paint brushes from crafting projects?
It’s also a utility room
That’s the other common name for a laundry room, especially when it’s the place where other necessary tasks get done such as feeding and bathing the dog. Talk to your designer about adding a washing station for Fido in the utility room. It’s one of our most popular upgrades!
Laundry/utility rooms also work well as transition spaces between garage entrances and the rest of the house. Turn yours — or the hallway beside it — into a drop zone or mudroom. Give everyone a place to hang wet beach towels, store jackets and shoes, and dump backpacks.
