5 Clever Tips for Transforming a Laundry Room with Functional Style
5 Clever Tips for Transforming a Laundry Room with Functional Style
You’ve already spent time and money to renovate your kitchen and bathroom. Yet, just beyond the laundry room door may be a mess you’re not yet ready to tackle. Perhaps you’re wrestling with how and where to even start the transformation. Another common question we hear is, “is it even worth updating my laundry area?”
At Archant, we’ve fielded all these questions and more and have identified creative ways to help. By focusing on five essential elements, it’s possible to tame your laundry room and convert it into a calming and productive part of the home. Best of all, the budget doesn’t need to be huge to make a big impact.
In this article, we’ll be talking about how to make the most of a small space through simple tips and tricks. We’ll also share some convenient ideas for a versatile sink and tap that can be used for any number of tasks. Ideas on clever storage and organisation are of course paramount in a laundry, and you’ll discover a few different ways to proceed with style. By the end, we think you’ll be inspired to breathe new life into your laundry and make it into a valuable part of your home.
1) Choose a Deep and Versatile Bowl
In many homes around New Zealand, the laundry room is the catch-all for cleanup tasks. Some common jobs may include soaking stained clothing in a solution, cleaning paint brushes, and mixing floor cleaners to mop. Considering the wide range of uses, it makes sense to choose a deep sink that can handle whatever you throw at it. Several great options will serve you quite well.
Laundry Sink Option 1: Butler Bowl
One popular choice is a Butler Bowl. These large single bowls are a welcome part of any laundry. And while they are quite striking in design, they offer homeowners a flexible array of functionality. With the large rectangular shape, it’s possible to soak items while still reserving ample space for other tasks. If you use the laundry as an extension of an outdoor work area or garden, this is a huge convenience.
In addition, these farmhouse sinks are made with a durable anti-bacterial glaze finish. This makes them easy to clean for the long term. Just wipe them down with warm soapy water and a soft cloth or sponge to keep them looking new. Our butler bowls come with a standard waste outlet for a basket strainer. This versatile set of features makes Butler-style sinks a desirable choice for laundry rooms.
Laundry Sink Option 2: Large Stainless-Steel Bowl
Another fantastic laundry room sink is the Arizona 450-10 with a generous depth of 300mm. The width is also quite substantial at 450mm offering plenty of space to work. This model is commercial grade with a tough build of 18/10.304 stainless steel. The durability of this steel has long made it a go-to option for work areas and laundry rooms.
The Arizona is anything but fragile and can stand up to just about any messy task. As a unique benefit of stainless steel, it doesn’t scratch, but rather develops a unique patina over time. It’s also one of the simplest sinks to maintain. Here are some tips for keeping your stainless-steel sink in great condition.
2) Extrusion Handles Save Valuable Space
Designed for New Zealand families, our Vercelli range of extrusion handles is perfect for a laundry room. While elegant in style, they offer functional performance for areas that are short on space. With no protruding elements, there’s nothing to bump into or catch your clothing. You won’t get caught and bruised by knobs or handles, freeing up important leg room. This streamlined design is quite useful in small laundry rooms and makes the space feel even larger.
To match your appliances, this collection is available in multiple finishes including the popular brushed nickel option. You can use them for both top and middle cabinetry drawers and can be mounted both horizontally and vertically for the ultimate flexibility. Of course, if you have a different aesthetic in mind, we have a wide variety of beautiful handles that would also work well in a laundry room. Check out all the options here.
3) Flex Spouts Are a Convenient Choice for Laundry Rooms
The modern laundry room is a busy workspace, demanding tapware with flexibility. If you’re new to Flex Spouts, you’ll want to familiarise yourself with this ultra-convenient option. With amazing manoeuvrability, it offers more freedom to clean up with ease.
The beauty of flex spouts is how they extend from their initial position and can then be angled in any direction. This is ideal in a laundry room, and also makes cleaning the sink itself a breeze. From the largest, most awkward items to the furthest corners of the bowl, it’s flexible enough to get the job done. It recedes neatly back into the fixed part of the tap to take on a more traditional appearance.
4) Reduce Clutter with a Benchtop and Overhang
Since space is limited in laundry rooms, you’ll benefit from some clever design tricks. Creating ample storage room for cabinetry, cubes, or even appliances like a washer and dryer is a worthwhile investment. Using the proper support structures, it’s possible to design your worktop with a useful overhang. These can be anywhere from 300-450mm deep and support weights of 500-600kg. The specifics will vary depending on the support system you use, so be sure to check our recommendations here for the specifics.
Ideally speaking, you’ll want to have enough storage to neatly tuck things away and keep the worktop clear. This will make it more useful for folding laundry, and other jobs like ironing. As designer Francis Jay so eloquently said, “Your home is living space, not storage space.” We believe a well-designed bench can help make this concept a reality even in a laundry room.
5) Consider Porcelain Tiles for Watertight Flooring
Laundry rooms have the potential to get quite wet, and this can be problematic for homes with timber floors. Over time, mould and mildew can build up, the wood can rot and become unhealthy and structurally unsafe. For this reason, timber flooring is no longer a recommended solution in rooms where water is present.
A better option may be to use our large format porcelain tiles for a watertight, and durable floor that will stand the test of time. These generously sized slabs measure 3200 x 1600mm. For small laundry rooms, you may only require one or two slabs to cover the whole area. Less grout means there are fewer crevices to trap dirt making porcelain floors quite easy to clean. If your laundry feels a bit cramped, these seamless patterns make even small areas feel more spacious.
We Can Help Transform Your Laundry Room
As you can see, these five tips are easy ways to create an organised and stylish laundry room. We believe these can make a real difference to the overall value of your home.
If however, you are thinking about eventually working on a larger renovation, we can help with that too.
Download a free copy of our complete catalogue here for ideas and inspiration that can be applied to your home.
Related Links
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Confused About Tile? Three Popular Tiling Solutions to Move Your Design Forward
The Problem with Generic Sink Taps, and How to Choose one that Inspires (A Comparison Guide)
Top 5 Pros and Cons of a Butler Bowl (Review)
A Review of E3/AS1 Changes and the Best Alternative to Flooring in New Zealand
5 Compelling Reasons for NZ Designers to Book a Lunch and Learn Session with Archant
