The 10 essentials of a perfect laundry

What a contrarian room the laundry is. More often than not, it’s one of the smallest rooms in a house, but it’s surely the one that delivers the greatest output in any family home.

It has to look good, but not too good (wasted money) and it must work hard, really hard.

I’m mortified to add up just how many hours we spend in our laundries. In my own case, a household of five with three children, I reckon it’s around four hours a week, at least. That’s more time than I spend on the sofa! 

To ensure your laundry hits the mark, it needs to be planned with as much precision and detail as you put into your kitchen.

Design wise, the laundry should tie in with the kitchen. Ensure there are windows to allow for natural light and ventilation. And, overall, given they can get dusty and dirty easily, the laundry should be sleek and streamlined, allowing it to be spruced up with a quick sweep and spray of Windex. 

The 10 essentials of the perfect laundry

• The laundry must be in the right position in the house – not upstairs, not on the other side of the garage, and not in a basement – and the right size. In a large family home, a Euro-style cupboard laundry will not cut it.
• Ensure good airflow and ventilation to help with drying, especially if using a tumble dryer.
• Excellent storage, including hooks and nooks.
• Fold-out drying racks.
• A concealed cupboard or basket where dirty clothes can be flung.
• Space for baskets for each member of the family where clean washing goes. (Trust me on this one; I’ve learnt the hard way and this is the optimal set-up.)
• Access to the outdoors. While the days of kids swinging around the Hills Hoist might be over, you will need a washing line somewhere outside to throw the towels over, as well as a drying cupboard.
• Ample bench space for folding and sorting.
• A tall cupboard for the broom, mop and vacuum cleaner.
• A generous linen cupboard. And, if you really want to splash out and tug on the heart strings of some buyers, a walk-in linen closet. This, quite frankly, would seal the deal for me!) 

And since we’re on the topic of splurging, other ways to really dial up the luxe in this space is to add a steam cupboard, like we saw last season in Steph and Gian’s winning house, a laundry chute (a la Matt and El’ise in 2019), and while you’re at it, dog-washing facilities inspired by Omar and Oz back in 2022.

In the case of holiday houses, while no one loves doing the washing when away, for most of us, especially with kids underfoot, it has to be done. So, ensure you have a great big washing machine to churn through those sandy beach towels.

Laundries needn’t have a fortune spent on them, but it is absolutely worth your while and sanity to get them right. You never know, it may just become the room that people are clamouring to be in.

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