Monday, May 4, 2015

The Ideal Laundry Area

Welcome to another instalment of our laundry series at The Cherry On Top.

Laundry can sometimes take over our lives.  It's a never ending process and for many folks, not a fun one.  So we're taking a close look at each step in the laundry process to help make things easier, cheaper, faster, more efficient and hopefully, less dreadful.

In our first instalment, we looked into where you store your dirty laundry and hooked up some helpful images to demonstrate the best ways to keep your dirty laundry.  If you missed it, check it out here.



Since we are going at this in order, the laundry area will be under the microscope.  Where do you do your washing?  Do you have to go to the laundry mat or laundrette?  Have you got a closet type of space or are you lucky enough to have a nice large room just for your laundry needs?

I've had experience with most of these situations and currently, most of my washing chores are done in the garage and there is a pretty sweet amount of space.  I'd love to show you the before and after pictures, but I only have the before ones.  Hehehe... 

For this instalment, we've got some images of ideal laundry spaces from bright and bold, to efficient, tiny spaces and dreamy rooms, too.  You can find all of these lovelies on our Organisation Board on Pinterest where you can get hooked up to the link to learn more about them.

Let's look at the essentials for a laundry area so you can plan that area.  We will be back with a more detailed entry about these essentials as we move through the laundry process.  

Your machines, bright light, a space to fold, a place to hang dry and a spot for your cleaning products are the basics and should be considered when organising your area.

Here are some common spaces for doing the laundry.

This is when the machines are in the kitchen.  Many people keep the cleaners under the sink, the baskets in the bathroom and hang the ironing board behind a closed door.  Typically there are counter tops to work with.  (Man!  I'd never get out of the kitchen if my washing machine was in there!)  

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This space is ultra organised and bright. Using the tops of the machines as a folding surface.  A hanging area and a lot of shelves to keep organised.

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Another clean, bright space with the essentials.  TIP: If you're going to have this nice, little shelf above your machines, put it just above them so items won't fall behind them. Check out the image below this one for the best way to do this.

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Voila!  Nothing can fall behind your machines now!

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I love what they did here to conceal the stacked machines.

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Here's another sweet space with an ideal, pull out drying rack and sweet ironing board and iron storage.

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Another ideal, bright space.  That rolling rack is awesome.  I have one as well.  The machines are elevated so you don't have to kill yourself when getting at the laundry and look how the doors open.  You can go right from the washer to the dryer without the doors getting in the way.  Tip: Keep the shelving a bit higher if you do something like this so you can utilise that precious space on top of the machine for folding.

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This space is dreamy for me.  I prefer cabinets to hide all the mess over exposed shelves.  Tip: It's also ideal if you have pests.  The floor is good as well.  If something ever happens to your wash machine, the carpet won't get ruined from the water.  flooring in a laundry space should be considered.  Tiles will be the best choice.

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This image shows some nice ways to organise in a small space.  Tip: Stacking your machines saves a lot of space.  Are you seeing a trend in all of these images?  Bright!  Laundry, laundry, laundry can sometimes bring you down.  So, keeping it bright and clean might make the process tolerable.  I'd suggest a radio or TV, too.
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Here's a really tiny space with a pull out folding top.  I've also seen this type of slide out shelf in-between the stack.  Now, that's thinking!

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Another example of an organisational option in a small space.

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Right by the window for light.  Even a chair for when there are just a couple of minutes left on that last cycle.  Take a seat and read the last few pages of your favourite magazine.  More hanging space and cabinets as well as open shelves.  A good combination.

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This is a great example of the kind of space that most people face.  What a great idea to hang that bar above the machines and the shelf on top of that.  Super and inexpensive to set up.

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Counter space is absolutely ideal to have in the laundry area.  You can use the tops or your machine or machines.  Perhaps a board that's hinged to the wall and can be put away when you're finished.  Some folks use their ironing board.  It really helps with organising your folded clothes and makes putting the clothes away that much easier and much faster.  (The most dreaded part of the process for some.)We will talk more about that later.

We will be talking about the machines in our next instalment of the laundry series.  Bang for you buck, best wash and dry, money saving tips and features that will improve the washing process.

Thanks for taking a peep and good luck organising your laundry area.




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