A Better Laundry: How to Design One That Earns Its Keep

Few rooms get less affection and more punishment than the laundry. It cops the wet towels, the muddy boots, the school socks no one can identify. And yet, more often than not, it gets squeezed into whatever corner is left over after the kitchen and bathrooms have eaten their share of the floor plan.

That's a shame, because a thoughtful laundry quietly carries a household for decades. The good ones aren't elaborate. They're sensible. A few decisions made early, and the room handles its work without complaint.

Put it where the clothes live

A laundry buried at the back of the house, two corridors and a staircase from the bedrooms, will never feel right. Sit it close to where the dirty washing piles up and the clean washing has to go. Near the bedrooms is the ideal. Beside the kitchen is a strong second, since plumbing and ventilation can share a wall. And in an Adelaide home, where forty degree summers do most of the drying for you, a clear path out to the Hills Hoist is worth holding the floor plan ransom for.