Design Tips For Your Laundry Room

Interior designer Lisa Canning tells theVancouver Sun the laundry room is often one of the most neglected rooms in the house. The area is often thought as dirty or "in the basement." However, Canning said every room of the home can bring joy and make homeowners want to spend time there, and the laundry room is no different. Canning focuses on laundry room designs in her projects and says certain attention can help perk up the space for homeowners.

Hanging elements are often overlooked in laundry design, says Canning. “You’re doing your laundry and then you have a piece that’s wet and you think ‘Oh, where am I going to hang this?’ It ends up on the back of a door or on a chair, or you’re too lazy to bring out the folding wire thingy. We recognize in design that we are busy, lazy people sometimes, so to incorporate things in the design like hooks or things like a clothes line that can be retractable is just very important.”

When choosing flooring material for a laundry room, Canning says she is careful to use water-resistant products. “Vinyl sheet has made a total comeback,” she says.

In mudrooms and laundry rooms, Canning says she always goes with under-floor heating, which can help to dry wet boots in the winter.

Using glass jars and bottles to store bulk items like detergents and soaps is also a great idea in laundry rooms, says Maja Boricevic, communications specialist for IkeaCanada. LED motion sensor kits are also a good investment in laundry rooms, Boricevic says.