Litoc.com -- Home and Family

Sadly, the lowly laundry room is one of the last rooms in the house to receive any kind of decorating attention.  It is, however, one of the spots that could really use a cheery façade.

Never mind the upscale laundry rooms gracing your home and lifestyle magazines.  Forget the sunny expanses tiled and white marble and lined in shimmering chrome appliances.  If you're like most people, your washer and dryer have been delegated to a dingy corner of the basement, somewhere between the furnace and a pile of unused exercise equipment.  Even a simple coat of paint could do wonders, but let's think a little beyond that.

In a perfect world, the laundry room would be located smack dab between all of the bedrooms.  Imagine how wonderful it would be to have a door leading directly from your master closet or dressing area into the laundry room.  However, moving the laundry room away from the basement may have safety or structural repercussions.  Not many people realize what a real fire hazard a dryer can be.  If dryers are not properly vented, they can easily cause fires.  According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 15,500 dryer-related fires occur every year, resulting in an average of 10 injuries and 10 deaths annually.  Relocating the laundry facilities in to other areas of the home has significantly increased this risk, because the venting may need to be longer and may involve more bends.  This increases the chance of lint buildup, dryer overheating and, ultimately, fires.  Traditionally, homes were built with the laundry rooms located in the basement, allowing the clothes dryers to be directly vented outdoors, just a few feet away.  This arrangement remains to be the safest scenario.

Washing machine hose failure is another major consideration.  While it would be great avoid lugging laundry up and down three flights of stairs, having a laundry room on the top floor isn't so wonderful when a leaky hose floods the rest of the home.  State Farm Insurance reports that washing machine hose failures cause $170 million in damage to North American homes every year.

The use of septic systems can also help to determine where and how your washer is to be installed.  If you have a septic system, be sure that you install a washing machine lint filter, as lint from laundry can create havoc and damage in a septic system.

So it seems that your laundry team is destined to live life in the basement.  That doesn't mean, however, that all must be damp and dingy.  You can have a great deal of fun organizing the space and decorating to your heart's content.

Try these easy and inexpensive ways to liven up your laundry room:

1.  Forget the whitewashed walls.  The best thing about decorating the laundry room is that there are no limits.  Few people will ever see inside your laundry area, so you're free to have as much fun with it as you want.  Paint the walls in bright colours or cover them with wallpaper featuring your favorite cartoon characters.  Or if you really want to unleash your creative side, give the walls a coat of chalkboard paint and use the area as a huge canvas that can be decorated and redecorated whenever the urge strikes.

2.  Replace those dingy laminate countertops with granite or other hard surface materials.  In many homes, the laundry rooms doubles as a craft and sewing area.  Make sure that the surfaces are durable and easy to keep clean.

3.  Invest in cabinetry.  When you're hard at work on laundry day, the last thing you want to see are tools, cleaning supplies, paint cans and other assorted reminders of the umpteen jobs you still have to do.  Installing cabinets creates valuable storage space and gives your room a clean, clutter-free appearance.

4.  Build closets to store appliances when not in use.  This can free up valuable floor and counter space, giving the room more useable options.