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Home & Garden Articles
Triple Duty Laundry Room
Thu 05 Jul 2007 - 12:52
Triple Duty Laundry Room
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Weber]Kathryn Weber
Many homes are arranged so that the laundry room is off the garage. Sometimes the laundry room also works as a mud room enabling the family to store shoes, coats and backpacks here. As functional as a laundry room needs to be, it doesn't have to be unattractive. Plus, with a little thought, you can make your laundry room handle much more than just dirty clothes.
Enter laundry
Laundry rooms are designed to be functional. Most of them aren't very pretty, though. But laundry rooms needn't be the ugly, disorganized step-sister to the rest of the house. Simple redesigns can create laundry rooms that fill several important needs and keep order at the same time. That's because laundry rooms are often in one critical area -- where the family enters the house. That makes its function that much more important.
Add organization
No matter what size your laundry room is, there's always room for more organization. If yours is small, add wall organizers to store mail, newspapers and magazines. Add some hooks to the bottom of a wall organizer and you have a great spot to hang keys. A simple rail on the wall, painted and outfitted with small coat hooks can give you a spot to stash jackets and sweaters.
When space is limited, even a small board with hooks can be installed behind a door to hold jackets or dog leashes. If you have a larger laundry room, then you have more room to play with. Consider adding a bench with storage underneath to put boots, balls, books or any number of items that usually find their way into the house and that need a regular place to "live."
Technology needs
Another consideration for the laundry room is technology. Because the laundry room is an out of the way space, a home nerve center would be perfect here. Locating a desk, bulletin board and computer is a nice way to get technology out of sight - and the associated mess too. If there isn't enough room for a desk, adding a simple shelf with a place for wallets, cell phones, and chargers would be all it required to keep these needs satisfied without detracting from the rest of the house. Because, let's face it, a cell phone and charger aren't the most aesthetic items in a home. One of the most relaxing boutique hotels I've ever visited had all visible signs of technology cleverly disguised and hidden to give it a period feel. Light switches were under old hats or "painted out" of view. It's amazing how distracting the electronics in our homes can be and all the more reason to put them in a room such as the laundry room.
Rethinking laundry
If you have a laundry that you enter the house through, rethink everything about it. First, make it an attractive area and decorate it. Then, consider ways to add more organization and keep as many of the items you need stored there, like purses, jackets, keys, cell phones, and shoes. This will limit the amount of clutter and mess you have in your home. Thinking of building or renovating? Give some extra thought to the uses of the laundry room and how you can arrange it to be more
functional and organized. Even an old-fashioned idea like a laundry chute is a great way to add more
functionality if a bedroom or bathroom is above the laundry room. By looking more closely at your laundry room you can probably get it to do more than just give you clean clothes.
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter feng shui e-zine and is dedicated to helping her readers develop successful, prosperous, and supportive environments with feng shui. To subscribe, logon to [http://www.redlotusletter.com] [http://www.redlotusletter.com]http://www.redlotusletter.com and receive this Special Report FREE "16 Feng Shui Secrets for Greater Prosperity."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Weber http://EzineArticles.com/?Triple-Duty-Laundry-Room&id=630821
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