Publication Date: Friday, January 13, 2006
Coming clean
Coming clean
(January 13, 2006) Who says doing laundry has to be a chore?
by Molly Tanenbaum
L ynne Russell used to dread doing laundry. She would lug clothes out to her Ramona Street home's dimly lit garage where her inconveniently located washer and dryer resided.
"I put off doing laundry as long as I could," she said. "We just have a one-car garage and when we had laundry in there, it was really unpleasant because there was no space for folding anything."
Now, she and her husband Dan are at the tail end of a remodeling project that has already changed Russell's life. Adding a new, convenient, multi-purpose and energy-efficient laundry room has become a common trend among homeowners looking to update their houses and turn laundry from a chore into a pleasant experience.
Homeowners are adding several new features to expand the functionality of their laundry rooms, said interior designer Sherry Scott, ASID. She points to sewing rooms, ironing rooms, storage rooms. "You can put lockers in them, you can put hooks and backpacks for snow gear and other sports gear in them. [My clients] like ironing boards tucked away and they like storage. They want their laundry room to look good. They buy nice cabinets, slab counters and deep sinks," she said.
For the Russells, a main priority was location. Tired of doing laundry out in the garage, the family added a 5-foot by 10-foot room next to the kitchen for laundry and several other uses.
"Now I actually love doing laundry, as sad as that is. I'm always looking for an opportunity to do it," Russell said.
One side of the room will serve as the laundry center, equipped with new washer and dryer, folding counters, hamper space and shelving for detergent and other supplies. The other side of the room will also make life easier for the parents of a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old. Hooks for backpacks and coats will line the wall, and some floor space will be reserved for muddy shoes.
And best of all, because the laundry inhabits its own room, "We can close the doors and no one has to see it or hear it," Russell said.
For Lauren Janov and Mark Grossman, the ability to conceal laundry in its own room was also important. After living in their Byron Street home for more than a decade, the couple decided to add on a separate laundry room last February.
Previously, their washer and dryer were located in a closet that opens out onto their family room, which made it difficult to contain laundry to one place.
"It was terribly convenient but it took up a good part of the family room when we did laundry," Janov said.
Like the Russells, Janov and Grossman plan to use their new 6-foot by 11-foot room both for laundry and as a mudroom and entryway for their dog.
"We thought my dream laundry room could be a reality," she said.
However, Janov and Grossman had to adjust their dream to fit their limited lot size. Originally contemplating a second-story addition to increase office and bedroom space for their two young children, the couple had to alter their plans.
"It's really quite the design to maximize use of limited space. That's really been our challenge, starting from big dreams of a second-floor addition and realizing it would be astronomically expensive for us, to coming down to the first floor and thinking about how we could maximize this space," Janov said.
The room now has a utility sink, counter space for folding, and built-in cabinets for dog food, laundry supplies, tools and gardening equipment.
In addition to built-ins, Janov and Grossman installed their new, energy-efficient Kenmore front-loaders. They, along with the Russells, received a rebate from the City of Palo Alto for purchasing energy-saving technology. Through June 2006, Palo Alto residents who buy EnergyStar-rated appliances can receive up to $450 in rebates.
Russell purchased Fisher and Pykel machines and has already noticed how the upgraded technology has saved money.
"They were a little more expensive than the ones we would have gotten but with the rebate they were essentially the same price," she said. "With our utility bill, I'm doing laundry a lot more often but our costs have not gone up for water and gas so I know they're definitely energy-efficient."
While many homeowners are moving toward multi-use rooms like the Russells, and Janov and Grossman, Bill Jones and his wife wanted to keep things simple.
In fact, they removed existing counter space in favor of additional storage to suit their needs when they updated their laundry room last year as part of a larger home-improvement project.
"It used to have a built-in with a countertop for folding and we never used that because we prefer to fold laundry elsewhere while watching TV and talking, almost a communal thing," Jones said.
Because they live in an historical Eichler home on Nelson Drive, the Joneses had limited options for their small laundry room, which is located between a back hall and a bathroom that opened out to the back yard. To increase their storage space, the couple installed floor-to-ceiling shelving.
"Since it's right next to the middle bathroom, there's things like towels, extra toiletry-type stuff [to go on the new shelves]. One place is like a little closet and we put the vacuum cleaner in there," Jones said.
The Joneses also updated their washer and dryer to purchase new, energy-efficient Bosch models and receive the rebate.
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