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From: Washington DC Metro Home Improvement
Date: 12/20/2006
Time: 5:18:58 AM
Remote Name: 68.110.232.201
Reasons to Relocate Finding the best spot for your laundry room By James Steele Have you ever wished for a submarine-style periscope to help you see over a jumbled pile of sheets and jeans as you totter down the stairs in the near darkness? Or maybe your laundry routine leaves you feeling like you've just endured an advanced level aerobics class with a beginner's-only body ("And lift and heft and bend and twist..."). For most homeowners, the laundry room is simply not conveniently located. But as you'll see, changing the way you wash your clothes may not be as hard as you think. I don't want to go to the basement every time I need to wash clothes. Possible Solution 1: Remodel the basement This solution works either when the options for moving the laundry upstairs are limited or there are additional reasons for improving down below, for example, home theaters, play spaces, workshops and extra bedrooms. If you live in an older home, you've no doubt noticed that the washer and dryer basically sit in the middle of the basement floor. Fifty years ago the builder may not have assumed anyone besides the furnace repairman would have any reason to be down there. But you can remodel the space with an eye towards making it more inviting. With a little imagination and planning around plumbing, the laundry can be hidden in a tasteful closet (as was done in this D.C. basement diagrammed above), leaving floor space for other uses. Possible Solution 2: Move the laundry upstairs Sometimes, the renovation of space upstairs allows for some creative possibilities. You could position a laundry closet in an unused corner, for example. In one home in Vienna, Va., I discovered that by moving a single stair, a corner opened up by the bathroom. This is a money-saving tip as well, because when you relocate your laundry room so that it's closer to existing plumbing, you minimize pipe connections. We're adding a mother-in-law suite to our home; where should we put the laundry room? Possible Solution: Create a laundry closet in the common passageway Don't ignore the transition area between the main house and this suite. Putting a laundry room in a common area is not only a good use of space-it's also very convenient! We're having a new kitchen added to our home; what should we do with the existing space? Possible solution: Use it! Repurposing the old space is another win-win situation when it comes to saving money, because the plumbing from the old kitchen is perfect for a laundry room or a combination mudroom. The owners of this Bethesda, MD home (diagram pictured above) found that the plumbing from the old kitchen was a perfect fit for their new laundry/mudroom. --A member of our Editorial Advisory Board, James Steele (Strategic Performance LLC, More Room by Design in McLean, Va.), designs additions and renovations for his clients in Virginia, Maryland and the District using color 3-D virtual modeling.