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Why do you think the idle rich have always had their maids do their laundry while they go for a drive in the country? My hunch is if they had a laundry room outfitted like this one, they’d send the maids out for a drive and they’d be whistling at home sorting their own socks.
Closet Rod And Shelf
You can get these great-looking Lido Rail
chrome brackets and rod at home centers or buy them on-line. One source is
www.aubuchonhardware.com.
This project will save you hours of ironing and organizing. Now you can hang up your shirts and jackets as soon as they’re out of the dryer—no more wrinkled shirts at the bottom of the basket. You’ll also gain an out-of-the-way upper shelf to store all sorts of odds and ends.
Just go to your home center and get standard closet rod brackets, a closet rod and a precut 12-in. deep Melamine shelf (all for about $25). Also pick up some drywall anchors, or if you have concrete, some plastic anchors and a corresponding masonry bit.
Fold-Away Folding Table
You’ll need to order the clever fold-away brackets for this project. Get them at Rockler Hardware (800-279-4441), part No. 29819 ($19.99).
This 2 x 5-ft. table is a handy option for any laundry room. Located right across from the washer and dryer, it’s the perfect place for sorting colors before washing and folding the clothes as soon as they’re dry. We chose heavy-duty brackets that’ll hold more than 100 lbs. and neatly fold the top down (preventing future clutter).
You can get the countertop (and end cap) at a home center or maybe you can salvage one from a friend who’s getting new countertops. Also buy three 8-ft. pine boards—a 1x2, a 1x3 and a 1x4—as well as some wood screws. You’ll need 1-1/4 in. and 2-1/2 in. wood screws for mounting the wall cleats and the countertop stiffeners.
All-Purpose Wall Cabinet
We chose an easy-to-clean Melamine wall
cabinet from a local home center—no painting required. Expect to pay
about $100.
You can make that wall space above the washer and dryer into a valuable dust-free storage space by adding a utility wall cabinet. We chose a 54-in. wide, 24-in. high and 12-in. deep cabinet available at home centers. It’s prefinished inside and out, so it’ll be easy to clean.
Chances are, you’ll have a dryer vent or some other obstruction right where you want your cabinet. To solve this problem, we simply cut away the back and inserted a 4-in. galvanized duct as a liner to give the cabinet a 1-in. clearance from the dryer vent, preventing heat from building up inside the cabinet. With the liner in place, the vent is isolated behind the cabinet, keeping everything inside cool and clean.
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