In recent years there has been a major trend towards more upscale laundry room design. Part of this is due to the stylish design of some newer, high-end washers and dryers. In many ways, this is a positive trend; people spend time in their laundry rooms, and want them to be nice and cheerful. However, moving the laundry room away from the basement has created a major fire safety issue, and there are some other very important issues to consider in your laundry room design plans. First we will discuss some of the important safety and economic issues, then ways you can design a cheerful, well organized laundry room.

In the old days, most people had their laundry room in the basement. As a result, their clothes dryer could vent outside a few feet away, which is the ideal scenario. Few people realize that their clothes dryer is a serious fire safety concern. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are an estimated annual 15,500 fires, 10 deaths and 10 injuries associated with the clothes dryer. Moving the laundry room away from the basement has significantly increased this risk, because it requires the venting to be longer and sometimes have more bends. This increases the chance of lint buildup, dryer overheating and fires. For more information on how you can prevent a dryer fire, go to www.the-laundry-alternative.myshopify.com/blogs/blog/how-to-prevent-clothes-dryer-fires

Washing machine hoses failures are another major consideration that should be factored into your laundry room design. According to State Farm, washing machine hose failures cause $170 million in damages to homes in the US & Canada each year. To learn how you can prevent this problem, go to

https://the-laundry-alternative.myshopify.com/blogs/blog/how-to-prevent-washing-machine-hose-failure

The third consideration is whether or not you have a septic system. If you do, you will want to install a washing machine lint filter, as lint from septic systems is a leading cause of septic system failure. More information is available at https://the-laundry-alternative.myshopify.com/collections/septic/products/filtrol-160-septic-protector?variant=12582105481328

More laundry room design tips:

1. Consider placing the laundry room near the largest source of dirty clothes. This is probably the master bedroom. A door leading from the laundry room to the master closet/dressing room is a major convenience.
2. Replace decorating your walls with bright colors. A company by the name of Jaima Brown (http://www.jaimabrownhome.com), Tel. 888.865.0200 has some nice wallpaper and laundry room borders.
3. Replace laminate counters with granite and other hard surface materials.
4. Add custom or high-end cabinets that provide more storage space.
5. Add closets that hide appliances when not in use.
6. Add more surface area for folding, ironing and folding clothes.
7. Updated flooring options include vinyl or tile that coordinates with wall colors.
8. Placing insulation in the walls and floor of the laundry room will help reduce noise vibrations in the adjoining rooms.