Laundry Room Features

One at a time

Pull-down hanging rod

A rail on a sprung arm that draws down to shoulder height and returns flat against the underside of a cabinet. It is where shirts go straight from the dryer, and it takes no floor and no wall when it is not in use — which in a room this size is the whole argument for it.

Clothes carrier

A pull-out rail on runners, for the things that come out damp and need hanging now. Unlike a fixed rail it retracts fully into the cabinetry, so a narrow laundry closet can have hanging space without permanently losing the width to it.

Ironing board drawer

A board that folds out of a drawer at the right height and folds back into it, which removes the freestanding ironing board from the room entirely. In a laundry closet it is often the difference between ironing there and carrying everything upstairs.

Folding counter over the machines

A continuous counter across a front-loading pair, at a height you can fold at standing up. It is the most-used surface in the room and it costs less than most of the cabinetry above it.

Deco doors with glass inserts

Uppers with glass fronts, so detergent, softener and the rest are behind a door but not hidden. In a laundry that opens off a kitchen or a hallway this is what stops the room reading as a utility cupboard with the door left open.

The gap between and beside the machines

A pull-out three to six inches wide beside or between the machines, on full-extension runners, holding bottles upright. It is dead space in every laundry room in the city and it is the cheapest capacity in this list.

Hamper and sorting drawers

Tilt-out hampers or deep drawers with removable liners, so sorting happens in the room rather than in baskets on the floor. Two or three narrow ones work better than one wide one, because the sorting is the point.

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