Laundries are one of those ‘throwaway’ rooms that no one really thinks about or cares much for. They’re small, usually cluttered, utility areas that serve a purpose but never really have much ‘soul’. Don’t you think that it’s about time to do-away with these tired laundry cliches?
A laundry renovation could bring some much needed love to a forgotten room. It could also help improve the utility of the room itself. We have performed works on countless laundries, ranging from basic makeovers such as refreshing the cabinetry and putting a new basin in, to full scale laundry renovations. We’re talking about new plastering, painting, tiling, waterproofing, plumbing and more! Even though laundries are a bit of a ‘boring’ room, it still needs to function well and fit in with the look of the rest of your home.
There’s many things you can do to refresh your laundry and add appeal, and these are some of our most frequently requested items for a laundry renovation!
Tiling
A lot of old-styled laundries have vinyl floors and painted plaster walls, or dull mosaic tiling. Re-tiling the floors doesn’t need to be expensive, but can add a very clean and modern look to your laundry. Some people also choose to tile their walls, and with the right tiling, it can definitely make the room look good. Just remember that laundries tend to get messy and cluttered, so clean, simple tiling can help.
Storage Space
Laundries are great for putting wall mounted storage space in to. Simple cabinets and shelves can get that mess and clutter sorted out, and if you pick complementary colours that match your walls and floor, they can even be a feature rather than an eyesore.
Another great idea that’s quite popular these days is to have shelves for indoor plants. There are some plants that actually thrive in the moist environment of a laundry or bathroom, and having a purpose built shelf for your plants keeps them safe and sound from harm.
Bench Space
Having bench space is so useful in a laundry, but you can save on a space by building your washing machine (and dryer, if you don’t use a combo) into the area underneath the bench. It’s always helpful to know the exact dimensions of your white goods so that purpose built cavities can be made precisely to suit your units. It looks nice, neat and very slick.
Waterproofing
Actually, this is something we have to do with pretty much every laundry renovation. As a ‘wet area’ in your home, you are required to have waterproofing in your laundry, the extent of which is determined by whether your laundry is on a slab or not. Luckily, as one of our divisions is a dedicated waterproofing division, we can provide you with the best waterproofing services for your laundry renovation.
Basins
There’s probably nothing particularly wrong with your current basin, but basins aren’t that expensive anyway. If you’re renovating the rest of the laundry you may as get a new basin while you’re at it, and modernise the look of the whole room. Traditional stainless steel basins are cheap and easy to clean, and you can get some nice, newer styled variants of them too. There are however other basins made from materials like composite granite, porcelain and even cast iron that have quite beautiful looks to them.
Room Conversions
If you’ve got a small property and are finding that your laundry is taking up space and isn’t really being utilised, you might choose to convert your laundry. Part of the space could be repurposed into a European laundry, and the rest of the area could be opened up into your main living area. This is a common thing for new units and apartments, and allows you to enjoy the space you actually have more. Hidden away behind cabinet doors, European laundries are a compact way to have all the utility of a laundry without the walk-in and bench space.
Helpful Hint #7
Laundries are traditionally small spaces, and you probably don't want to take away from the more usable space in your home anyway. Consider 'smart' space-saving techniques to get the most out of your laundry. Things like a foldout space for your ironing board or even going with a European laundry are all options to consider.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what manner of works you’re getting done. If it’s just a basic few changes to your laundry, it could be up to a week. If you’re talking about a full laundry renovation where you’re rebuilding the whole thing, it could be up to 3 or 4 weeks, or even more if you’ve ordered components that are rare or custom built.
You can definitely do this! It’s actually fairly common to see in apartments, units and townhouses these days due to the lack of usable space. We just need to review the current laundry area in order to determine the best way to convert it.
Unless using epoxy grout, it will not actually be waterproof. Small amounts of moisture can penetrate regular grout. A laundry is classified as a wet area and would need waterproofing anyway in order to meet Australian standards.
Get your whitegoods sorted before the renovation, so that purpose-built cavities can be made to suit
Adding shelving or cupboard space in is great for storage, even if only temporary!