Laundry Design: 8 Details That Make Life Easier
Where does all the washing come from?
Between beach towels, school uniforms, work clothes, gym gear and the mysterious pile that appears five minutes after you emptied the basket, the laundry is one of the hardest-working rooms in a family home.
Good laundry design isn’t about making washing exciting. That may be asking too much. It’s about removing the small frustrations that make an everyday task take longer than it should.
As a full-service interior design studio on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, we plan laundries around the way a household actually operates. Here are the details that make the greatest difference.
Start With the Workflow, Not the Finishes
A functional laundry starts with four steps: collect, wash, dry and fold. The layout should support that sequence without requiring you to carry wet clothes across the room or move baskets every time you open an appliance.
Allow enough clearance for washer and dryer doors, particularly in narrow rooms. Side-by-side machines offer a longer folding bench, while stacked appliances preserve floor space and may create room for a tall broom cupboard or pull-out hamper.
What most people get wrong is designing the cabinetry before confirming appliance models. Machine depths, door swings, ventilation requirements and plumbing positions can quietly undo an otherwise sensible plan.
For Northern Beaches homes where the laundry may also serve as a mudroom, pet zone or secondary entrance, we often include a landing space for bags, shoes and damp towels. It keeps the daily spillover away from the kitchen.
Give Everything a Proper Home
The most useful laundry storage is rarely a wall of identical cupboards. It’s a considered mix of tall, shallow, concealed and easy-access storage.
A tall cupboard around 450 to 600 millimetres wide can hold brooms, a vacuum, ironing board and cleaning tools. Deep drawers work well for detergents and household supplies because you can see their contents from above. Pull-out hampers allow clothes to be sorted before washing, rather than forming several optimistic piles on the floor.
Closed joinery should do most of the work. A small amount of open shelving can add warmth, but too much quickly becomes a display of half-used stain removers and unmatched pegs.
We often specify moisture-resistant cabinetry finishes, durable porcelain tiles and a benchtop that can tolerate water, detergent and the occasional leaking school drink bottle. Engineered stone, porcelain slab and compact laminate can all work, depending on the project budget and the visual relationship with nearby rooms.
Explore our kitchen, bathroom, laundry services to see how joinery planning is integrated across the whole home.
Plan for Sydney’s Damp Days
“How do I dry clothes inside without the laundry feeling damp?”
This is one of the most useful questions to answer early, particularly in Sydney’s coastal suburbs. Sea air, winter rain and limited outdoor drying space can make an internal drying zone essential.
A ceiling-mounted drying rail, retractable clothesline or wall-mounted rack can provide hanging space without permanently occupying the room. Position it where clothes won’t block cupboards, doorways or the route to the sink.
Ventilation matters just as much. An operable window is helpful, but a properly sized exhaust fan may still be needed, particularly in an internal laundry. Underfloor heating can add comfort and add a significant level of drying support during winter, although it should complement ventilation rather than replace it.
Protect the Folding Bench
A generous benchtop is often the first thing lost when a laundry is squeezed into the renovation plan. It’s also one of the features clients value most once they move in.
Aim for a continuous surface beside or above the appliances where possible. It gives you room to fold linen, sort uniforms and place baskets without balancing everything on the washing machine.
The trade-off is storage. In a small laundry, adding a sink, two machines, hampers and tall cabinetry may leave limited bench space. This is where detailed planning matters. A smaller undermount sink, stacked appliances or a pull-out folding shelf may provide a better everyday result than simply fitting the largest sink available.
If bench space really is limited, consider a laundry sink with a fitted cover. It instantly transforms the sink into additional bench space when you’re not using it, giving you a much more functional work surface without increasing the room’s footprint.
A functional luxury laundry isn’t defined by how many features it contains. It’s defined by how little effort the room asks of you.
Let It Belong to the Rest of the Home
Laundries are increasingly visible from kitchens, hallways and living areas, so the finishes shouldn’t feel like an afterthought.
That doesn’t mean they need expensive materials everywhere. A porcelain splashback with subtle variation, warm timber-look joinery, brushed nickel tapware or a softly coloured cabinet finish can create a considered connection with the rest of the home.
For a contemporary coastal interior in Manly or Avalon, we might repeat the oak tone used in the kitchen while choosing a more durable benchtop and floor tile for the laundry. The rooms feel related, but each material is selected for the job it needs to do.
See more examples of integrated joinery and practical material choices in our Sydney interiors portfolio.
A Better Laundry Starts Before Construction
The decision that reduces the most indecision is resolving the laundry during the broader design phase, not once the builder is waiting for tile and tap selections.
Early planning allows plumbing, electrical points, ventilation, lighting, cabinetry and appliance requirements to be coordinated together. It also prevents the laundry budget from being swallowed by more prominent rooms.
At Orli Interiors, we design the practical rooms with the same attention as the spaces guests see. A home feels so much calmer when the everyday tasks have been thought through properly.
Planning a renovation on Sydney’s Northern Beaches or North Shore? Book a consultation to discuss how your laundry can work harder without feeling crowded.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best layout for a small laundry?
A single-wall layout with stacked appliances, tall storage and a continuous bench usually makes the best use of limited space.
Should a laundry have a sink?
A laundry sink is invaluable for handwashing delicates, soaking stained clothing, filling buckets and tackling household cleaning tasks. It’s also a requirement under the National Construction Code for a compliant laundry. Choose the largest sink your space allows, but not at the expense of valuable bench space for folding and sorting. In a compact laundry, a sink with a fitted cover can offer the best of both worlds, providing extra workspace when the sink isn’t in use.
How can I dry clothes inside a laundry?
Use a retractable clothesline, ceiling-mounted drying rack or folding wall-mounted rail, paired with good ventilation. Underfloor heating and in-wall heating behind the drying area can also significantly speed up drying while helping to prevent moisture build-up.
Are open shelves practical in a laundry?
In moderation. Use closed cabinets for visual clutter and reserve open shelves for frequently used or decorative styling items.
When should laundry joinery be designed?
Before plumbing and electrical rough-in, with appliance models and ventilation requirements already confirmed.
Materials We Love
- Porcelain slab benchtops: Low-maintenance, water-resistant and useful where the laundry connects visually with a kitchen.
- Textured porcelain floor tiles: Practical underfoot and forgiving of sand, water and everyday marks.
- Woodgrain joinery: Adds warmth without relying on decorative clutter.
- Brushed nickel tapware: Quiet, durable and less visually harsh than high-contrast black in a light coastal interior.
- Handmade-look ceramic tiles: A simple way to introduce gentle variation and personality to a small splashback.
