Small laundry ideas that work in Fremantle homes

Stack the machines

Putting the dryer on top of the washing machine frees up a whole bench width. It needs a stacking kit made for your machines, so the dryer can't slide or vibrate off.

Stacking only works with a front-loading washer. A tall cupboard around the pair hides them and gives you shelves on the side.

Run a bench over the washer

With a front loader, a benchtop can run straight over the top. That gives you somewhere to fold and sort, which most small laundries are missing.

Leave a gap above the machine so it can be pulled out for repairs, and choose a benchtop that handles water and detergent, like laminate or porcelain.

Use the height of the room

Overhead cupboards that run to the ceiling hold the things you use least, like spare sheets and cleaning refills. Open shelves lower down keep the everyday things within reach.

Hanging space doesn't need a whole wall. A pull-out rail inside a cupboard or a fold-down rack above the tub gives you somewhere to hang shirts as they come out.

Pick the right tub

A full-size freestanding tub takes up a lot of floor. A smaller tub set into the bench saves space, as long as the tap is tall enough to fit a bucket under.

If you rarely soak clothes, a slim tub is fine. If you wash muddy boots or dogs, a deeper one is worth the space.

Hide it: the European laundry

A European laundry sits inside a cupboard, often in a hallway or kitchen, with doors that close over the machines and the tub. It frees up the old laundry room for something else, like a second toilet or a pantry.

The new spot needs hot and cold water, a drain and power, and the cupboard has to let out heat and damp from the dryer.

Keep the air moving

A vented dryer pushes warm, damp air into the room. In a small laundry that turns into condensation and mould, so it needs a window open, a vent kit to the outside or an exhaust fan.

Heat pump and condenser dryers keep the moisture inside the machine, which suits a laundry in a cupboard.

Questions