How To Create The Most Practical Laundry On The Planet

Sin #1: Inefficient Appliances

Remote-controlled washing? Smart sensors that won’t overdry your delicates? With so many exciting new tech features to choose from now, there’s no excuse to settle for lazy laundry appliances that don’t measure up.

Shop Workhorse Washing Machines

The Fisher & Paykel 10kg Front Load Washer has a lifestyle-savvy Steam Refresh feature to revive worn school uniforms and work shirts between washes (and unwrinkle them, too!). 

Using AI smarts and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Samsung 8.5kg Front Load Washer lets you control settings from anywhere and suggests the best cycles for the job. 

What could be handier than a washer and dryer in one cutting-edge appliance? The LG WashTower offers a TurboClean™ cycle to wash lightly soiled clothes in just 39 minutes and Smart Pairing, which automatically sets the required drying cycle. 

Shop The New Breed Dryers

The speedy Haier 8kg Condenser Dryer will dry your load pronto, has a setting just for wet towels, and auto sensing technology to call it quits when clothes are dry.

Scoring a perfect 10 in energy efficiency, the Bosch 8kg Heat Pump Dryer has Allergy Plus mode for sensitive households and AntiVibration side walls for a quieter performance.

Bigger families can keep running costs low with fewer loads with the heavy-duty Asko 10kg Logic Heat Pump Dryer; while anti-tangle technology saves you from the ironing board.

Sin #2: Skimping On Storage

You’ve factored in the floor space for your new star washer and dryer (and decided between a stacked or side-by-side layout). But what about the rest of your laundry entourage? The ironing board, mops, brooms, buckets and detergents?

“Slim, tall cupboards work in most laundries and make great spaces for brooms and ironing boards,” says Kinsman ambassador and interior designer Alisa Fraser.

“Make your walls share the workload with a mix of closed cabinets to conceal those messy piles of unsorted clothes and floating shelves that you can reach easily for everyday props like laundry liquids.”

Sin #3: Forgetting The Sink

Do you have room for a sink? It’s a huge laundry helper! For one-spot convenience, hand wash clothes here (as opposed to in the kitchen or bathroom!). Treat stains and pre-soak with ease. A laundry tub also makes light of grubbier chores like dunking the family pet or rinsing off those post-match trainers.

Sin #4: Incomplete Layout

There’s more to laundries than just washing and drying clothes. But many don’t twig until it’s too late. Where will you do your sorting, hanging, ironing and folding?

“If space is tight, consider a fold-down or wall-mounted ironing board, placed near your dryer, so it doubles as a sorting surface,” says Alisa. “This will minimise clutter. And if you’ve got a side-by-side machine layout, install a hanging rail above.”

Sin #5: Poor Ventilation

Laundries can be swampy places; banished to the garage or a back corner without adequate ventilation (hello, mould and mildew!). Add a window – a small, high one will do – to allow fresh air inside, or install an exhaust fan to curb moisture. And don’t wedge your dryer too close to the wall (it’s a fire risk). No option for outside ventilation? Heat pump dryers don’t need to ventilate and can be installed anywhere!

Sin #6: Bad Lighting

How will you sort your lights and darks – or spot pesky stains – if you can’t see them? If natural light is limited due to location (perhaps your laundry is under the stairs, European-style, or in the hallway), consider under cabinet lights, LED downlights or overhead flush mount lighting. Got high ceilings? An eye-catching pendant light will jazz things up!

Sin #7: You can be too functional!

Laundries are chore-centric but there’s no reason they can’t be beautiful, too. “Stamp your style on your laundry with sleek, integrated cabinetry to house new appliances and add statement handles and baskets to inject your favourite mood, such as coastal or contemporary,” advises Alisa.

“Or make a splash with on-trend navy cabinets, such as Kinsman’s Avalon panel-look door in Oxford, paired with the latest dark appliance finishes, to make laundry day a pleasure.”

Planning a laundry renovation? Talk to the design experts at Kinsman, then visit us online or in store for advice on choosing the perfect new washing machine!