Mistakes. My Laundry Room Design.

I made some mistakes the first time I designed my laundry room. Luckily I have the chance to fix those mistakes but it has made me reflect on how it happened in the first place. This is a rough sketch of how the laundry was laid out:

I did not spend enough time reflecting on how I use the space.

Originally I designed this laundry sorting station to minimize bending and carrying. The idea was to have laundry dropped onto the counter-height surface, sort it by dropping into the rolling carts below, then using the rolling carts to carry the laundry to the washing machine. I was able to tip the cart into the washing machine and scoop laundry in- minimizing the amount of bending. Sounds great right? My first mistake; I made one accommodation for myself and thought it would be enough.

Here are the issues I had with that system;
1. Clutter was constantly building up on that surface because the laundry room was actually a pass-through. This meant that when the laundry was brought down it was usually left on the floor.

I didn't consider the context of the space.

2. And I think this is the most crucial part- I didn't account for my journey to the laundry room. The staircase to get there is steep, and by the time I made it down I was already tired. I usually sit on the floor to sort the laundry. I tried to use a bar stool but it was usually in the way, and I needed to rest on the floor anyways after the stairs. If you have not dealt with waves of pain or dizziness from minor activities, this part can be hard to understand. Being on the floor is what I should have worked around!

3. Finally the stacked full sized washer dryer ultimately didn't work for me. With back constraints, vertigo and limited reach, there is a midpoint of usability. This midpoint usability is one of my design principles moving forward! If I HAD to have them stacked due to space constraints I would use the top loader with small dryer style, like this one:

So what will work? I am currently re-designing my laundry room and I will have the machines side-by-side. They will also be raised to minimize bending. I can use the raised area under the machines to store the laundry baskets. The final layout will look a bit like the laundry project in my portfolio.

I will focus on keeping the work triangle close, to minimize steps between tasks, reducing fatigue. Midpoint usability will be considered for the frequent tasks, and items such as soap will need to be within easy reach.

Organized and accessible storage is a significant tool in a space like this. When you have a designated home for items, clutter is easy to sort and place. When brain fog sets in after doing some tasks such as laundry, being able to determine where to return items becomes challenging.

And the sorting area? An open floor space, comfortable enough to rest in between sorting piles of laundry. A place to sit with a back rest, with some sort of support to help me get off the floor.

When I was first dealing with chronic pain, I didn't understand how pain, fatigue, and the resulting brain fog accumulated throughout the day. Not calculating each portion of the laundry task-including getting to the laundry room- was a mistake. But so is forgetting that each time I do a load of laundry, the next load is harder to do, and a relatively 'minor' task such as throwing in the next load can take days because I have used all my energy before it's complete. I can't make laundry go away, but I can examine each action involved in doing the laundry, to see where I can make improvements. Check back in a few months for the design reveal.