Instead, homeowners are custom mixing and matching them with pantries, home offices, and gift-wrapping, sewing and scrapbooking centers, often located near kitchens. They’re moving laundry up near bedrooms and dressing rooms, out into pool houses and around into deluxe mud rooms.
With washers and dryers no longer hidden in closets and basements, the increased visibility has led to a monumental change in design: Panache. Increasingly washers and dryers are built-in for a customized, clean look that’s as presentable as a designer kitchen.
“The movement of laundry rooms out of the basement to the main part of the house has encouraged homeowners to buy appliances they want to showcase,” says Tim Kavanaugh, director of merchandising for LG Electronics, a New-Jersey-based home appliance company. “Appliances are now being used to enhance room décor.”
And that means if you’re thinking of remodeling or building—or simply upgrading your appliances—you’ve got a laundry list of new options for washing up in style. Washers and dryers are available not only in white, but also midnight blue, titanium and cocoa. (Sears Kenmore Elite recently rolled out in front-loading washers in champagne, Pacific blue and Sedona.) And styling is becoming sleeker. Unlike washing and drying’s no-frill’s past, models like GE’s frontload laundry pair, for $1,200, for example, have graphic lines that create a design element in rooms.
New sizes, from smaller all-in-one units to commercial-sized washers for large families, enable you get the right fit for your lifestyle.
The latest washers and dryers cater to those who not only want laundry areas to look as pulled-together as the rest of the home, but who also insist on energy-saving, hi-tech, well-trained appliances that work hard, simplifying life and saving time and money. With today’s laundry appliances, you’ll find sensors, remotes and sanitary washing that not only gets the stains out but also kills germs.
Technological advances also put high-end clothes cleaning—steam cycles, cold irons, drying cabinets—that were once the domain of laundry professionals, right at your fingertips.

With laundry options increasing, where does the quest begin? Start by assessing your floor space and lifestyle, experts say. Where can you put laundry? What’s most convenient in your home? How much do you wash? Is there anything else you’d like to do in the laundry room?
“First you’ve got to see where you’re going to put it,” says Chris Kaeser of Las Vegas-based Ariston Appliances. “If you have a laundry room with custom cabinetry, that’s a different direction than something for the basement or garage. And a lot of times you go into stores and see big, giant washing machines. If you’re an empty-nester, maybe you don’t need a washer that can wash 24 pounds of laundry. Maybe a 12-pound load is sufficient.”
Be practical in planning upgrades, renovation and construction of laundry areas. You’ll need space for laundry piles, folding, ironing and laying or hanging clothes to dry—and ample clearance around them. If you’re building a new home or considering converting space for a laundry room, it’s best to avoid high-traffic areas for laundry basket hazards and eyesores.
Washers and dryers are getting quieter and less humid in many cases, making them easier to live with. And some companies are selling new vent-free condensing dryers that can be placed anywhere in a home, opening up options. For multi-purpose spaces, think hard about what else, besides laundry, will be happening. Can they coexist?
Is space tight? Standard machines are 27 inches deep and wide. But Ariston’s 24-by-24-inch combined unit washes and dries 6 to 8 pounds and is being used in city flats, guesthouses, and rooms for nannies and mother-in-laws, Mr. Kaeser says. Such all-in-one units require a different approach to laundering—namely, smaller, more frequent loads, which is ideal for certain locations and lifestyles. Thor’s all-in-one portable laundry allows quick sink hookup and roll-away storage.
Budget is another consideration when scoping out options; but if possible; don’t decide solely on sticker price. Energy efficiency will save you in the long run. Front-loading washers, for instance, usually cost more than top-loaders but average $120 a year in utility cost savings per year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That adds up to $1,560 in utility bills savings over the average 13-year lifespan of a washer.

Laundry room design has evolved in cycles, mostly by default. When indoor plumbing and electricity arrived in American homes during the Jazz Age, washing left porches and kitchens and moved to basements, near easy-to-access pipes, floor drains (perfect for drips from wringers) and ample space to hang clothes on rainy or cold days. Maytag introduced the first electric washer in 1922—and sold 1 million of them in 5 years.
In the 1970s, with moms increasingly working (and increasingly busy), demand for easier-access washing forced washers and dryers up out of the basement and into closets, hallways, breezeways and garages. Things were closer, but quarters were cramped.
As square footage in American homes increased exponentially over the next decades, so did space allotted to laundry. Today laundry centers are standard in new, larger homes. These tricked-out laundry rooms—sometimes with custom cabinetry and granite, stainless or glassy countertops—off great rooms, kitchens, master bedrooms and baths.
“Laundry rooms are such a vital part of the house—everyone does laundry,” says ASKO’s Brittany Meyer.
And indeed, not only does everyone do laundry, everyone does a lot of laundry—Americans now wash at least 10-times more than when the first washing machine was introduced, spending seven to nine hours a week on average sorting, drying and folding, according to various studies.
While the advent of laundry appliances did simplify doing the wash (mucqh easier than beating it on stones), Americans now own more clothing and linens, and wash everything far more frequently. Because gone are the days of changing the dainties weekly.

Today’s technology with washers and dryers continues to aim to simplify laundry, cut down time and make washing a pleasant experience.
Many washers now come with a sanitizing setting where water’s heated to 150 degrees and up (hot tap water is usually between 120 and 130 degrees F).
Samsung’s taken the anti-bacterial quest a notch higher, recently introducing SilverCare technology in its washers ($1,099 to $1,399) that uses silver ions to sanitize in cold-water washing.
Higher-spinning washers also get more water out of laundry before they hit the dryer. Where a load of laundry could take 60 minutes, today’s dryers have cycles that dry clothes in 30 or 40 minutes.
Ergonomics and functionality is on the rise too. Fourteen-inch pedestals beneath machines can raise laundry to a physically comfortable and convenient level. Sears’ new between-machines storage system, the Laundry Plus Storage Tower for $199, has a cordless ironing station. And you can now choose whether you want your control panels on the top or bottom of LG’s stackable units, which is helpful whether you are short or tall in height.
Sophisticated control panels, touch screens and readouts can walk you through decisions on settings, report temperature and cycle progress, and sense unbalanced loads and suds overdoses, which are corrected by the machine automatically adding more water until the situation is under control. For example, Bosch’s Aquaguard setting on its front-loading washer ($1,199) even works with ski and rain gear.
LG Appliances sells a remote to monitor laundry from anywhere in the house for its SteamWasher ($1,019) and Tromm Control Center Systems ($1,299). And that SteamWasher that’s making the headlines? It’s a new product that steam-cleans laundry, just like a trip to the dry cleaners.
In fact, that dry-cleaner approach is part of the latest trend in laundry—professional-caliber appliances. A series of manufacturers is selling high-end irons, drying cabinets and machines for the home, exactly like those used by butlers and in fine restaurants or aboard yachts.

If you’re remodeling or building a laundry room, you’ll want to keep in mind some of the following recommendations from industry experts:

• Leave 6 inches between walls and appliances for the dryer vent and water hose. For vented dryers, keep vents as short and straight as possible to promote airflow.

• Give yourself 48 inches of clearance in front of the appliances so you can walk around doors that are open.

• Remember to include shelving and storage for cleaning products, and make sure these won’t be accessible to small children, if you have them. For shelving above top-loaders, give yourself at least 6 inches clearance so you don’t hit your fingers.

• Provide yourself with adequate lighting, ventilation and counter space for folding.

• Leave adequate space for hampers, laundry baskets and ironing boards (with clearance to walk around it). And don’t forget a wastebasket.

Eco-Savvy Sudsing

Water-wise, low-energy washers and dryers not only spiff your laundry room, they also reduce the drain on your pocketbook. Today’s energy-smart appliances get stars on their forehead: The federal government’s Energy Star awards go to appliances that meet strict efficiency standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or U.S. Department of Energy.
Front-load washers are at the top of the class here—they use half the water that top-loaders consume. That means savings on water bills, water-heating bills and wear-and-tear on septic tanks. They also spin twice as hard as top-loaders, meaning clothes dry more quickly. And, they use less soap. (The Ohio-based Staber’s machines, the only U.S.-built horizontal axis washers, are a top-loader with similar efficiency.)
Energy Star washers, whether top or front loading, use 18 to 20 gallons per load compared to 40 consumed by a standard washer.
And what does that mean to your pocketbook? Expect to save up to $120 per year on average on utility bills if you’re trading in an older model. Not upgrading? You can still save money by using cold-water settings, washing full loads, and air-drying clothes when possible.
Expect laundry equipment to get even more energy-friendly in coming years, says Tim Kavanaugh, director of merchandising for LG Electronics, not only because consumers are clamoring for it, but also because even stricter federal energy regulations for appliances will increasingly be put into effect.