Author: Richard Wallace

For many of us, doing laundry is our most dreaded chore, so it’s hard to get excited over a laundry room. We can pretend all we want, but at the end of the day, they are just not as sexy as a sleek kitchen or as spa-like as a primary bath.
Oftentimes, laundry rooms are dark, hot, noisy, and small.

But how many times a week do you go into your laundry room? Once a week on laundry day? If your household can pull that off, I envy you. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that adults spend, on average, 17 minutes per day doing laundry – coming only behind food and drink preparation (37 minutes) and interior cleaning (29 minutes) for household activities.

Should we be putting more thought into how to make our laundry rooms better? Unlike the primary bath, the laundry room will never be described as “spa-like.” But perhaps we can make it a better functioning, more cheerful space. So, whether you are in the process of designing a home or have an outdated laundry room that you want to remodel, here are points you should consider…

In addition to the washer and dryer, there are other key elements and functions that a laundry room should include:

Laundry tub or sink
Wrinkle reduction/Shrink prevention
Laundry basket
Folding zone
Storage

LAUNDRY TUB/SINK

A laundry tub is ideal for pre-soaking or hand washing dirty clothes. However, if you are opting for a more elegant solution go with a sink—maybe a cool farmhouse sink. And if you can incorporate a window into this space, even better!

WRINKLE REDUCTION & SHRINK PREVENTION

If you don’t like to iron and are concerned about your clothes shrinking, a hanging rod is a must. At minimum, there should be 6′ of hanging. Ideally, you would have one lower 3′ rod and a 6′ upper rod.

LAUNDRY BASKET

How about a laundry basket to hold items waiting to be washed? Even better, multiple baskets—one for each member of the household, one for sheets and one for towels.

FOLDING ZONE

An area for folding clothes is often a luxury in many laundry rooms. Ideally, you want at least 5′ of counterspace – enough to easily fold towels. When working with limited square footage, you might consider a countertop above front loaded appliances that allows adequate space for folding.

STORAGE

Then there’s the storage. It starts with where you store your laundry detergent and dryer sheets. Certainly, wire shelves are sufficient for these supplies, but the open shelves make the room feel cluttered and messy. Cabinets are more elegant. Be sure to make the cabinets over the washer and dryer 18” deep so you can easily reach them over the appliances.

While laundry rooms might not be sexy, they are one of the most important, frequently used rooms in the home. If we have the opportunity to make these chore rooms a little less institutional, and a bit more inviting, shouldn’t we?

Adapted from Housing Design Matters Blog

The pandemic left a negative impression on all of us, but most notably on those 55+. For our seniors in nursing facilities, it was incredibly disheartening with no or limited visitation. No one dreams about living in such a facility. This got me thinking – what features will help us at age at home for longer, perhaps even until the end of our life.

THE SHOWER

Let’s start with the shower. I like to think “spa-like” rather than designed for “old-age.” Either way, that means an awesome seat, great shower heads including a handheld shower head. If possible, it should have a zero-threshold entry that is both luxurious and easy to use.

AMPLE ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

A natural part of aging is the thickening of the lens of the eye. It is a gradual process that starts at age thirty. By age sixty, this buyer needs six times as much light as a 20-year-old. The good news is that adding light is beautiful and uplifting. All houses look better when well lit!

Be thoughtful about lighting. In the bathroom, add lit mirrors and a step light in the toilet room—a great way to easily find it in the wee hours of the morning.

In the kitchen, I like four layers of lighting:
Under cabinet lights for task lighting
Pendant lights over the island as both decorative task lighting
Puck lights in the glass upper cabinets for ambient lights
Recessed can lights in the kitchen for the maximum light

And don’t forget the lighting in the closet. One overhead light won’t illuminate two rows of hanging properly. Add led strip lights above each row of hanging rods. I’m quite sure even a twenty-year-old would love this!

Another area is on your stairwell. Step lights make them safer at night for all ages.

AMPLE NATURAL LIGHT

If you are currently building a home, go ahead and add that extra window in the bedroom or great room. Especially if the extras windows can view something beautiful. Add high glass in the bathroom – above or between the mirror – above the shower and in the toilet room. If there is a room in your existing home, adding a window to a dark room that you spend a lot of time in is worth the investment.

THE PRIMARY SUITE

Having the primary suite on the main level is a nice luxury for any age. But the 55+ individual, who lives in a three-story home, should investigate the possibility of an elevator should the primary be located on an upper floor. Or perhaps you have space to add a small addition to the home or convert a room (or rooms) on the ground floor into a beautiful and highly functional primary suite.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Everyone, young and old, appreciates outdoor living. For many, a backyard to garden in is truly therapeutic. As we age, consider constructing raised beds for growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Adding landscape lights will extend the view of the great outdoors into the evening. Perhaps extend your deck or patio making this area of your home more inviting. Few things beat fresh air and warm sunshine—and I swear, as a 55+ person, the great outdoors has a magical force that just makes you feel more vibrant, and yes, even younger.

Let’s face it, we all want to be full of vitality as we age. After our twenties, no one really wants to grow older, but it is inevitable. Nonetheless, thoughtful, wise decisions on design if you are in the process of building or taking the initiative to move forward with a remodel to make your home more suitable for the next chapter of your life, will extend the opportunity for you to age in place. After all, there is no place like home!

Adapted from Housing Design Matters Blog

I love my backyard. It’s enchanting. But no matter how large or small, I bet most of us thoroughly enjoy our backyards as it is where we can spend time simply relaxing or grilling out with friends. Whether it be on warm, sunny days or crisp, fall evenings, backyards are a special place.

Some backyards are lucky enough to have lush woods as a backdrop. If this is your scenario, you will agree it is a wonderful view that changes with the seasons and affords great privacy from the neighbors behind you. Other backyards can be on the small side, especially here at the beach, but it’s amazing what you can do with that space—squeeze a small splash or cocktail pool in them and you have your own tropical oasis.

In year’s past, during the dead of winter, my backyard was mostly dark by the time I get home from the office. Of course, I never seem to get up early enough on weekday mornings to thoroughly enjoy my backyard as I am always rushing off to work, trying not to be late. But now that daylight savings started, relaxing evenings in my backyard are more frequent. But even in the thick of winter, or when we stay outside past dusk on delightful summer evenings, there is a remedy to a dark backyard—landscape lighting!

If you have a pool, the pool lights can help brighten up the backyard at night and a fire pit can create flickering light—both of which are very nice, but are they enough? Or more importantly, are they creating the effect you are looking for? Turns out, they don’t always provide what you are looking for. Sometimes this light can completely overwhelm the rest of the yard. There is a fine line between too much light and light that creates a soothing ambience.

Over the holidays, we put up one string of soft white lights in the bushes. Nothing fancy, but it suddenly clicked. Or should I say, I saw the light! We could actually see the landscaping, and if you are lucky enough to have a pool, the reflections of these lights on the pool can be stunning.

So, recently we added low voltage landscape lights. WOW—they are transformational! I feel foolish for not doing this sooner.

We have lights shining up on our crepe myrtle trees. Even this time of year when they are sticks, they look interesting and very sculptural with the uplighting. I can’t wait to see them later this year when they are in full bloom.

We have lights shining on our privacy hedge, creating a perimeter. The greenscape enclosure is magical and comforting.

But my favorites lights are the ones lighting the woods behind our home. What once was a black abyss is now a charming and dramatic backdrop. As a bonus, the lighting makes nighttime putting possible! When inside, I can’t stop staring out the windows at my beautiful yard.

What an amazing transformation these lights offer when it comes to making the most of your backyard landscape. With spring upon us, I encourage you to add some uplighting, or even just a strand of lights on a tree—it is truly uplifting and will enhance those lovely evenings spent outside!

Adapted from Housing Design Matters Blog

When it comes to having enough storage in our homes—there is just never enough! And it seems that the problem of not enough storage has gotten worse since the pandemic. Apparently, Americans have become too good at ordering “stuff” on Amazon or other online retailers and not as good at throwing “stuff” away. These super-fast, convenient shopping experiences appear to be contributing to storage challenges. So the question becomes, where do you put all this stuff?

Holiday Décor

Finding places for holiday decorations used to be easy—limited to a couple of boxes for tree ornaments and outdoor lights. Not anymore! Decorating for Christmas has become a competitive sport! It’s all about who in the neighborhood has the best décor. But wait—competitive outdoor décor isn’t just limited to Christmas. Many folks go all out for Halloween too. Again, this adds to our storage dilemma.

Self-Storage Units

According to Yardi Matrix, there has been tremendous growth in the self-storage business since 2020. There are now more than 14.5 million people utilizing self-storage—which is up by close to a million in two years. Some believe the demand for self-storage is increasing because of housing affordability issues—especially in urban areas. Another factor is downsizing. The 55+ market is famous for wanting a smaller house but failing to adequately downsize the amount of stuff they keep.
It’s clear to me that our storage needs are only growing—so where can we expand our storage in the home?

Kitchen

Ever since we fell in love with the open concept floor plan, finding adequate upper cabinet storage in the kitchen has been more challenging. During the lockdown, the number of kitchen gadgets we “needed” increased. The result—we quickly ran out of storage and our kitchens became a disorganized mess. The once adequate corner pantry no longer provides enough storage. Large walk-in pantries are a better solution. Be sure to consider this if you plan to remodel your kitchen or are in the process of designing a new home.

Should space permit, the addition of the Messy Kitchen is another great storage solution. This area is especially helpful for our favorite kitchen gadgets like the juicer, blender, coffee maker, and toaster oven.

I also love the tall upper cabinets with the glass cabinets above the uppers. What a great place for the display of collectables that is safe and relatively dust free.

Primary Closet

Ask most folks about an adequate primary closet, and they will respond “it can’t be big enough.” While that’s not always feasible, oversized closets have great appeal. Nonetheless, a built-in closet system can go a long way in terms of storage space even in an average-sized walk-in closet.

Garage

For many, including my household, the garage becomes the catch-all for stuff. However, without a well-planned organization system, this space gets unruly and overcrowded. Eventually, disarray prevails. Capitalize on this space with wall hooks to hang bikes, fishing poles, etc. and cabinets/shelves to keep stuff organized.

Attic Storage

If you have attic space, easy access is imperative to make it practical. If you are subject to pull-down stairs, it can be dangerous when trying to retrieve big boxes. It generally requires 2 people, and all I can say is, be careful. If you are building a home, be sure to incorporate a walk-in attic area or one that offers a permanent staircase for ease of access. And if you want to make the most of this storage area, opt for spray-foam insulation so this space doesn’t experience extreme heat in the summer or get incredibly cold in the winter.

Under the Stairs Storage

Move over Harry Potter. This valuable, albeit small, storage space should not be overlooked as every inch of storage counts. Perhaps you can add an access door in your home to take advantage of this
space.

Yes – We have a problem!

So, is it a lack of storage that is the problem or too much stuff that is the problem? The reality is, most of us aren’t as organized as we’d like to be—why do you think Tidying Up with Marie Kondo was such a hit on HGTV? Even if we take her lessons to heart, we will have to be diligent about purging and keeping things organized.

Have you taken full advantage of storage possibilities in your home? If not, try mastering the art of organization—it is highly rewarding!

Adapted from Housing Design Matters Blog

Of course windows play an amazing role in the design, livability, and enjoyment of our homes as they let in natural light and help to expand the space. High glass brings in light without compromising privacy which is important here at the beach. But there are several nuances when it comes to high glass including where to use it and what size is appropriate.

Which rooms benefit the most from high glass?

For obvious reasons, bathrooms greatly benefit from high glass as it is a room that demands privacy. Perhaps you remember when it was common to show a large 4′ by 4′ window above the soaking tub in the primary bath. While it looked awesome and let in incredible light, it offered no privacy. To address this concern, frosted glass or glass block was installed. We’ve long since moved on from those faded fads, and found the perfect application for high glass.

Over The Shower

Although soaking tubs are still popular should your primary bath be large enough, many homeowners have switched to a spa-like shower. If your home has 10′ ceilings, then you have plenty of options to add high glass in the shower area.
If your home has a 9′ ceiling, you could sneak a piece of high glass up at an 8′ head height. A two-foot-tall piece of glass with a sill at 6′ adds a lot of light and still maintains privacy.

Over The Vanities

Another popular spot for high glass is over the vanities. Again, this is easy with 10′ ceilings. But as the ceilings get lower, the amount and size of glass gets compressed. Now you have to consider the top of the mirror. If your light fixtures are placed over mirrors, a good solution is to place high glass between the vanities and their corresponding mirrors.

Dining Rooms

Another popular place to add high glass is to the dining room. Oftentimes this is supplemental glass that acts as an accent/design element.
Many times the dining room is on the side of the house where we have another house about 10′ away. While dining rooms don’t require the same amount of privacy as a bathroom – no one wants to see their neighbor staring into their home while you host a dinner party.

The good news here is the size of the glass in the dining room isn’t constricted by mirrors. Adding three 2′ by 2′ pieces of glass along the dining room wall creates a great look. I recently visited a home where they added only two larger pieces of glass at 3′ by 3′. The result was a larger area of glass and less labor to install. Sounds like a win win!

High glass serves a crucial role in bringing natural light into spaces where we want to maintain privacy. Thoughtful sizing and placement will bring cheer to even the most challenging rooms in the home. So whether you are designing a new home, or remodeling an existing one, be sure to give high glass some careful consideration.

Adapted from Housing Design Matters Blog