[starfire]

Our house is set up with a laundry (read: sink with taps on the wall for washing machine) in a single car garage. There is no other space in the house to move or model a new laundry later down the track.

As you may imagine, it really annoys me due to limited space, when the car is parked in the garage - it is a tight squeeze to get to the washing machine and bend down under the sink to get laundry powder/softner etc out of the cupboard under the sink.

To make it even more interesting, it is up the front wall near where we need to walk through to get into the house from the garage so we need to make sure there is plenty of room to walk through the gap between the washing machine/car to get through the doorway.

I want to do something to help maximise the space and make it more practical to use - at the moment there is NO bench space to fold or rest things on, no shelving space etc but due to the small space, I don't know what would be best.

We won't consider parking the car on the driveway due to the area we live in - we feel safer having the car parked inside. It is not an option at this time until we get a carport and gates built (this will probably not be for about 5 years due to our budget.)

Does anyone have any suggestions to help vamp up the space? Help!

[YodaTheWrinkledO...]

Pic would be helpful to see how the space is now

But in the mean time - what type of washing machine do you have (front or top loader)? How much space are you talking about? What type of laundry sink?

[*cough*]

Have a look on Pinterest there are so many amazing ideas for laundries.

Just search laundry.

[noi'mnot]

Above the laundry space that you have, put some shelves where you can store your detergents and such - this will make it easier to access them. They don't have to be fancy or expensive, see what DIY ones Bunnings and Ikea and such have.

Bench space depends on what type of washing machine you have. If you have a front loader then it's easy to put a bench on top, but a top loader would need to have a bench beside it.

You could just call a few local cabinetmakers (you'll find them in the back of your local paper) and see what they can come in and build. It doesn't have to be fancy or pretty or anything, just a practical space where you can do laundry.

[Overtherainbow]

I'd add a bench above for detergent and stain remover. A hook for the laundry basket. Is there room for a short shelf to place laundry basket while you empty the machine? I don't fold or iron in my laundry.

Can you keep dirty clothes baskets in the bathroom?

[starfire]

Sorry pictures are coming, I haven't had time to take any and upload yet.

To answer questions;

what type of washing machine do you have (front or top loader)? Top loader - there is no room for a front loader - if we got one, we would have to reverse the car out everytime I wanted to open the washing machine door

How much space are you talking about? There is a 30cm gap between the car and the washing machine for me to squeeze through. The space from the sink to the doorway is roughly 190cm, the sink is 56cms, washing machine is 64cms. There is an empty gap of 65cms from the washing machine to the doorway.

What type of laundry sink? It is similiar to this one: Laundry tub

Is there room for a short shelf to place laundry basket while you empty the machine? Truth be told, I have no idea which is why I asked EB lol. At the moment, I just balance the laundry basket on top of the sink to throw the clothes in/take clothes out. It is only a problem when I am using the sink to soak things in.

Can you keep dirty clothes baskets in the bathroom?
I don't store the dirty clothes basket in the laundry as there is definitely no room in there - all dirty laundry is kept in the main bathroom until I am ready to wash.

I do like the idea of a shelf, I was already considering this but was wondering if there were other great ideas that I am not thinking of.

Thanks for the pinterest suggestions - I found these two that I kind of like but not sure - WDYT? (But note I only have a washing machine, no dryer so still same problem of where to put the basket)

http://pinterest.com/pin/43347215135555571/

http://pinterest.com/pin/263671753155153134/

[kpingitquiet]

I would either do something like this, replacing existing washer with a compact washer/dryer set like is used in apts:



or I'd pay a plumber to move the laundry facilities to the back wall of the garage. For a laundry table of some sort I'd add a drop-down table to the wall like this IKEA one:

[noi'mnot]

You could also just cut a piece of MDF (or similar), seal it with waterproof paint, and install that over your sink with hinges so that it can either be up against the wall, or folded down on top of the sink as a bench. Combine that with some shelves and you should have a better system.

[wenchwitch]

A rail can be helpful too as you can hang down those fabric shelf things and also hang some of your cleaning products off it. Pinterest has some awesome ideas

[starfire]

Newbie coming out - I tried uploading to photobucket but it said that EB does not accept these links? Confused!

Either way, I have decided for now I will just get a stenstorp shelf from Ikea. And go from there.