Tag: laundry design

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Bathrooms Before & Afters House Tours RENO ADDICT

Leigh Campbell shares new bathrooms, with plenty of skincare storage!

Beauty influencer Leigh Campbell, as you might expect, has a lot of skincare! So the original seventies bathroom and ensuite that came with her apartment weren’t cutting it. The overflow had to be kept in baby Alexander’s room! But her new bathrooms are storage heaven and a lot more stylish!

Managing to combine husband Rich’s industrial taste with her love of Moroccan/Turkish vibes, they’re serene but small spaces, where every inch has been maximised. Leigh splurged on handmade Moroccan feature tiles and saved on Bunnings tapware to achieve the reno, which wasn’t really in the budget.

“The original bathrooms were typical of 50 years ago: cream mosaic tiles (not in the good way), thick frosted glass shower and tiny vanities. Storage was dire,” says, Leigh who is executive editor at Mamamia, where she presents the very popular You Beauty podcast. When Leigh reviews makeup and skincare, whether it’s budget or luxury, people sit up and listen! But buying a home when you’re 37 weeks pregnant and then moving in with a newborn, isn’t something she recommends!

“We renovated the kitchen right away because it was unliveable but hadn’t planned on doing the bathrooms so soon after. Then we were heading overseas for a wedding so figured it made sense to do them (and the laundry) while we were already going to be out of the home and the cats would be in boarding. Two birds with one stone and all that.”

“I really needed a lot of face-level storage. I kept asking for it to be bigger! Before we renovated I had secondary storage in my son’s room. He’s one now and accumulating ‘stuff’ of his own so I really needed a proper solution in the bathroom.”

They moved the toilet in the main bathroom so they could accommodate a bigger vanity and also changed the separate bath and shower to a shower over bath. “Not the chicest option but good for resale and the spot for the bath before was simply too small.” Leigh couldn’t handle the thought of cleaning behind a freestanding tub, but getting rid of it altogether was never an option as she enjoys a relaxing soak.

Beauty cupboard goals!

While Rich definitely had a say in the reno of the three-bedroom apartment in Sydney’s Randwick, he left most of the decisions to Leigh. “He stopped me when I wanted a teal concrete sink though, so I knew my limits!”

If the reno newbies had their time again, they’d have done the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry all in one go, before moving in, for cost and consistency. “Renovating when the apartment has your things in it is not ideal. I am still cleaning dust off surfaces, mostly inside my wardrobe, every single day,” Leigh, 38, says.

The improved storage has been the best improvement to the functionality of the bathrooms, and a bigger bath to bathe Alexander too. And while those handmade feature tiles were $200 per sqm, Leigh says they make her heart sing and you can’t put a price on that! “All our matte black tap ware is Mondella from Bunnings; really good prices but still with a 10-year warranty, which was important.”

The Concrete Cloudburst Ceasarstone vanity tops with their textured finish, are another favourite element. Leigh no longer cringes every time she takes a shower, and her evening bath has become much more enjoyable and spa-like.

When it came to the laundry, she had the ingenious idea to incorporate a built-in kitty litter for her two much-loved cats. “Before, we had a huge plastic dome in the laundry for their kitty litter. Not chic. When I was designing the space, I opted for a shallow basin so I could fit their toilet underneath. A doggy door was cut into the cupboard door and there you have it: a built-in kitty toilet.”

While the multitude of decisions can make bathrooms one of the most stressful rooms to renovate, Leigh’s a woman who knows what she wants, and the hardest thing for her was actually wait times. “That’s a lesson learned for next time.”

The You Beauty podcast | Follow Leigh on Instagram

Photography: Jacqui Turk

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Kitchens

Three Birds Renovations: laundry design essentials

No matter the size of your laundry, no matter your reno budget, here are the hard and fast rules for a successful laundry refurb. From where to locate the laundry if you’re starting from scratch, to cabinetry, fixtures and appliances, Electrolux has teamed up with Three Birds Renovations to share 10 rules for laundry design.

Three Birds Renovations say: “The funny thing about laundries is that we’re in them almost daily, yet people often approach these spaces as an afterthought. Expectation versus reality is another key challenge. Our biggest tip for laundry success is to create a solid vision board before you even start the process. Then, once you have a cohesive vision for the entire project, you’ll have something to aim towards and it always comes in handy to refer back to along the way to make sure you’re on track.”

Here, Bonnie, Lana and Erin from Three Birds Renovations share the do’s and don’ts of laundry design:

Do:

  • Remember that your laundry deserves to look beautiful too! Those loads of washing might just seem like less of a chore when you’re doing it in a beautiful space
  • Invest in quality appliances that will do the job and last the distance. In our latest renovation (House 10), this family of four with two young kids spent half their time in the laundry, so they needed quality appliances. We opted for the Electrolux 10kg UltimateCare System (EWF14013) and 9kg Heat Pump Condenser Dryer (EDH3896GDW) because of their superior washing and drying capabilities. Plus, they looked amazing under bench in this Mediterranean Villa-style family home.
  • Consider your laundry a wet room and choose your materials accordingly. Tiles are a great choice for flooring and we often do a tile skirting board, so the walls don’t get wet when you’re mopping the floor.
  • Plan the layout to maximise storage and bench space. Try to locate your laundry with easy external access to the washing line.

Don’t:

  • Forget to choose your appliances early in the planning process. You’ll need to design the cabinetry to fit around the size of your appliances and your decision of a top or front loader machine will dictate where your bench goes.
  • Position your laundry close to a bedroom where the spinning washing machine is likely to be disruptive to sleeping kids.
  • Forget the lighting. You’ll need task lighting to make sure you can see what you’re doing, and we also love accent lighting, like a pendant, just because it looks hot.
  • Forget about ventilation. Laundries without an extractor fan are just asking for mould. A window that opens is a bonus for added airflow.
  • Forget to style your laundry. A lush green plant on a laundry shelf is always a good idea in a laundry. The room exists to make things look, feel and smell fresh, so bringing in some real plants just makes sense.

Three Birds’ kitchen renovation tips

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Appliances Design Expert Tips Shopping

Laundry ideas: Small space design solutions

e&s laundry

Kitchen aside, there’s no denying the laundry is one of the most integral parts of any home. And with space increasingly at a premium (apartment and townhouse living is becoming the norm in many cities), it really pays to make the laundry as smartly designed as possible. Not only will clever design and the right set of appliances make the space more efficient and enjoyable to use, but it will also reduce the time you spend doing laundry which sounds like a win in our books!

e&s laundry

From making the best use of vertical space to integrating appliances, here Victorian appliance retailer e&s shares its top five solutions for making the most out of a petite sized laundry.

Consider washer & dryer placement
Side by side washer and dryers are more accessible and generally larger, while stacking your appliances has great space saving capabilities. If you aren’t certain on your layout, opt for front loaders over top loaders, as they can be stacked or installed under an existing bench, making more room for a folding station.

Stacked washer & dryer

Maximise vertical space and use open shelving
Include overhead storage and a wall mounted ironing board so it’s out of the way when you don’t need it. A suspended drying rack utilises ceiling space that would otherwise go unused. Open shelving along with storage boxes and baskets make for an open, airy aesthetic. Cane or wicker baskets are durable, have great storage capacity, and can hide away cleaning products or dirty clothing from sight.

e&s laundry

Use the back of the laundry door for storage
An over-the-door ironing board is an effective and practical solution when your laundry is lacking storage and floor space. Lighter and less fiddly than traditional ironing boards, over-the-door ironing boards are affordable, space-saving, and always conveniently hidden out of view when you aren’t using them. Mops and brooms can also be hung in over-the-door holders when space is tight.

e&s laundry

Integrated cabinetry for appliances and storage
If you don’t have a dedicated laundry room at all, integrated cabinetry ensures appliances and products are all tucked out of the way and out of sight when you have people over.

e&s laundry

Save space with a washer-dryer combo
If you don’t have room for a standalone dryer, consider a washer-dryer combo. It’s perfect for homes without a dedicated laundry room, doing the job of two appliances, while taking up the footprint of one.

For more on e&s | Kitchen & laundry design: 2019’s top 5 appliance trends