ᐅ Hillside House in the Southwest Palatinate – Our Home Construction 2.0

Do you really need all those baskets in the Boaxel combination? I would suggest adding a hanging rod for longer items, such as jeans. Also, a drop-down grid for small items might be useful. I’m not sure how you do it, but for all my clothes that need ironing after the dryer, I use the smoothing function with about four items, then hang them up again, smoothing them by hand to dry. This saves ironing for about 80% of my laundry. Where would you do that, by the way?

Would there be space in the kitchen unit to the left, that is, below the sink, for a 60cm (24 inch) tall cabinet for mops, vacuum cleaners, etc.? Maybe after the 80cm (31 inch) base cabinet, just add a side panel for the tall cabinet and then a rod with a curtain or a roller blind to the wall?

Two thoughts:

If the cleaning supplies are stored further away, will it bother you to fetch them from there when, for example, you clean the bathroom right next to the utility room? They might end up staying in the utility room anyway because it’s more convenient.

The Boaxel idea isn’t bad, but in the long run, it would feel too open and untidy for me. Also, I find the drawer height too low for laundry baskets. Laundry tends to be tossed in rather than laid flat. I think there might be better systems for this.

A completely different idea:
Make the wall with the washer and dryer into a full built-in cupboard wall, placing the machines on a pedestal, with pull-out laundry baskets hidden under the pedestal. Cabinets next to and above the machines provide storage, all neatly tucked behind doors. Opposite this, where you currently planned the Boaxel, have a kitchen-style unit with space for folding laundry and putting things down.

kbt09 schrieb:

Do you really need all those baskets in the Boaxel combination? I would add a hanging rod for longer items, like jeans, for example. And maybe a fold-down rack for small items. I don’t know how you manage it, but for all the ironed laundry from my dryer program, I only use the smoothing function with about 4 items, then hang these items up again, smoothed out, to dry.

I sort my laundry quite thoroughly beforehand; I don’t think anyone else would understand my system. But that’s how it is when you’ve been doing something the same way for 20 years. It’s hard to break old habits when they work well. 😉 So I definitely need at least 6 sorting containers. As an alternative to the baskets from the combination, I also considered installing shelves and placing 6 laundry baskets on them. That doesn’t look as “clean” in my opinion, but laundry baskets are always a good indicator of volume. I can tell from the basket how much fits in the washing machine.

Fold-down rack? I’ll have to look that up, I haven’t seen those before. The tip about ironing laundry with the smoothing program is good. I usually just use the “full power” program on my dryer for towels and such, or a short cold program to make very stiff laundry more comfortable against the skin.

kbt09 schrieb:

That saves ironing for about 80% of all laundry. Where would you actually do the ironing?

I have to admit, I don’t iron at all. 🙂 The few shirts my husband wears a couple of times a year for special occasions are either tight enough that shaking them out properly, hanging them up, and body heat smooth them enough, or I just send suits or really fine shirts to the dry cleaner.

I owned an ironing board for years, but it gathered dust. I sold it in 2020 before moving via a local online marketplace. If I ever have to iron more often in the future, I plan to do it the way my grandmother did: she used ironing pads and simply ironed on the kitchen table. I’d lay something similar on the worktop in the utility room.

kbt09 schrieb:

Wouldn’t there be space for a 60 cm (24 inch) tall cabinet for mops, vacuum cleaner, etc., on the kitchen run to the left, that is, below the sink? Maybe after the 80 cm (32 inch) base cabinet just a side panel from the tall cabinet and then a rod with a curtain to the wall or a blind?

I’m not quite sure what you mean—is that the run on the door side? Unfortunately, that probably won’t fit a 60 cm (24 inch) cabinet very well. Maybe a 50 cm (20 inch) one would work, but I’d prefer to keep the whole line flush. We also installed an outlet there, intended for things like the Alexa in my laundry room for music and a few chargers. Storage space for cleaning supplies isn’t an issue—we have plenty of storage throughout the house. I just wonder if it’s an organizational issue not to keep those things in the same room as the laundry and washing supplies.

Jurassic135 schrieb:

If the cleaning supplies are stored further away, would it bother you to get them from there when, for example, you clean the bathroom right next to the utility room? Maybe they will end up moving into the utility room after all because it’s more practical.

I was thinking of storing some items like a few cloths or cleaning sprays in two places—in other words, having some supplies for a quick wipe-down also in the utility room.
The larger items like the vacuum cleaner, mop, etc., don’t really matter where they’re stored. We have a cleaning assistant who gathers her supplies when she starts and puts them away afterward. It’s quick to do and something I could manage once a week myself.

Jurassic135 schrieb:

The Boaxel idea isn’t bad, but over time, I’d find it too open and untidy. Also, the drawer height would be too low for dirty laundry since it’s usually tossed in rather than laid flat. I think there might be better systems out there.

If you have alternative system suggestions, I’m open to them. I’m currently searching hard. I don’t really like the completely open feel of the Boaxel either.
The drawer height is adjustable—you can extend it if needed since the drawers are hook-in type. I had a similar sorting system with very similar baskets (just inside a Pax wardrobe) in my old house and it worked pretty well for me. If the baskets got so full you had to squeeze stuff in, it was definitely time to start the washing machine.

Jurassic135 schrieb:

A completely different idea:
Make the wall with the washer and dryer a full built-in cabinet wall, with the machines on a pedestal and pull-out laundry baskets hidden under the pedestal. Cabinets next to and above the machines for storage, all neatly closed off with doors. Opposite that, where you currently plan the Boaxel, a kitchenette area with space to fold laundry and put things down.

I think that will be too expensive for us initially. We have so many new furnishings to get for the new house that we can’t budget for major additions like a built-in unit right now (it would need custom fitting). The advantage of the Boaxel is that it costs about €350 (around 350€) in the version I’m looking at. I wouldn’t want to invest a four-figure sum in the utility room at this stage.
We already have the low kitchenette planned for that space, and we can move it from our current apartment, so it won’t cost us anything.
Aside from that, pedestals under washers aren’t really my thing, and I need at least 6 to 8 baskets or sorting containers; that wouldn’t all fit under a pedestal. It could be done with a taller cabinet, though.

😉 I lied 😉 … I don’t even iron anymore 😉. Using the steamer works really well. The key is to start as soon as the washing machine cycle is finished—take the clothes out, shake them out properly, and then, as I said, put about 4 items in for steaming. They get really steamed, then quickly hang them up and smooth them out again.

I have organized my wardrobe so that everything is hung up, no folded T-shirts or anything like that lying around.

By “fold-down grid,” I actually meant what you have on the left side of the Boaxel combination… they could be trouser racks. They should work fine too.

I completely understand that you’re looking for an affordable solution, at least at first. Unfortunately, the only systems that come to mind are quite expensive, like those from kitchen studios and the like. I’ve also seen a combination with Trofast before, but I actually find Boaxel nicer because everything is more seamless and cohesive.

I just find it impressive how many baskets you use 😀 but of course, organizing laundry is very individual. With more baskets, each one is less full compared to spreading the same amount over 2-3 baskets.

Otherwise, you pretty much answered your own question about whether the cleaning supplies setup is practical 🙂 I have it the same way in my guest bathroom and main bathroom, with 1-2 bottles each. The rest of the cleaning products are stored in the utility room on the ground floor. That way, I can quickly grab what I need when cleaning the bathroom.
If you clean everything at once anyway, the location really doesn’t matter, in my opinion. You just gather everything in one go and take it with you around the house.