Parade of Homes

Cont'd on page 112 110 Parade of Homes FALL 2016 Milne says Hearth Homes is installing drying and hang- ing racks that expand for use with hang-to-dry items and then fold up when you're done. "A lot of people are choosing a gorgeous white sink with a ribbed washboard built in, designed specifically for scrubbing stains and pre-soaking," he says. There's a broom closet in their current show home and a walk-in closet to store large and bulk items. Even in the basement, ef- ficiency of space is still key. "You do want it to be as effective as pos- sible so you have to make sure you have proper clearance to open your doors so you can use your washer and dryer," he says. A few clients still want laundry rooms above grade, but even if they don't, Milne recommends roughing-in plumbing to ac- commodate a future main-floor laundry for those who want to "age in place." "It's very inexpensive to just run pipes and taps since the cost of doing it while building is next to nothing," he says. Milne says people forget to consider laundry room stor- age. "The laundry room will likely be where all other house- hold cleaners will be stored, so adequate upper cabinet storage that is not accessible to children is important." He says that when people come through a show home with a lower-level laundry, they are surprised. "When they ask where the laundry room is and you tell them it's in the basement, they go downstairs and they say, 'Wow, this is exactly what I would want,' " he says. Bryan Cripps, category manager at Dufresne, says that if you haven't equipped a laundry room with new appli- ances in a while, much has changed. "You should make sure you see everything that is out there because you might be surprised at the features available," says Cripps. mY BeAuTiful lAundereT Te Cont'd from page 109 'It 's very inexpensive to just run pipes and taps since the cost of doing it while building is next to nothing'

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