Today's families are striving to fine more balance in their lives. Your pace of life grows more hectic everyday and the pressures from the outside world force family members to spend more time apart than in days past. You are looking for opportunities to help you de-stress when you are home. At the same time you want to find activities that help your family to spend more time together.
And who would have thought this can all take place in the laundry room?! Well, not the laundry room of yesterday, barely large enough to house the washer and dryer. The latest trend is to build a new kind of laundry room, also called the Family Studio. The Family Studio is a well-planned, multi-functional space designed to meet today's changing lifestyles. In just the same way the kitchen changed from being Mom's room to becoming the hub of the family's interaction, this new Family Studio is a place where the family can gather to enjoy hobbies, spend time on the computer, play games, watch TV, work on crafts and take care of home management activities like the laundry. The Family Studio will be the new space in your home where your family values are nurtured. No longer will family members, separated during the day, have to retreat to separate activity spaces when at home.
More Than Laundry
The Family Studio is more than an expanded laundry room. It is gathering together of all the activities that take space and collecting them into an organized room. It is a room that its sole purpose is to help you get things done. The fun things and the not so fun. Many activities can be designed into the Family Studio such as a built-in laundry center. Building in the ironing board, a spot for air drying clothes and the washer and dryer not only hides them when not in use but makes the surrounding space made more useful for other activities such as sewing, crafting, gardening and so on. "Smart" appliances are very much apart of today's technical revolution. Very soon there will be new ways to do the laundry, groom the dog and so on. This multi-purpose room is designed to adapt to different uses over time as your family's needs and interests change and as new products become available.
Nationally-renowned architect and designer, Stephen Fuller, is ahead of the curve and has been specifying wonderful Family Studios for some time.
Know What You Do
"The use of space anywhere in the home should be defined by the family and thoroughly discussed with the builder or contractor" says Fuller. "Family members should list all the activities and tasks they perform. Because technology has accelerated the development of almost everything that can be placed in the home, the family should research what future products and services they would want for activities and tasks. Then determine the most efficient locations for each activity and task".
The trend in space planning is to overlap activities into one well-designed location. The key benefit is to bring the family together and to encourage interaction. The second benefit is to centralize activities that would take up space in other locations such as basements, closets, corners of rooms, etc. This new space, the Family Studio, will become the home management center for the family.
The Family Studio is a grouping of family activity and work spaces. These spaces could include:
- Laundry
- Hobbies
- Workshop
- Sewing center
- Pet care
- Gift wrapping area
- Plant maintenance
- Recycle Center
- Out-of-season storage
- Office Space
- Play/game rooms
- Kids' homework center
- Exercise Area
- Planning computer center
- Extra storage
Now put the activity and task lists aside and think in terms of what additional features would make the Family Studio even more enjoyable and convenient such as including a TV, garden windows, etc.
Communicate with Builders
Communicating the family's ideas to the builder or remodeler will be easy. Builders are very aware of space planning and are using interior design specialists who focus on space planning. Also, builder magazines and trade shows help to keep the builder up-to-date with the latest product developments and design ideas. Early in the planning process, the family and the builder should sit down and review the list of activities and workspaces the family has generated. The builder, more than likely, will have the experience to suggest methods for incorporating all of the things on the list and maybe add some new ideas.
Learn more about the Whirlpool Family Studio