Hilary Farr's Space-Saving Design Idea Adds Functionality To Small Laundry Rooms

HGTV's Hilary Farr, star of "Love It or List It," is a pro at making a family's existing square footage work so much better, smarter, and harder for them, typically on a tight budget. Often without the luxury of large additions or reconfiguring the existing footprint, Farr uses her design expertise to maximize every smidge of space to get the functionality her homeowners need. One such space that seems to make the list for many of Farr's homeowners is the laundry room, which is a crucial utilitarian hub of a family's home. When this essential space is poorly located or not operating at its highest potential, it can be a logistical nightmare and a total eyesore.

Every laundry room needs a few indispensable elements to make it really efficient: laundry machines (obviously), storage, and drying space. While the first two seem to always be covered in even the smallest laundry rooms, finding square footage for hanging space can be tricky, especially when there isn't room for a standalone drying rack. So how do you design smart clothes drying options for a tiny laundry room? Follow Farr's lead and take to the walls! By taking advantage of the vertical space above the machines and installing a tip-out wall-mounted drying rack, Farr creates a clothes hanging solution ideal for any small laundry space.

In Season 11, Episode 2 of "Love It or List It," Hilary Farr's clients had a tiny laundry closet in a passthrough hallway off their main living space. Visible from their family room and kitchen, the area was a constant source of mess with terrible traffic flow. By simply closing off the living room side of the passthrough (maintaining access from the back hallway by the bedrooms), Farr transformed this tiny closet into a proper room with a one-wall laundry room layout perfect for the small space, complete with a creative solution for creating hanging space in the tiny footprint.

Farr installed a wall-mounted drying rack that sits flat against the wall when not in use, allowing for more headroom to maneuver at the washer or on the folding countertop above. When it came time for the family to air-dry some of their washing, the rack could simply be tipped out from the wall, creating a smart diagonal hanging solution with four rungs for clothing. This creative space-saving design took up no additional floor space, while still giving the family of four an extremely functional laundry room setup. A similar tip-out rack can be found for only $50 at Lowe's and can be installed on the wall or over the back of the door.

Besides Hilary Farr's tip-out rack, there are many other creative drying options that can be adapted for any laundry room configuration. If Farr's drying rack does not provide enough space, other styles of accordion or pull-out wall-mounted hangers come in larger sizes. If wall space is limited, try using a ceiling-mounted drying rack, which operates on a pulley system to raise/lower the unit and can conveniently be tucked up against the ceiling when not in use to preserve every inch of floor space. For a super tiny room, install a simple hook/peg rail along a side wall or use a retractable clothesline, which rolls right up inside the shell when not in use (this can also be used outdoors to supplement your indoor hanging).

If you have a higher budget and want to utilize cabinetry to disguise custom drying solutions, consider installing pull-out drawer hanging racks between the laundry machines and countertop. Alternatively, install two upper cabinets for storage and run a closet rod between them for drying clothes on hangers. Finally, revolutionize the way you air dry clothes with a pricey yet genius vertical pull-out rack setup, which can be hidden in a cabinet or within a narrow full-height cubby (perfect next to stacked machines). Whichever creative solution works best for you, take a page out of Farr's book and implement one of these smart small-space clothes drying options to maximize the square footage and functionality of your laundry room.