In short: what a laundry room needs
A working laundry room needs space for a washer and dryer, a clear worktop for sorting and folding, a sink, closed storage for products, a rail or airer for items that cannot go in the dryer, and ventilation. At minimum that is a recess of about 60 cm for a stacked pair of machines, plus another 60 to 90 cm alongside for worktop and cupboard.
The most common mistake is starting with the cabinetry. First describe how laundry moves around the house, then choose the appliance models, and only then draw the cupboards. If the laundry is going on a terrace, that is a separate topic, covered in our article on laundry and drying areas on terraces.
How laundry moves through the house
Collect, sort, wash, dry, fold and put away. Each step needs a specific place. Where do the dirty-laundry baskets live: in the bathrooms, the bedrooms or straight in the laundry room? Where is clean laundry folded: on the laundry worktop or on the bed? What gets ironed, and where?
The answers decide where the laundry goes. In a flat with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, like Urgel in the Eixample, there is a lot of washing, and a laundry near the bedrooms saves crossing the whole flat every day. In a house with a garden and pool, the route outside matters more: wet towels and beachwear should reach the washer without passing through the living room.
Stacked or side by side: sizes and access
A stacked washer and dryer takes about 60 cm of width but needs height and a proper stacking kit. Loading the top machine is comfortable if the lower one stands on the floor, not on a plinth. Side by side under a shared worktop they take about 120 cm, but you gain a work surface on top.
For depth, do not rely on the brochure's 60 cm; allow for hoses, plug and rear clearance, usually a few centimetres more. Check that the machine door opens fully without hitting the room door or a cupboard handle. Above all, you must be able to pull the machine out for replacement without dismantling the cabinetry. Take dimensions from the manual of the chosen model, not the catalogue.
Water, drainage, power and ventilation
Each machine needs its own isolation valve, reachable without moving the appliance, and a trapped waste at the right height. A drip tray under the machines, or at least a leak sensor with an automatic shut-off, is worth having: in a flat, water from a washing machine ends up at the neighbour's below.
Washer and dryer sockets are better on separate circuits, not one socket with an adaptor. A condenser or heat-pump dryer needs no outside air vent, but it does need a condensate drain or regular emptying of the tank. The room itself needs ventilation: without it, moisture from drying goes into the walls and within a year there is mould in a corner.
Drying and storage
Not everything goes in the dryer. Delicates need a rail above the worktop or a pull-out airer in a cupboard. In Barcelona flats, drying on a facade balcony is often restricted by the community rules, so plan a drying spot indoors from the start rather than looking for one later.
Storage falls into three groups. Detergents and cleaning products in a closed cupboard, out of children's reach if there are any in the house. Baskets, ironing board and iron in a tall cupboard where the board stands upright. Stock on the top shelves. Only what you use every wash stays out in the open.
Noise and location
A high-speed spin can be heard through a lightweight partition. If the laundry is next to bedrooms, the wall between them gets acoustic insulation, and the machines sit on a level, rigid floor, not a timber plinth that resonates. A door with a seal helps more than you would expect.
In an Eixample flat the laundry often goes in the old gallery overlooking the inner courtyard or a recess off the corridor. In a house in Castelldefels or the Maresme it fits well next to the plant room or the garden entrance. Either way it is designed along with the rest of the layout, not given whatever space is left over.