Small service environments

When the balconies are small, where to place the clothesline?

For those who live in the city, it has always been a problem: the balconies are often narrow and long and there is no space to accommodate the clothesline. At one time, in houses with a common balcony or with small French balconies, the problem was solved through the private use of balconies located on the mezzanine floor overlooking the internal side of the courtyard.

Today this solution is no longer adopted for a reason of poor practicality, since it is inconvenient to have to go half a floor every time you do the laundry, and the shape of contemporary buildings does not include this element. However, the problem of the clothesline remains.

An alternative to the traditional drying rack is the vertical one, with a compact structure; this type can be inserted in the shower cubicle or inside a small laundry room, thanks to the presence of a tray that collects the water at the base and prevents it from flowing onto the floor. If you do not have terraces and the house sizes are limited, you can choose many space-saving solutions on the market.

The important thing is to choose the most suitable home environment to place it and the size of the ideal product; in this regard, it is not recommended to insert the drying rack in the kitchen, for the production of bad smells and in the living room because it would compromise its aesthetics. The bedrooms are also not recommended because the laundry would drastically increase the humidity rate disturbing sleep and causing mental and physical discomfort to the user.
For this reason, the room most suited to accommodate the clothesline is the bathroom.

Among the models available on the market there are those on the wall and on the ceiling, usually installed above the bathtub and if not used, invisible once closed. The advantage of these solutions is the use of hot air in ascent thanks to which the clothes dry more quickly. Furthermore, the distribution in height or depth but raised above the ground, allows to gain useful space on the walking surface. By manually operating a chain, it is possible to adjust the height of the clothesline simply and according to the need of the moment.

For lovers of comfort, the most innovative solution of the electric drying racks, operated by remote control, will be perfect. In this case the advantage is twofold: maximum performance with minimum effort. In addition, these models can be equipped with ventilation fans that accelerate drying or with wires that heat up and decrease the humidity produced. Sometimes they are also equipped with LED devices to facilitate their use in the evening, replacing the lighting of the room with a consequent saving in energy terms. Thanks to the introduction of these valid products that can meet the most diverse needs, hanging laundry at home should no longer be a problem.

What are the replacement solutions for the closet?

It is known that there is never enough space in the house to accommodate objects, clothing, small appliances and personal belongings that are no longer in use and the problem becomes more substantial with the absence of a storage compartment. For this reason, if you do not want to intervene at the level of the walls to obtain a closet, you need to find valid alternatives thanks to which you can remedy the problem.

The advice is to make the most of unused rooms and heights otherwise left empty, so that everything can find its place while maintaining order. For example, if the house is distributed over two floors, the closet can find a place in the basement compartment, in the closed solution with custom-designed doors or open with exposed shelves. Since this is a space that is usually neglected and not exploited, the advantage that it derives from it is twofold: an area indispensable at a functional level is recreated and at the same time the entire domestic surface is exploited.
In addition, the closet in this position can be declined as a pantry since it is an unheated space that lends itself well to storing food.

A valid alternative is represented by the hallway of the bathroom which could become a small room where you can store cleaning products, the iron, the ironing board and the brooms. In this way, proximity to the washing machine, most often located in the bathroom, would be really convenient.

When the dimensions allow it, you can then enjoy the same practicality by inserting a small closet directly in the bathroom. In this case, the important thing is to make sure that the storage unit guarantees durability and resistance to vapors and water. If, however, you do not want to use furnishings that risk not being coherently linked to the rest of the rooms, you can think of creating niches in the wall, making them functional thanks to the insertion of shelves and shelves. This is a solution that is receiving considerable consensus as it allows you to make the most of the existing walls, providing a clean and minimal aesthetic and is very versatile as it adapts to any type of environment. If the entrance to the house is generously sized, you can consider allocating a portion of it to the closet.
If, however, you do not want to change the size of the entrance, you can simply insert a built-in wardrobe distributed along its entire extension. In this way order will be maintained and the resulting closet will disappear. Finally, those who are lucky enough to own an attic or a cellar can choose to allocate them for this use, using shelves and shelves designed according to the sizes and heights available, thus taking advantage of even the lowest spaces under the roof.

Finally, if you do not have any of the proposed possibilities, the alternative is to create a storage corner outside the house, on balconies and terraces, taking care to choose aesthetically pleasing cabinets and space-saving shoe racks. What we need to remember is that sometimes environments considered negligible, such as closets, instead turn out to be essential to ensure daily comfort and functionality.