When Cinderella slaved over her stepsisters' laundry, her surroundings were anything but luxurious. For real-life women, the situation hasn't been much better. Even when scrubber and clothesline turned into automatic washer and dryer, the equipment in years past was an afterthought, placed in a dingy area of the basement or garage where it competed for space with a greasy lawn mower. And when the laundry room moved to a more convenient location, often on the first floor near the kitchen, it remained strictly utilitarian.

Now, after years of being the stepchild of the house, the laundry room is starting to shine. Taking its cue from today's luxury homes, it's becoming more spacious, stylish and efficient. It's about time. Most studies show that the average household toils over seven to eight loads of laundry per week; and in a consumer preference survey by the National Association of Home Builders, 95 percent of homebuyers rated a separate laundry room as desirable or essential.

Women, who tend to have greater interest in laundry than men, also have the greater influence in choosing home décor, so it's surprising this room didn't receive attention sooner.

Nancy Ebel-Collum of Nancy Ebel Interior Design thinks so highly of the laundry room that when offered the opportunity to design a room in the 2004 Florida West Coast Symphony Showhouse-a light-filled Siesta Key Gulf-front condominium-it's the space she chose. She was entranced by the interesting architectural detail of the three-foot-wide round window, and planned a cheerful blue color theme around the waterfront locale. "Cabinetry is a focal point of a room, so the faux painter hand-painted a gingham check on the walls and continued it on the cabinetry. It just made the room," she says. A blue-bordered sisal rug softened the room and gave a finished look, in contrast to the sterility often associated with laundry facilities.

"Laundry rooms are often so neglected," Ebel-Collum says. "It's considered just a storage room, but we all spend a lot of time in there." She points out that the laundry room is often a home's second entrance. "I call it the 'back foyer' because just as many people come in the back as the front," she says.

In new laundry rooms, the finishing touches reach a level of sophistication comparable to the rest of the home, including crown molding, solid-surface counters, fine wood cabinetry and hardwood or tiled floors. David Wentzel of Village Woodworking says his clients are also demanding more innovative equipment and more space for additional activities. "They want to make it a nice and airy room, because they spend so much time there," he says. How airy? "One of our clients just requested an eight-by-22-foot room."

Spacious laundry rooms can work harder by incorporating craft space, a potting area, pet-cleaning spot, gift wrap center, home office or sewing station. For people who love to entertain, the laundry room doubles as a butler's pantry and provides a staging area for special events. The sink is already there, and lengthy counter space provides ample room. One Harbor Acres homeowner, whose large, well-equipped laundry area was originally intended to be an extra bedroom/bath suite, raves about its advantages. "The caterers love it when we have a party," she says. "If we were doing it over, I might even have put another refrigerator in there."

Tricia Coates of Kitchens by Design designed the roomy Harbor Acres laundry room, which is radiant with light from four windows. Faux painting on the walls shows off the owner's love of the Napa grape through stone imagery reminiscent of a grapevine-clad wine cave. Handsome Saturnia stone tile covers the floor. A front-loading washer/dryer permits the unimpeded flow of counter space, which seems to stretch forever.

Coates has designed several large laundry areas, and she agrees that they must perform double or even triple duty. "Laundry rooms are bigger than they used to be, so we try to make them multifunctional. I like to design an area for a sewing machine and turn it into a self-service bar for guests."

Some homes now offer a traditional first-floor laundry plus a second-floor laundry, often a space-saving stacked unit behind doors near the bedrooms, where clothes and linens are most likely to accumulate. Some install a smaller laundry in separate guest areas; guests appreciate the convenience, and homeowners find it easier to manage their bed linens and bath towels.

Village Woodworking's David Wentzel recently completed a 23,000-square-foot Casey Key home with not just one, but three laundry rooms. John Collins of John Collins Interiors tops that; he's doing a new home with four laundry areas: for pool, master, guest suite and garage areas. "It's such a luxury to have a laundry room right in the specific area where it's needed," he says. "But to properly plan the space, it's important that the laundries be kept in mind when the home is being designed."