Option Two:

I recommend Opt C :)

Move your "north door" (the hall one) more to the middle (scoot it a little closer to the lockers in Opt 1).

It will make it less like you are hitting the wall when you walk through, and it will allow you to maybe put a few hooks on the left wall behind the door if you wanted.

I think they also lined it up this way so that you can't look through from (somewhere in the kitchen, maybe even as far as the dining but since we can't see your whole floor plan, I can't say for sure) and see your dirty laundry/mudroom. With staggered doors, the sightlines get reduced.

Also, must it be a swing door? (I often prefer a pocket door for a door in this situation, and which might stand open most of the time).

Do you need a door? Or will just a doorway do? We put a pocket door on our laundry room and I don't think we've shut it once...or maybe once...in 3 years.

In our laundry room now, we do shut the door 95% of the time. I do know I want a door, not a hallway, so I can shut it to a mess if there is one, especially when company is over.:-)

But I do really like the idea of not having a swing door, which would allow for more use of space near the lockers and the opposite side of the wall. Does a pocket door still block laundry noises just as well?

The dining room/office/craft room is behind the coat closet. That room serves many functions, and is only 12 x 12, so I am wary of taking space from it if I don't absolutely have too.

We are a family of four, two kids 3 and 8. Now, we are in Florida, so the lockers will be used for a couple pairs of shoes each, a sweater, a backpack, maybe a few other items. Actual coats are used maybe 5 times a year and will be kept in the closet. I am thinking of making the lockers about 5 1/2 ft long and 18" wide, since we will never need things like thick coats, hats, gloves, boots, ect. in those spaces.

red-lover, good point. Option two will allow for some nice hanging clothes space, while option 1 really doesn't. The sink is 30" wide; I could also search for one that is smaller to provide a few more inches at that pinch point. Or do 5 ft lockers, instead of 5 1/2.

Thank you for the suggestions thus far.

I would do option 1, but move the washer/dryer and the sink up closer to the kitchen so you don't have to do laundry in the middle of the dirty path of the mudroom. I'm assuming you will be taking dirty shoes etc. off and put by the bench so it would be nice if that all happened before the laundry part and laundry isn't right in the middle of it.

I like option 1 because it's a straight shot through the space and it's nice not to see into the laundry/mudroom from the kitchen. If you don't want to see the blank wall from the kitchen, you could hang (or paint) a chalkboard there to keep track of messages and grocery list items. Or hang a nice piece of art there. Either one is nicer than seeing into the laundry IMO.

With either option, if you don't want a swing door you could use a barn door. Lots of nice looking options with those from rustic to contemporary, and you could have one with a chalkboard if you like that idea.

My question for either layout is where/how you will vent the dryer?

Hi chicagoans,
the builder moved the vent above the washer so the dryer will be above the washer. Is that what you mean?
We plan to always have the laundry room door closed when we are not using it, so I am not really concerned with looking from the kitchen to see into the laundry room. But when coming out of the laundry room into the main living areas, won't it be awkward to come out facing a wall, with the kitchen opening a few feet to the left? Or am I just overthinking this? Is this common and not really an annoyance?
Lyfia, great idea to switch the laundry and lockers. Unfortunately, plumbing is in already, so we can't do that. I truly wish I had found this website earlier, before the plans were finalized. We can only do minor framing and cosmetic changes now.

Skyangel - where is the plumbing? If it will be in the framed wall space then you can check with your plumber to see if you can move it and have it go through the framed wall over to the drain/water sources.

I think the question is more where will the dryer vent be going as in start of laundry and then where to get to the outside.

As lyfia pointed out my question about venting was where the dryer vent will vent to the outside. (It's easier when the dryer is on an external wall.) This isn't something I thought about for our new mudroom; our dryer vent goes up to a tall ceiling then has to make a turn to go across the room and finally outside. I haven't cleaned it out yet (it's been 5 years) and I know I should... just not sure how. It can be a fire hazard if lint gets clogged in there (and it makes the dryer less efficient.)

chicgoans - around here (TX) chimney sweeps will clean the dryer vents that run like that. Or you can get a tool to do it as my DH did while renting a house with that setup and the landlord was too cheap to have it cleaned.

It is not on an external wall. The vent will go up the wall and curve around over to the garage, like chicagoans. We've had a house like this before; a handyman came over and cleaned it with a snake thingy. :-)

Lyfia, sorry, I don't understand this?
"If it will be in the framed wall space then you can check with your plumber to see if you can move it and have it go through the framed wall over to the drain/water sources. "
What drain/water sources do you mean? The plumbing for the laundry sink is in; if it is in the framed wall we could probably run the pipe along to the end of that same wall, if we wanted.

Your water supply where does it come from? can the plumber pull it in the framed wall space over to a new location - shouldn't be an issue on this one other than the extra cost.

Where is the drain. Will it sit between studs or will it be in the floor space of the sink? Washer will be in between studs generally. If so you ask the plumber if you can run the drain in the framed wall space as well to move it over. However this one may be more difficult. Depends on the distance and the slope needed on the drain pipe. I don't know this one.

I have done the water supply thing before and have done the drain in the wall, but it was a short distance as I just needed to move the sink over a shorter distance.

oh okay, I see. Thanks. I will find out!

I think this was already mentioned but I would change to placement of the items.

You come in from the garage, you need to maybe sit down, take off shoes, coats. Then you need to put your shoes, coats, etc. in their place. Now you can have your laundry area.

Washer and dryers seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Watch the size.

Can this whole area be bigger? IMHO these area of a home never seem to be big enough or layout out well?

Hi Debra,
It would be nice if it could be a few feet wider, but it would take out living space on either side that is more needed. This one is actually bigger than any we've had before. :-)

We once had a dryer fire due to lint build up and a long dryer run. Thankfully we caught it immediately and put it out with a fire extinguisher so only the dryer and a bit of the laundry room were damaged.

We later learned how common these fires are and of course how quickly they spread; everything of ours could have been destroyed. Since the subject came up, I want to encourage everyone to clean or hire cleaning for their dryer vents on a regular basis. There are also lint detectors available.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lint Alert device

Do you need a closet for coats used only a few times a year? If you could move the washer/dryer into that space (with the recessed wall), you could put in a smaller sink where the w/d are now, and either extend your lockers or add a small table or shelves for stashing laundry baskets.

In my house, there's always at least one basket in the laundry room - either dirty clothes waiting to be washed, or an empty basket waiting for clothes to dry. I see no space in your laundry room for a basket or hamper - except smack dab in the walkway.