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dutty_gw

Dream Laundry Layout - Help!

dutty
12 years ago

Greetings All:

I really need help with my laundry layout! I think I have a really nice size room after I made some alterations. That said, I know you all would be able to trick this thing out and give me some wicked ideas! I'm so drained lately and stressed about the house that I haven't even been able to "dream" so I need help from dreamers here. :)

I think I want an island but I'm not sure I have the space or how I should orient it... I've tried a couple of different ways and thought maybe someone here would have an idea. Would you move things around completely? What are must-haves? I'm attaching the original architect concept and my changes and I've included a 12" scale for anyone who wants to play around.

Please help me build my dream laundry! And, THANK YOU to anyone willing to offer help!

Original Architect Drawing:

My changes:

1. We didn't feel like we needed the second entry. The architect made it for drama and it's nice but leaving just the pocket door really opened things up giving us space for an island? Or a peninsula? That seemed more important.

2. We centered the window on the pocket door AND the sink (and the porch outside) giving a nicer view when you look in the room.

3. We swapped the locker position and added a built in bench for the kids to sit and put on shoes.

Comments (19)

  • suero
    12 years ago

    What do you want to do in the laundry? I still sort my laundry - sheets, towels, jeans, regular, delicates, etc. so I like to have room for lots of baskets to hold each type. I also iron, so an ironing board is a necessity. Also a TV and DVD player, because I need something to focus on when I'm doing laundry. And, of course, counter space to sort and fold the finished items. But you have that.

  • beaglesdoitbetter1
    12 years ago

    Where is your laundry oriented in terms of your house? Is it a mudroom and laundry room or is it just a laundry room?

    In our mudroom/entry, we put in cubbies, a charging station w/ space for mail, a dog bath and a built-in spot for dog crates. In our laundry room, we have pull-out hampers (2 of them, one for lights, one for darks), as well as a big "linen closet" and a very long hanging rod. We also put a counter over the washer/dryer for folding.

  • dutty
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you for the responses. :)

    Suero - OK, in our current laundry we do sort, fold and iron in the laundry room. We also store our vacuum and steamer and extra towels there. I was thinking we would put a TV and that if I had an island I would be able to sit and surf the web from there.

    Beagles - This room is a combo mudroom-laundry closer to the garage although still in the main hall. It does not need any dog stuff though because we have a "dog shop" across the hall that has a dog shower/bed/and access to a dog run in the back yard.

    So do you all think an island would work in this space?

  • ILoveRed
    11 years ago

    You have a nice sized room. Truly an awesome opportunity to do something wonderful if it's done right. But it doesn't look like it is laid out very efficiently. I won't be much help there as I am not a visual spatial person, but there are others here that are. Looks like you have a dead corner by your cubbies.

    Some things to think about:
    -hanging rod for damp items on hangars
    -shoe storage (I deal with tons of shoes constantly)
    -coat closet (do you want All of the coats in your cubbies)
    -school supply, school junk area, pencil sharpener, etc.
    -printer area
    -charging center
    -gift wrap center
    -dirty clothes hampers like "MyDreamHome" has
    -trash pull out

    This might help just for comparison. This room is 15x14 Houzz

  • mydreamhome
    11 years ago

    In the second drawing, if you come down the back stairs, you have to go through the laundry room to get anywhere else in the house? I don't know that I would want to see/walk through my laundry room all the time.

    I guess I kind of see your point about an island, but you could just put in a small media/desk center along one of the walls. Not doing an island is a cost savings in your cabinetry budget, countertop budget and electrical budget.

    What is the room on the other side of the pocket door? Are the lockers easily accessible to the entry door everyone will use most often? Can you post the full floorplan?

    Here are two layouts to consider. The basic difference is the sink location and laundry basket storage.

    Sorry these are so large--I couldn't get the resize to work on photobucket today. Hope this helps!

  • dutty
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Oh My Gosh... THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! I love this site.

    OK, I suppose I need to post my whole floor plan for this to make sense. We are still tweaking with the architect but I'll get it posted tonight. I'm actually nervous to post because we are so far down the path that I'm afraid someone will have a fantastic suggestion that will have us rearranging everything, which I'd hate to do. It happened once before and I was an emotional basket case for a good few weeks. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. :P

    Stay Tuned and THANKS AGAIN!!

  • dutty
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I did post the whole floorplan and you can find the thread here:
    My Full Plan

    MyDreamHome - what a wonderful job you've done here... this totally helps immensely!!!! I like this because I feel like that will leave me a lot of space to iron and use my big steamer. DH still thinks he likes saving space and just using the pocket door. Since you seem to have a knack for this, what would you do if you needed to put an island?

    red-lover - I HAVE THAT EXACT PICTURE in my houzz idea book. :) I love to look at the pics there but translating them to my space is challenging for me. I could design a "beautiful" room but it might not be functional. I'll look at your list and the plan posted by "dream" and see how close I can get.

  • mydreamhome
    11 years ago

    Let me work on that, Dutty. Glad it was helpful. Hopefully, I'll have something for you Tues. afternoon-evening :-)

  • ILoveRed
    11 years ago

    MyDreamHome. How do you do this? I know this may not be a simple answer, but I would like to experiment just for my own purposes.

  • mydreamhome
    11 years ago

    Dutty- Here you go...

    Within your existing footprint:

    Skinny Island, deleting side entry and turn stairs. Allows significantly greater space in laundry along the washer/dryer wall & the pocket door wall, addition of storage area for steamer & pull-down ironing board in cabinets on pocket door wall:

    Wide Island, deleting side entry and turning stairs:

    Hope these help!

    red lover--I use SmartDraw software, import the image I wish to modify, enlarge or reduce image to scale, then I use the various tools to create a new layout over the old one making the changes I desire as I go. I've been working with it for about 2 years. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good. Now if only I could get my hands on the software Summerfield uses!!! Hope this answers your question!

  • ILoveRed
    11 years ago

    My dream home--thanks.

    Your plans for dutty look great. Hope she's had a chance to look at them.

  • auroraborelis
    11 years ago

    mydreamhome! I love the last two!

  • lethargo
    11 years ago

    Just a thought about the pocket door. My in-laws have a pocket door for their main powder room, a room that get a lot of traffic. I *think* they might have one on the laundry on the main level as well.. (I can only guess based on the layout.) The door on the bath sticks and is difficult to pull closed, especially for the folks with arthritic hands-the little hook has to be pushed on to pull the hook out from the door, and the hook itself is quite small. People use the master bath to avoid dealing with the pocket door. The door to the laundry is ALWAYS open. Even for holiday parties. My sister in-law moves the laundry out, but you can see all of her cleaning supplies and various other things that haven't been organized from the kitchen island-its a straight shot. Something to think about is how well the door will function, especially if its located off the kitchen.
    I'm thinking I'd like a swinging door for the laundry. One that can stay open if needed, but will swing when I walk in with a basket of laundry.

  • kirkhall
    11 years ago

    I think, in this house layout, a pocket door will work fine (you can find her whole house layout in another post, and you'll see what I mean). This pocket door can remain open 90% of the time.

    Plus, with good hardware, pocket doors aren't really a problem.

  • lethargo
    11 years ago

    Oh yes. I was thinking the laundry was off the kitchen, don't know why. (possibly looking at too many floor plans lately!)

  • dutty
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    YAY!!!! Thank you everyone. I'm back from our "not so restful with a bunch of crazy kids" vacation. :D

    I'm loving this and every bit of info is helpful.

    MyDreamHome - Those are GREAT and very helpful!! Our problem is the stairs depositing to the side (turned) is now a non-negotiable. We originally had them JUST like you did but after going around a bunch of times we decided we didn't want to see them from the family room so the architect did the turn out. Now, after talking all weekend, DH is insistent that the stairs deposit into the laundry and are "hidden" from anyone but family so he nixed the architects version. So, the final decision is to close off the door directly off the stairs and have them deposit into the laundry which is only accessible via pocket door on the far side closer to the garage. It's not perfect BUT at least it's a decision. I swear I could beat this whole thing to death!

    So, as for the island, what's your feeling? I sorta worry that the big island would be too big BUT I love it from a storage/desk/craft table idea. Maybe the 2x5 centered would be the way to go...

    Can't wait to show DH your ideas and layouts when he gets home tonight. THANK YOU!!

  • mydreamhome
    11 years ago

    Hi Dutty--glad you had a great time on vacation! I won't have access to the program I use until later today. I'll see what I can work up for you when I have access again.

    On the stairs into the laundry with no access at all from the hall---I would maybe think long & hard about it some more. It is your house & everyone has their own ideas on design and what they like & don't like. With that being said, I think with that layout you describe, the back stairs will only be used to deposit dirty clothes in the laundry/deliver clean clothes from the laundry & in the mornings on the way out the door--but only if the person leaving is doing so from upstairs. If everyone is finished upstairs and gathers in the kitchen for breakfast then heads out the door I really don't think they'll be used. When looking at the traffic flow of your house, it is far easier for everyone to use the front stairs at the foyer to go just about anywhere in the house other than the laundry room. If the stairs will get so little use, then it is a waste of money (again IMHO) to build them when those funds could be used somewhere else.

    If you're worried about seeing the stairs from the family room, odds are you won't really as you have a wall directly in front of that part of the staircase if you don't do that last 90 degree turn. You could also do a pretty railing that curves out at the bottom banister that would be stunning as you look down your grand hall from one end to the other.

    Another thing to consider is that with kids, those stairs will not be known only to the family--their friends will know about them. So now you may have non-family members traipsing through your laundry room! Eeeek! You may have to keep your laundry room spic and span all the time! :-O

    Just some things to think about...
    I'll post new drawings for you as soon as I can get them done & uploaded :-)

  • dutty
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Aaacck.... you totally changed my mind. :o) Excellent points; all of them! Now I need to show this full post to DH tonight. This is soooooo hard. I should have just bought a home and then I'd accept all its idiosyncrasies because they were already there. If I BUILD MY OWN idiosyncrasies, I'll be kicking myself forever.

    Thank you for all your help. YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!

  • Karen15
    10 years ago

    Hi! I know this is an old post, but I was wondering what website everyone is using for the floorplan drawings? I am currently in the process of building as well and our laundry/mudroom has been giving me trouble as well. Thanks!!

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