Thanks for any advice you can give us.

Here is a link that might be useful: Optiom B

I like option B better because of the pantry placement. Snackers would have to push past the cook in option A. I'm having a tough time reading both plans, though. Is the frig on the far south wall or the right side wall? It seems very far away from the sink if it's on the south wall.

{{gwi:1913723}}

A few questions on the option B drawing for orientation of everybody.

A few more questions here:
Do you do vegetable gardening and where is the garden?
Why will anyone use the door at the top of the drawing?
Which way do you want to face when you are cooking?
Will your kids grow up here?
Would you consider a larger rangetop and separate ovens? A larger surface could help a lot as the kids get bigger.

So, a bit closer to your actual question - offhand, the big walk-in closet looks like its in the wrong place and I'd want a bigger laundry with a folding area MORE than some of what's shown. It'd be nice to know what YOUR priorities are. So, if you think of the entire floorspace budget as $100, what amounts would you assign to what functions?

Laundry
Kitchen Storage
Kid stuff Storage
Cleaning stuff storage
Junque storage (holiday stuff, etc.)
Kitchen dining
Kitchen prep and cooking
Powder room
Shower
Crafts
Homework area
Entertainment (kitchen tv, music, internet)
Home office

Can anything NOT MOVE - like water, gas, the wall between the pwdr room and the closet?

As far as pantry, laundry, bath etc., I like A the best, but with closet and pantry swapped. For me, the closet is the thing I would be using least, so I would want it in the back corner of the mudroom. I would be in and out of the laundry and pantry all the time and would want them closer to the action, plus I'd want the laundry next to the chute as shown in A.

It's hard to tell without dimensions, but I might also forgo the bench in the mudroom, as long as the cubbies allow for seating. With 7+ of you, you are going to want as wide an opening as you can get into the mudroom space to avoid logjam at the door.

Either way it's going to be a great space. Good luck!

They both look very well thought out overall. With a family like yours, all the space devoted to the support spaces is obviously a good investment.

Regarding that amount of space, one thought: Try to make some of it flexible via placement nonbearing wall(s) so large uses needed now could be consolidated and space converted to other use, such as a sitting/guest room.

My other thoughts are in regard to the many hours you put into doing laundry. In plan A, having it just around the corner from the kitchen is extremely functional, but you'd obviously do virtually all folding elsewhere. How about switching it with the closet across the hall, and creating a closable (for noise control) opening to the kitchen so you can so some quick folding right there and still be connected to the active living areas? It'd also bring some light in.

In plan B, you're no longer adjacent to everyone in the kit/dining/living area, but you presumably now have a view of outside play areas and this layout gives your laundry work some good, really justified space. Plus, and not least, it could be a really pleasant room to work in. You're thinking of more folding right here, and I'd personally put the W/D under an L counter (both front-loading) and topping it with windows on two walls for a bright sunny space. It's a much longer schlepp to the living room couch for more folding, so a TV or radio could be nice. In a shockingly short time it's going to be 5ingradeschool while you tend to this stuff, anyway, which is another argument for taking care of all it in a cheery little room of its own.

Are all of your bedrooms upstairs? I really like having our laundry on the 2nd floor near where most of the laundry comes from and goes back to. The laundry room shown in B is about the size of ours and I recommend a little more room if you can manage it. In A, I would have all the counter together, and if you're going to add a closet, put it next to the dryer, perhaps. Of these 2, I prefer the laundry location in the first plan, with, as Cawila suggested, the pantry opening across from the laundry and the closet where the pantry is, so that the flow of the kitchen isn't interrupted.

I love how the garage entrance and back door entrance meet together in this great mud room/ half bath area. I envy that.

In both plans I am distracted by the kitchen, because, as a mom of many myself, I see things I'd like improved for your growing family in either/both plans. Remember to plan for when they are older, which happens so fast...They will be helping in the kitchen, doing projects of their own, and having friends hanging out, requiring body/traffic space, more work stations, and larger quantities of food cooked, baked, and stored. Suggestions to think about: larger cooktop for using a few large pots and pans at once, dbl oven, more refrigeration, and, because mine has improved the work flow of the kitchen for our multi-worker kitchen so much, a prep sink. If it's not all possible at the outset, consider planning for easy addition or change later.

I like the location of the large pantry in Option B. It's close to the garage entry which means a shorter distance for carrying bags of groceries. Refrigerator and freezer items can be sorted out in the pantry and brought into the kitchen. The pantry would also be a great space for setting up recycling bins since they can be easily carried out through the garage once full.

One thing I really like about a lot of motels is the way they put the sink outside of the toilet/shower area. It makes it accessible to everyone for hand/face washing and toothbrushing. Putting a wall between the toilet and sink in either layout could work--leaving the sink in an open nook in the mudroom.

I like the mudroom/laundry room/bathroom set up in either option. We have our laundry room on the 2nd floor which I like a lot. But I hang clothes and sheets outside to dry as much as possible so I'm still carrying baskets up and down the stairs.

LAXSUPERMOM
Fridge is on right wall in both. We are discussing a prep sink in island. Kitchen layout is not set in stone. Really just walls for now.

BMOREPANIC
Your label assumptions are correct.
I WISH I could garden, but we have a heavily wooded lot, and little if ANY direct sun anywhere in our yard (or back side of the house) for any length of time. The door at the top is to the back yard from the mudroom, so yes, we anticipate the kids going in and out this way. There will also be sliders or french doors from the kitchen out to the deck. The current deck is just on the one side where you have labeled "deck". We hope to extend the deck around the back of the house. I am NOT set on the kitchen layout yet, and the only thing we need to finalize with these drawings is the walls/non changeable structures. I will definitely have at least a 6 burner stove top and double ovens. The architect has ovens drawn in, but just used a standard sink base/stove etc for placement. We will determine the actual layout with the cabinet supplier or a KD. I admit, I am not thrilled about the location or size of the laundry room in either plan. However, I do not anticipate actually folding laundry in there - probably on the island or LR in front of the TV. We will mostly likely have front loaders, probably 2 of each. The main issue with the laundry in the far corner is that the laundry chute from the 2nd floor is in the pantry. But putting the laundry there makes it smaller, and it looks like it juts out farther. I guess we could try and make it blend in with kitchen cabinets that can be closed off when not in use? Maybe forgo the sink in there, alhtough I would really like that as we do not have a utility sink anywhere else. A bigger kitchen is probably my #1 priority for the addition, as well as the additional bed and bath we will be getting upstairs. we have a big and growing family and a HUGE extended family. It is not uncommon to have weekend family meals with over 25+ people, so I need the space to cook and space to serve and eat. I always see the island as a place for the kids to snakc/do homework while I am making dinner. I'd like to swap the walkin closet with the powder room (architecht drew it as he did to give us a window in the powder rm). At first I balked at the need for such a large closet, but it will hvae one wall floor to ceiling shelves for shoe storage, abd even with the lockers, we have a lot of coats - both out-of-season and hand-me-downs. Plus we live in the northeast, so a lot of winter gear. The only thing that is immovable is the laundry chute. None of the utilities are on this level. Everything past the dashed line is the addition. Everything in the front is the current house. Entertainment takes place in the huge living room. Homework anticipated to be on the island or desk area (with computers) in kitchen. Not sure why the huge shower in powder room - really not necessary but with 7 people, I am sure it will get used.

CAWILA
I am with you on closet swap to the back, however I am leaning toward the powder room there as we use powder rm a lot and it is a hike from our main living area. It was drawn that way to give us a window there, but we do not have a window in the current powder rm and don't miss it. I'd like the laundry closer as in option A but I am afraid it is too small in that area off the kitchen. I don't have exact dimensions, not sure why they are not drawn in. I assume hubby and architect know them. I don't like how the doors to the laundry extend beyond the kitchen area, where as in B they are flush. I think the laundry chute id drawn incorrectly in A though. I don't think it extends out quite as far as he has it. As for bench, if we can get a bench beneath lockers we will definitely forgo it. I just want to make sure there is a place to sit to put shoes on (or tie all the little one's shoes).

ROSIE
We are doing a 10ft by 36fy addition (see the heavily dashed horizontal line?). Everything else is already built. As for laundry - that is the dilemma. I will most likely fold on the island or near a TV (as that is the only time I actually get to watch TV). I'd like it closer to the existing laundry chute which can not be moved. We are hoping to have two sets of front loaders, so they couldn't be placed under the counter. I also need (which I do not think is drawn in anywhere) a place to sort and store dirty laundry. I'd like a tower to stack baskets in. Hubby is thinking of baskets under the counter. I'd love two windows, but need space to hang clothes too.

RHOME
I'd love a 2nd floor laundry. I'll show you that plan (2nd floor addition) too and you see if you can find me some space!! We already have a 4bed 2 bath upstairs with a ginormous ridiculously spaced master. With the 10ft addition we are gaining another bed and bath and redoing the master bed and bath. We will be putting 3 girls (all within 26 mos of each other) in the new bed and they will have their own bath. As for kitchen - that is just a basic layout right now. We will definitely have at least a 6 burner cook top and double ovens. either double french door fridges or something similar to the kenmore twins. I am torn about the prep sink in the island, as I like the huge uninterrupted space to use for prep, homework, as eat-in area for kids, etc. But depending on where the fridges end up, we may need it.

Thanks all for your input. I am getting so stressed with this because I feel once we finalize the plans, they can't be changed. This will be a HUGE investment (we already have a few thousand in architect fees). I just feel so much pressure to "get it right" and I am not certain if we are doing that yet.

I have to admit "Duh" on 2 points...I missed that this is an addition instead of new construction, and also missed the laundry chute...Sorry.

You can't go too wrong, because you are adding in all the right stuff to make an amazing family home. There are, though, 2 things I feel strongly about:

I would want the laundry room and chute together.

I would firm up a kitchen design before deciding to put the pantry opening in the corner, as in plan A. It could be wonderful or could be severely limiting. The kitchen layout is so important that I would work it out along with the rest, not leave it at the mercy of the rest already set in stone.

Another thing I want to share...I have the Electrolux all-fridge and all-freezer, which are the Energy Star, nicer quality shelves version of the Frigidaire set. I really like them, but have 2 of the fridges and 1 freezer. I don't think 1 fridge will be enough...Likely OK for now with the kids so young, but not in 5 or 10 yrs when your food needs are larger. (I think if I were starting over, I'd get 2 of each, as I like to freeze rather than can...But now have to learn canning, because my freezer gets too full, too fast.) So as I said before, maybe not buy that much in appliance now, but have a place it can go later. Also, we put in easily-removable trim, so that if we ever trade these out for 36" wide units, we can do it without ripping out cabinets.

I can understand why you'd want the bath closer to the living space, especially with small kids who don't always leave a lot of room for error! I do wonder though, whether you'll prefer more privacy once they are older, rather than having the PR situated right off the kitchen. Some people don't like the bath within sight of food prep, but if that isn't a concern for you, the closet space seems like a good space for the powder room.

As for laundry, do you have front loaders now? Many of them don't really offer a soak option, so I would definitely keep your laundry sink for soaking if nothing else. Also, they can be loud when spinning. If they are not going on concrete slab, you'll want to make sure the floor is adequate to prevent shaking, particularly with 2 units going at once. I still like the laundry with the chute, and nearer the family, but you'll have to get the dimensions to see if you feel you'll have enough space.

And like Rhome said, in any layout you are adding elements that are going to create a wonderful home. Either of these current layouts would be more than fine - it's really just fine tuning and personal preference at this point.

I just realized I posted the wrong layout for A. I added C below, but it really isn't much different...just combining what we like of A and B, but it still isn't perfect. We are no longer considering the butler's pantry option with the pantry connected to the kitchen. I am seriously stuck on the laundry option. I feel strongly like rhome suggested that the laundry room NEEDS to be as close to the chute as possible. I really want a utility sink as we have no "dirty" sink anywhere else, and had to rinse out paint pans with the backyard hose recently. Also, I NEED a place to sort and store laundry. In my mind, I envision either a tall tower that would hold 5 laundry baskets stacked on top of each other, or an under counter rolling cart or sorter. Ideally 5 would be the minimum. We just can not figure out how to fit it all in. I was hoping to have two each of washers and dryers. But I may have to forgo that option and just stack one of each. Are there any other large families here that can weigh in? Is having two W/D more useful than a utility sink or sorting storage area? HELP?!?!

Here is a link that might be useful: Option C (combines A +B)

I have 8 kids. We thought we'd have a set up and a set downstairs in this house, but so far have only the 1 set upstairs and it's fine. Based on my experience, I would choose folding area and utility sink over 2 sets.

I always wanted 2 sets, or, at least, 2 dryers, because things took so long to dry, but with our Fisher and Paykel set, the clothes come out of the washer so dry from the fast spin, that the dryer takes only as long as the washer...They each take only about 25-30 minutes, which is why I prefer them over a front loading set, and may be part of why we get along with 1 set. Also, in our last house the laundry was in the basement, and I think having it in a handier location helps so I can keep things going, again, taking away the need to feel like I need more machines.

I'm not sure if this will be of any help at all, but thought I would chime in about laundry room design. While not five children, our three boys can certainly generate dirt and stuff and more dirt and more stuff. I knew that the laundry would become "command central" and tried to think of ways it could be utilized by everyone!

This is a picture of a portion of the space, that was actually our old kitchen. Used and messy, but not quite finished.

The grey portion of wall in the back is actually now my "foot sink" as my contractor came to lovingly refer to it. It is tile like what is found in commercial kitchens so it has a texture and does not get slick when wet. Tiled about four feet up the wall and built a shower curb in the front. Also, wanted a color that I did not worry about cleaning. The pipe coming out of the wall now has a faucet that I linked below. I chose not to have a traditional laundry sink b/c I was in greater need of a place to throw muddy boots, shoes, cleats, wash vegetables from the garden, wash out paint brushes, can even bathe the dog in there if I need to. I fill a bucket with water right there when/if I need to soak laundry. I have found that if I can get feet washed off, it is just as easy to get the kids to their shower or bath upstairs for a full "cleaning." I measured my laundry baskets and my carpenter built the sectioned platform that the W/D are on. I fit three baskets under there and sort the clothes. We also had to work with an existing chute, you can see coming down in the corner. We purchased a length of laminate counter from Lowe's and cut it to fit on top. Too high to be of any use for folding, but it does provide another surface for storage (actually clutter gathering, mostly). This room is most of our old kitchen space, the entry into this room is adjacent to the new kitchen entry and it has become a great traffic pattern. Everyone stops here first, unloads and then goes into the rest of the house. Has significantly cut down on the "trails" that I was constantly chasing before. And, while it is a "pass through" room, there are doors on both sides that I can close to hide/deny the mess.

This is my desk area to the left as you are facing the W/D. Continuing left we created a short hallway and lined it with cubbies on both sides. Small open locker area with hooks high and low and drawers underneath for shoes. We are a family of five, but put in six for balance and have found it great to have the extra spot. When friends come over they have a place to deposit their backpacks, shoes, etc.

Finally, the opposite cubbie wall and and what was our old kitchen table is now my folding table, directly across from the W/D. The kids also use this for projects, etc. and it is great b/c as a small separate space they can leave their "work" out beyond meal times.

This got way longer than I intended, but I think I put almost as much time into thinking about my laundry room design as I did into my kitchen. We had to work around some existing walls and structure and I wanted to use every square inch I could and I knew that I would be spending a significant amount of time in here. Good luck on your project, you seem to be off to a fantastic start!

Here is a link that might be useful: faucet

I don't like the way that the staircase only has a 3' deep landing. A good change would be to have it turn towards the front (i.e., removing the closet.)

Option B is the better plan, as the kitchen looks very good - although I don't care for the pantry being so far off, but I guess it has to go somewhere, and the toilet location could make the kitchen suffer from the "Archie Bunker toilet" syndrome. You could swap the toilet and laundry to alleviate this.

I'd put the fireplace in one of the corners. That is a wonderfully large wall that is otherwise ruined by the fireplace. A fireplace in the corner allows for a TV and chairs to be placed in a rectangle, allowing for the chairs to be able to look at the TV or the fireplace. Instead of having a long set of windows on only one side, you could put a slightly shorter set of windows on both sides, and even some windows on the left side (so long as you leave a nice 10' or so wall for a TV and space.)

I'd make the back door and the garage door aligned, and also be centered on the free space in that hallway.

I'm definitely not one of the layout gurus, but just wanted to throw out some suggestions since it sounds like everything is on table and kitchen layout is not set in stone:

In Option B, could you "switch" the laundry room and the powder room/shower, then make what would be labeled the laundry room into a walk-in pantry and have a door going into it from the kitchen (would require re-working of what you are showing as cabinets in that corner); then take where you have the pantry and make that your laundry room and expand it into the garage in order to get your w/d, folding area, utility sink, and sorting area (this would also allow your chute to be in your laundry room).

Hope this makes sense!

If you decide to go with front loading machines, I would stick with 2 sets if you can. They have long cycle times, particularly for extra dirty kids clothes. If you decide to stick with just one set, I would go with a top loader because they are so much faster.

I like zelmar's idea of having a sink in the mudroom proper. Could you move the utility sink out of the laundry room to gain more sorting and stacking space? Maybe steal some space from the closet, since that seems to be your lowest priority, or in plan c, put it in the corner that is on the other side of the wall from the shower. In either scenario, you'll lose some general storage, but that might be worth it for more laundry specific storage.

Out of curiosity, where do the double doors from the garage lead?

Not sure this will be helpful - but the worst it could do is give you more confidence in one of the other options!

I think you'd be better off with table space. I'm looking at the available area and thinking you could use maybe actually 3 tables all together. The big one and another one or two blended in as "desk" that can be relocated to increase the main table area. There is a small work/folding table in the laundry and the big table could also be used as an alternate large folding area.

{{gwi:1913726}}

Someone may have addressed this already, but I really strongly agree with you that you need a good setup for sorting laundry. Without it, this will be a constant fuss and aggravation instead of a smooth brisk flow.

I didn't notice your chute before--lovely feature! But I'm thinking that it might be easier to empty it and take an armload to a well laidout sorting center than it would be to sort right by it in a cramped inadequate space. You may be able to fit it all in in that nicely located space in the center of the house; but if not, this might be worth consideration. I left this thread yesterday thinking what you really needed was a laundry room even larger than that corner space. Even 2 or 3 feet more across the back of the garage would be very valuable.

You guys are all so awesome! Just being here on this forum is making me excited again about doing the addition.

Rhome410 - EIGHT kids! Wow! You are my hero. Are you open to more or are you done? Thanks so much for your input. While I will take ANY and all advice I can get, it is often much more helpful to get advice from others in similar situations. I haven't even begun to look at w/d yet, but I will definitely remember what you said. I do plan on folding on the island, but I also DO want a sink somehow.

Alice462 - Thanks for the pics. I am a very visual person so they are a big help. I love your idea of the platform for the baskets underneath the W/D and if we do go with FL, I will definitely use that. I would like to have 5, and that may be hte way to get the rest in, as hubby said he could possibly get 2 or 4 under the counter. Your foot sink got me thinking. We will have a bog shower in the bathroom. I could also soak clothes in a bin there. not the ideal solution, but better than nothing. Still not sure I want to wash paint brushes and other "dirty" stuff there, but the tile should allow it to wipe right off. something to consider. We ARE going to have lockers in the mudroom area. The 10 or so "boxes" on the drawings represent them.

Swampwiz - I would love a larger landing too, but I am not sure it is an option. We are opening up the kitchen side (it is a wall and pantry now) and the foyer side is already open partially. However, we are turning the closer 90 degrees to make the opening into the DR larger, so we can extend the table out into the foyer for large family gatherings. Not sure we can forgo that closet totally. Right now it is packed full. We WILL be gaining some closet space in the mudroom, but I feel like we should keep the front one on some level for guests. Perhaps we can make space for them in the back. As for the fireplace, we would love to move it, but this is an addition, not a new build. Everything is already there (built in the 90s). The only new is what is beyond the dashed line - approx 10 feet out into the backyard and 36 feet across the back of the existing house. We have a large entertainment center across the back between the two windows with our TV. We have one couch under the left window, a inglenook type area under the right window with a chair and reading lamp, and a large section in front of the fireplace and entertainment center.

Farmhousebound - We have considered that. I am leaning towards switching the laundry and powder room and making the closet a bit smaller to gain space for the laundry. however, we can not expand into the garage as it is already a very tight fit in the winter when we try to get 2 cars in there - a must as we live in the North East and hubby leaves for work at the awful hour of 5am (or earlier).

Cawila- thanks for your input. I did not realize that the FL are slower, just that they have a larger capacity. The only issue is space. I couldn't stack top loaders, and I may need to stacking capability to get a utility sink in. I am not sure where to move the sink if we move it out, but I may be able to make something work with the large shower in the powder room and use that for soaking clothes, cleaning, etc. The double doors in the garage go into a small shop area. They are pre-existing. We actually only have one up right now, as our large garbage toter sits in the space of the other one.

BMOREPANIC - WOW! Thanks. I will definitely show this to hubby. We can;t afford to lose all the lockers, but this is an interesting layout and I like portions of it. I especially like that I could get 8 kids at the island, although then I lose the functionality of cooking dinner there while they are doing homeowrk. not that it is THAT much farther to walk over to them, but it would be easier if we were all on one table area. You gave me some things to think about though.

Rosie - Yes, I wholeheartedly agree, and that is exactly what is holding us up from finalizing these plans. Right now I have two rolling 3-bag sorters that I will lose space for. I told hubby I NEED to have space to 5 baskets, either a tower floor to ceiling that laundry baskets can slide into, space under the counter (or under the FL W/D as Alice has above), or space to park another rolling sorter. As a family of 7 we generate a HUGE amt of laundry, so if I lose sorting and storage, I will be miserable (and so will hubby because we will end up with a mound of it in our new large mudroom!). I wonder if we could extend the addition another 2 or 3 feet. That wall there is the current outside wall, so it will probably be more expensive, but we are already residing it....hmm. I know nothing about design and architecture, but I will definitely show that to hubby and see what he thinks. You have me excited now!!

Thanks again to all of you! Hubby and I have been doing this with the architect since early March and it has been very frustrating to say the least. WE have so many ideas of what we want, and what we need, and they do not always coordinate. I so wish we could build our dream house, but that would come at the expense of college educations (five to pay for so far), weddings, (we have 4 girls), and our retirement, none of which we are willing to sacrifice. It is really awesome to have fresh eyes looking at this and giving us some suggestions. I am very appreciative, and can't wait to actually start planning the kitchen layout with your input as well.

J

One more word on washers: I can fit a LOT in my top loaders (including comforters and sleeping bags), and to me, the time is more important (2 loads instead of 1 in just over an hour is better to me than fitting in another pair of jeans, if that would even be the case)...Also, I'm always stopping it to add things, and don't have to worry about a lake on the floor in doing so.

To answer your other question...Now at age 49, and since none have come along since #8, who was a great blessing after 3 miscarriages, I think God has decided "8 is enough" for us! :-D I still look at pregnant women with some wistfulness...I loved that stage of my life! Probably TMI...

I have trouble keeping up with a bunch of plans that I can't see together so I've kind of stayed out of this so far. I really did not like plan B -- the cooking area backing to seating is not really functional and the ovens are too far away to be functional for me, especially with no sink or clean up over there and no table accessible for landing space when the one counter is used for mixing, kneading, rolling, shaping, loading etc. I had some issues with A, but not as many and not as major.

I like what bmore has posted. I think your cooking function is much better, and in those earlier years, I found that a lot of homework could be addressed with discussion and the parts that needed me to look at something with them were better addressed with clean hands, without a knife or other utensil in my hands and without something needing my attention on the stove anyway. I think it is better to have separate areas. I also like the separate fridge/micro/snacking zone.

That table as desk could be something like the sofa table we have -- it unfolds butterfly style and we can easily seat 6 people around it. When it is behind the sofa, we have paper recycling baskets under it, but you could have a couple of filing cabinets and/or short bookcases. Put shelves above if you need them -- full work center and only the table moves out. As the kids get older, the placement allows you to see a computer screen and keep tabs on them too.

In the laundry room, put the sink under the window and wet things you rinse will be closer to the washer. You will then also have a full wall of space for hanging above, folding on the counter and baskets below. The under counter space could have baskets behind doors or tip out baskets for sorting. Use rollouts, deep drawers or open shelving under the folding table for baskets to put laundry into. The side by the door could have baskets or cabinets for crafts, gift wrapping, to catch things coming and going out the back door that don't exactly fit into the cubbies or lockers, pet supplies -- whatever you need it to. I would like the chute in the laundry area, but I think I could walk a few steps for more space and better function in this plan.

I'd put a pocket door between the sink and toilet areas of the powder room -- that way two kids can be using it at the same time. You might even be able to use 2 sinks there!

I responded about FLs on your laundry thread. Keep in mind that if you stack the W&D, you cannot put pedestals or baskets below them and any space above them would probably require a step stool to reach. I didn't say over there that between the larger capacity and faster drying, I don't think I'm spending more time doing laundry. It seems to be similar, but it does seem easier.

I thought about stacking, but think I like them on pedestals better. See if you can find a place that has them stacked on display. A Sears appliance store was the only place we found them stacked where we could test them -- I took in a laundry basket full of towels to check them out. If the washer isn't too low and the dryer isn't too high for you and you have space for folding, sorting, hanging, etc. then 2 would be nice, but I wouldn't sacrifice any of the other things to have dual sets -- I'd just get one really big one.