Fighting with husband over laundry room/master closet!

10 år siden

I can't believe our biggest renovation argument has been over our laundry room and master closet.
First, I did a poll here to see where we should have our laundry room; off kitchen, between bedrooms, or downstairs in basement in a huge craft/laundry. Houzz was divided between bedrooms and basement.
We went with between bedrooms because I know that would be the easiest way to get the clothes put away. The problem is it makes our master bedroom closet IMO to small and entrance awkward. Plus we had to take a corner out of our bedroom to add a new closet. I think we made a huge mistake. Take a look at my floor plan sketch and tell me what you think.

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groveraxle

10 år siden

I think you're overthinking this. Just take out this wall:

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(52) kommentarer

Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
BTW we are working with an interior designer. She told us from the beginning not to put the laundry there. Her opinion was to have two laundry room. One in the basement and the one off the kitchen.
feeny
10 år siden
I don't like the fact that the view out your one bedroom window is partially blocked by the closet wall. So if there isn't a way to add another window, then I'm in favor of moving the laundry room back down to the basement or (if space is available) off of the kitchen. But 2nd floor laundry rooms always make me nervous anyway because all I can think about is something malfunctioning and dripping through two floors. So I may not be weighing the desirability of a 2nd floor laundry in the equation as highly as you and your husband do.
dbh
10 år siden
We do have a washer and dryer upstairs, in a hallway off the master bedroom. I love it and can't imagine having it anyplace else-- so so convenient. I never worried about something malfunctioning and water dripping (until now, feeny-- so thanks for that.) ;)

I still think that a 16x15 bedroom is large. I rather like the sitting area with the windows. In fact, we have something very similar in our bedroom. The back of my closet intrudes into our bedroom, creating an alcove much like what you show-- with a wall of windows. I have a 100+ year old mohair-covered chaise lounge there. I really like it, and that alcove just makes the bedroom a little more interesting looking (rather than just a straight square or rectangle).

So you only have the one closet? I may be looking at the plan all wrong, but what about that space beside where you want to put the washer/dryer? That would certainly shorten that little alcove, but could you not put another closet there-- and just have the entrance to the laundry room from the hallway, not direct from the bedroom?
feeny
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
Sorry about that dianahb! ;-( Friends of ours just had a 3rd floor toilet malfunction rather spectacularly while they were out shopping, and by the time they got home it had damaged the two floors beneath it. Two ceilings and three walls had to be stripped down to the studs and reconstructed because of the water damage. So I like to keep water features and piping to a minimum on upper floors.
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Diana - the space at the bottom of the page? The w/d will back up to our powder room and linen closet. The linen huge and the w/d could fit in there stacked but the plumber would charge between $500 to $800 more to move everything back into it.

So yes one closet to share and my husband has more clothes than I do.

Thank you for your opinion. Especially since that's what I was originally thinking when I planned it.
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Btw the sitting area with the window is also our walk-thru to get to the master bathroom and closet. Is 7x7 enough for that?
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Feeny- you bring up my biggest concern with the closet and the window. My original location is off the kitchen but it's also a 7'x7' space and the entrance from the garage. I didn't think it would be enough space for 5 people to use as a mudroom and laundry.
User
10 år siden
Your plan looks a lot like my MBR. Our bath, closet and laundry room are all in one room.
We enter through a pocket door(saves so much space and not that much more money) and immediately to the left is W/D with bifold doors, not big on space, but functions great. I've used a lot of shelving to hold detergents, etc., and have good lighting, which is key.

Opposite the laundry is the master closet, probably 7x7, again with shelves and good lighting. Again, could use pocket door to save space. Rest of room is the bath and honestly
It feels big, has lg. tub, separate shower, double sink, commode, 2 windows and a chair.
Can't remember dimensions,but don't think it's anymore than what you're working with.

If you have bedrooms downstairs, I would definitely put in W/D. If too expensive, have area wired and plumbed for washer, wired and vented for dryer so when you're ready to install, the prep work is done.
Also, I would center the 3 pane window, and depending on you final plan, might can eliminate the exit door from laundry. In my experience with building my own homes, pocket doors, an no hallways are great space savers!

Hope you can visualize this and that it helps.
sanctuaryhome
10 år siden
A good friend has a smaller laundry in the master closet area (it's a very large walk-in closet) but you might save room by having a smaller laundry as part of a closet instead of it's own room and keep the main laundry downstairs. Hate to lose that sitting area in front of the big windows.
PRO
Kelli Richards Interiors
10 år siden
Hi Vickie, I am sorry to break it to you, but I think your designer was right. I probably would have told you the same thing. But I would need to really look at the whole upstairs floor plan and discuss your lifestyle needs as well. I just designed a house with a stackable W/D in the linen closet. It is space saving and worked for my client because it was their country home and wouldn't have tons of clothes their anyway.
For me it is a bit sad to have the window there being blocked by the closet, but that's just me. It needs to work for both you and your husband. Don't worry, you are not the first couple to argue about design. I'm sure you will find the right solution with your designer. Don't let the cost be the determining factor in your decision because if you hate it it will cost a lot more to change it after it has been built.
KD
10 år siden
@feeny - just looked at a house that had an upstairs laundry and that risk was the first thing the inspector mentioned. He recommended that if you're going to have an upper floor laundry you at least get reinforced hoses as they're less likely to split than the normal ones, but in general he was pretty unenthusiastic about the whole thing.

(I think I'd only do an upper floor laundry if I was doing a new build and could treat the entire room the laundry was in as a sort of level-entry shower so that it was of materials that would handle a leak and had a floor drain to hopefully prevent the water from ending up all over the floor below. In the house we looked at there's a place for the laundry in the basement and we actually need the room upstairs for other things, so it wasn't an issue - we're just not going to have a laundry room there.)

I do like pocket doors if you can fit them in, though - I have so many places where I'd have them in various houses if it wasn't so annoying to have them retrofitted. They just work so well, particularly in doorways where you want to be able to close it off some of the time, but not most of the time. No door that's hardly used sitting there in the way of people moving around or blocking a wall where you might otherwise display a piece of artwork or a photo.
dbh
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
I guess I don't really see the windows as being blocked by the closet, because they're still part of the room and offer light-- and that could be a little sitting area, couldn't it? I agree with Judi above about using a pocket (or barn) door if you have the interior (for pocket door) or exterior wall space (for barn door). That would be perfect for that area. And I think a 7x7 space area would make a lovely little area in a bedroom.

If the linen closet is huge, and a stacked w/d could go there, I would consider that. You might also think about other plumbers and see how much they would charge for doing that.

Your concern that a 7x7 space downstairs would not be big enough for 5 people seems not a problem, really. How many people gather in the laundry room or mud room at one time? I think that seems doable. The only place I would never put the W/D if I could help it would be the basement. So inconvenient.

Also, the issue with worrying over water-- people do have bathrooms upstairs, which could so easily cause the same water problems-- so why does that not worry people? That's, in fact, more likely to happen with the bathroom than with the w/d.
dbh
10 år siden
feeny: We had a complete renovation done, many years ago, in a Victorian. Everything was gutted downstairs. They had literally just finished with everything, and we were out (just for the night-- not for days), and when we returned, it was like a waterfall coming down the new wall onto the new floor and out the new back door. :) Some electrician had drilled into a pipe, and what a mess. We also had a hot water heater in an attic (different house), and it just burst one day-- lots of sheetrock replacement and a new floor (which I wanted anyway) resulted. We had a pipe burst in the winter once, more water damage. We have a flat-roofed balcony over one of our bathrooms, and there was a leak into that, which leaked into a corner of the downstairs bath, which required some sheetrock work. I had a claw-foot tub in the Victorian, upstairs, and the plumber hooked something up incorrectly. Long story, there, but that caused some water damage. But in all the years I've lived with a washer/dryer upstairs (20+ now)-- that's never caused a problem. ;)
User
10 år siden
Doing laundry in the basement and carrying it up and down stairs is awful. I do that now in our second hone which is 85
Years old. No place to put W/D upstairs. Has really given me a lot of thought about selling. Guess who gets to go up and down the stairs, the wife, the mother, you get the picture, I'm sure.
Above poster made a good point about hoses breaking and putting in reinforced ones, excellent idea and maybe change
As recommend.
To encourage you. I would say build the laundry room to make your life easier.
PRO
sstarr93
10 år siden
Why do you want a walk-in laundry room? You are wasting a ton of space by doing that; the machines can be contained in any 5' x 3' closet space.
User
10 år siden
Work with your interior designer, she has all the facts. Invest in a trolley to put laundry away, or large basket.
Marilyn Wilkie
10 år siden
I would never want a second floor laundry. Not only because of a possible leak but also because I don't spend much time around the bedroom...I am near the kitchen and living area. So running upstairs to change a laundry load would be a big intrusion to me. Better to have it close where it can be monitored easily imho.
KD
10 år siden
I think part of the concern with laundry vs bathrooms is the way that they're installed - laundry appliances typically aren't 'hard' plumbed with piping, they use flexible hoses that are more likely to be damaged or develop weak areas. In addition, people frequently run the washing machine when they're not home and washing machines use a significant amount of water so even something like a leak in a door in a front-loading model can make a huge mess before anyone notices.

Not that there aren't other things that can fail also, but it seems like people like the inspector have seen more predictable problems associated with an upstairs laundry than they have the same with a bathroom or what have you? So it's definitely something where if it was what I wanted, I'd thoroughly consult with a plumber and maybe also a contractor to make sure it was installed in a way to minimize risk of problems.
yoboseiyo
10 år siden
everyone i know who has a 2nd floor laundry loves it, so i have no issue with that.

my thing is, it's the laundry room. you don't need a 6x7 room for that, you really don't. most washers and dryers are 30" wide and deep.

so here's what i came up with.
i gave you and your husband separate closets, both the same size, and the entrance to the master bath between them.

you would have to move that large window, if possible. it would really be the hardest part.
bns7
10 år siden
One of the most amazing laundry rooms I've seen in a model home was one that was fully integrated into the Master closet. I'd remove the wall between laundry and closet area and bump the wall adjoining the master out to the window edge. As many others have said you don't need all that much space for the machines, and losing those extra walls (as well as the probably unnecessary door into the hallway) would give you plenty of room in a single closet for all your clothing, especially if you used a closet system to keep things organized.
User
10 år siden
Here's a drawing of my MBR that I tried describing earlier. Hope this gives you a better idea of my earlier post.
dbh
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
I like the plan above (yoboseiyo) and agree about the size of the laundry room. I just measured ours. It has a big Kitchen-aid top-loading washer and front loading dryer. They sit side by side in a 3x6 alcove in the hallway off the master. We have 2 shelves above them, running the 6' length.

About the washer/dryer not being "hard-plumbed" -- the floor that ours sit on has been lined with galvanized steel. The laundry room is built next to an outside wall, and that metal liner has some sort of drain to the outside. But, honestly, I never turn on the washer or dryer when I'm not here, anyway-- mainly because I'm more terrified of something catching on fire than a water leak-- same with the dishwasher-- or leaving the TV on-- or the iron. Gosh-- so many disasters waiting to happen. :0
Carol Woolf
10 år siden
You don't need a walk in washer dryer closet so have a sliding door opening in the hall and have the washer and dryer both facing the hallway with a shelf for storage overhead. NO walk in space. Unnecessary. Then All of that space behind the washer and dryer could be used as a walk in closet with the entry being inside the bedroom just behind the windows. Your washer dryer space would be approx 61 x 30. That would give you a 7x12 closet. Much bigger than you have drawn now and a better use of the space. Bed room wide open again.
Vivian Rase
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
my last house the laundry room was actually 'in' my master bath. It wouldn't work for most families and some of the mechanicals prevented me from putting it in the hallway between two bedrooms. I would never go back to a kitchen or basement laundry room again! the convenience was such a plus. Clothes came off at night and went right into the washer. Then in went the towels. Do a small load right then or wait a day or two and do a larger load. It honestly never seemed like I was doing laundry. I'd make it work.
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Thank you everyone for your advice and opinions. I enjoy reading them.

A couple of things. This is a raised ranch or a ranch with a daylight/walkout basement, whatever you want to call it. Total sq.ft. with basement is 5000. That's why the designer suggested 2 laundry rooms. A large laundry/craft downstairs in the basement and a w/d in the mud room off the kitchen.
The bedrooms are upstairs on the main level. That's why I wanted to keep it upstairs. I was enticed by the large laundry/craft downstairs but I think my husband shot down that idea. I can't even remember now.

The house is brick so moving the window, as much as I want to, is out of the question. My husband doesn't see the benefit in that expense. That window drives me crazy because it doesn't line up with the 6' sliding doors below. If it did then that would look better and help solve a problem in the bedroom.

The hook up for the w/d has already been plumbed. The closet has been framed but I stopped the opening of the door into the hall since it requires moving vents but I did say take down the wall between the closet and laundry room.

Husband insisted we put a door into the hall and I was in agreement at first because I wanted to walk straight out of the laundry room and into the kids bedroom to put clothes away.

My main suggestion is to live with what has been plumbed but leave the w/d as part of our master closest and no opening into the hall. He doesn't like because he thinks a 7'x12' closet is to big even though it's for 2 people and it's technically a 5000 sq.ft. He also doesn't want our kids to bring their dirty underwear thru our bedroom into our laundry. LOL like they don't climb in bed with us anytime they want probably wearing dirty underwear.
My solution for that would be to go ahead a get a smaller w/d in the mud room for when the kids are doing all these loads of dirty underwear by themselves.

My biggest concern with that is the closet extending out in front go the window. Right now it's just framed so it's hard to see how much it's really going to block.
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Judiwithani - I wish I would have gone with that layout! But originally the whole plan was to have access from the hall making that layout impossible. I wonder what the charge would be for the w/d to be moved there now?
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
yoboseiyo - I like it but I was already told no on moving the window! It does give me idea though.
dbh
10 år siden
Well, not to be too blunt, but your biggest stumbling block seems to be your husband. ;) Just kidding (well-- you know-- sort of). I'm utterly confused as to how you can be living in a 5000 sq foot house, and you have to share a too small closet. Makes no sense. I like your designer's thought. Put a smaller stacked w/d upstairs-- leaving space for a much larger closet (or-- here's a novel idea -- another closet-- but this one all your own)-- and then another w/d downstairs. Seems like the smartest solution. And a 7x12 closet is not too large for two people. I'd also do a search for a plumber that might be a little more reasonable.
reggiesmall
10 år siden
If you have a head for another opinion...:).

We have our laundry room in the basement of our 3 story house; I wish it were on the top floor! It's easy throwing things DOWN the laundry shoot but unless you have a dumbwaiter or elevator, it's a huge pain, literally, to bring everything back up (we have no room on the top floor where the bedrooms are.)

I would keep it on the top floor as clothing, linen, towels...all live on the floor with the bedrooms. It just makes practical sense and a laundry room has to be first and foremost practical. Just make sure you have proper drainage in the room and sills for both doorways of the room.

I would put back the wall between the laundry room and closet; why should your closet be in a perpetual state of 'laundry business' (I couldn't think of another appropriate word.) The door to the hallway from the laundry room should of course be there. Go for a pocket door, as suggested, for the doorway INTO your room from the laundry room.

I had a laundry closet in my previous apartment and it was NOT sufficient. A closet only holds the machines and the shelves above. It does not hold the piles of laundry waiting to be washed. A proper laundry room was a top priority and I have one now. I sort my laundry, do the ironing, hand wash things in the sink (another terrific bonus I did not have in my laundry closet) and even have room to dry things on racks there. If you're more than 2 people, a room is the way to go, not a closet.

On that note, if you do have the option of putting in a stackable or another set in the basement for all the outside mess, that would be an amazing feature to have, for sure! That's the only other terrific thing about my laundry room in the basement is that when we come in with dirty gear, it all goes straight into the machine without being traipsed upstairs.

Sorry.... Almost done.

I would lay it out slightly differently: how about making the one walk-in closet smaller so that you have a larger siting area and make another closet (a very wide but standard depth closet) in the passthrough to the bathroom (along the same wall as the window)? You can shift the doorway (also should be a pocket door) so that it's not centered but closer to the laundry room wall. That'll give you more space for the closet.

You can also do very well-designed built-ins for your bedroom itself to take some of the load from the closets, especially if you don't have a lot of hanging clothes.

I hope I've given you some comfort and some possible solutions.

This too shall pass...:)
KD
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
If a door is a problem, could you fit a 'laundry hatch' instead? Kind of like a pass through in the style of a laundry chute door, so kids or guests or whomever could drop dirty laundry into a basket waiting on the other side of the wall and not have to go through your bedroom?

(That seems like it might deal with the vent issue and yet also prevent 'but you had the door closed, I couldn't get IN' excuses about why the dirty laundry is scattered around the kids' rooms instead of in the dirty laundry hamper. :) )

ETA: I do like the idea of having the option for a basement washing set up also, even if not a full laundry room. If nothing else I'd make sure the plumbing is all there and in good shape for now, so it can be installed later if desired without ripping into anything. Our laundry is going to be in the basement but I'm still likely to add an extra washing machine at some point because with a kid, a dog, and people with outdoor activity habits like hiking and skiing and horseback riding, it doesn't seem a bad idea to have a machine that can be 'abused' in addition to the 'good' one. (I know a few people with horses who do that, actually - get a no-bells-and-whistles model washer and stick it somewhere so they can wash things like saddle pads regularly without worrying about horse hair/stray bits of straw/etc. or buckles on blankets messing up the nicer washing machine that gets used for household laundry.)
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
PirateFoxy- I was thinking about a pass thru as the solution to the door/vent problem!
Reggiesmal- you kind of busted me. ;) I am planning a built-in wardrobe on that wall. That's 5' to 6' there depending on how big I go with my bathroom vanity.
Diana- you're right about my husband. As if he ever does laundry but when he does he never puts it away and that's the main reason I want the w/d in the closet. But I can't look for a new plumber. This one is so easy on the eyes that he would be worth the extra money. ;). Seriously though I had 4 different estimates already. His price has been fair. His rough in passed the other day so that's left is trim unless I make a major change with laundry.
dbh
10 år siden
Vickie: I've lived with a washer/dryer upstairs, in the hallway just outside our bedroom, for 20+ years. I would not have it any other way. It really is so convenient. I cannot envision going up and down stairs with laundry. I do think you can make that room (for w/d) smaller. As others have stated, no need to have a walk-in laundry room. About people not coming through your bedroom to get to the w/d-- there are these things called 'hampers' (must be very to drop their dirty clothes. Or just make the only access to the w/d from the hallway-- not from your bedroom. That way, you won't have to carry everybody's dirty laundry through your bedroom. Agree about pocket doors. This just shouldn't be that difficult.
Théa Morash
10 år siden
I like the idea of the pass-through solution for the door/vent issue, but this assumes that the kids will only be dropping off their dirty laundry and not doing it themselves. You know better than me how likely that would've been anyway, I guess. ;)

I think the current window/closet set-up in the bedroom would bother me on paper, but the actual area itself has the potential to be a really lovely cozy alcove.

When designing my house I was hell-bent on a top-floor laundry but with just over 800 square feet per floor (it's a townhouse in a heritage area), I deprioritized to make more room for bedrooms/bathroom. I shifted it down to the back porch/mudroom area and then -- again for space purposes -- moved it *again* to the basement: the very place I swore it would never be. The house is still under construction so I don't know for sure how I'll feel about that decision, but I have satisfied myself with the comforting thought of hiding all my laundry clutter out of sight in the basement and not in a high-traffic area on the main floor.
dbh
10 år siden
Agree with Thea above about the lovely alcove where windows are. I'm going to take a picture of mine, so you can see how inviting that really can be. And much more interesting and a bit unexpected -- than just a predictable rectangle or square bedroom layout.
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Diana - please do. I don't know if it helps the idea of the closet blocking the window but there are two small transom windows on the 16' wall. They bring in a lot of light but I just didn't count them as windows since they aren't egress.
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Groveraxle - I actually already did that and I moved that door into the bedroom. It used to be against the wall at your red mark. My husband wants the wall back and a door into the hallway and he wants to go ahead and spend the money to push the plumbing back in order to stack the w/d into the wall. What's your opinion on the closet blocking the window?
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
Thanks everyone on humoring me with this not so serious issue! The funny thing is I barely have any clothes right now. Four pregnancies in nine years, I've done a lot of purging. I'm really just dreaming of having a closet with beautiful clothes.
kjb2399
10 år siden
We are moving our laundry upstairs but putting it in our guest room. I hate going up 2 floors with laundry :-(
dbh
10 år siden
Oh my gosh, Vickie. My hat's off to you. :) You *should* have a big old closet filled with beautiful clothes. I'm taking a picture now-- will post in a second.
groveraxle
10 år siden
Then configure your closet like this if you want a larger sitting area in front of the window.
Vickie M thanked groveraxle
dbh
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
Vickie: Here are a couple of photos of the alcove in our bedroom; I hope they help. I really love that space. The windows to the right go from the bedroom all the way down to the family room, so it's just one big wall of windows. The room on the other side of those glass blocks you see is the bathroom. The light that pours in is really nice. There's a skylight in the ceiling in this alcove, too, which you can't see in the photo-- so lots of great light. That alcove is 4' wide by 7' long. So the wall that is to the left of that and juts into the bedroom is my closet-- which is about 7x10. I don't share it with anyone. :) I took the photo sitting on the queen-size bed. It's still a very spacious bedroom, even with the closet coming into the room. And, again, to my mind it's just a slightly more interesting room with that unexpected alcove-- full of light.
Vickie M thanked dbh
Vickie M
Forfatter
10 år siden
I wish I could be lounging there now! My alcove will probably have the baby's crib and glider there for the next couple of years.
dbh
10 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}10 år siden
Well, it would seem like a perfect spot for a baby's crib and/or glider. I wish I'd had an alcove like that in our bedroom when I had a small baby. A lot of people might not like it, but I just think you could put almost anything in a small alcove, in your bedroom, and make it work-- and then you'll wonder how you could have possibly lived without it.
PRO
Vanco Construction Inc.
10 år siden
I agree with the interior designer, laundry rooms do not belong by the master bedroom. Why not make his and her closets ?
groveraxle
10 år siden
Yeah, I would agree with the interior designer, too...as long as she volunteers to carry the clean laundry upstairs and put it away.
shamo1
10 år siden
What we did in our house is to keep our laundry downstairs and then build clothing storage in the laundry area. This keeps our minimal bedroom storage intact, but allows us to use huge amounts of generally ill-used basement space effectively. We also have a large folding table in our laundry area. We do not have to move more than 5 feet to put things away.
jrg1971
10 år siden
My wife and I will be building a home with the laundry room off of the master closet. The attached picture is the floor plan.
karens907
8 år siden
Leave the laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms! Move the windows up into the bedroom area and make your master bath that whole area next to your closet and laundry room. Put a skylight in your bath area or a window for better lighting and fresh air. You will enjoy that much better than a "sitting room",,, who has time for a sitting room? If you don't do that then you are going to have a very long hike, more than 21 feet, to get to your bathroom in the middle of the night! Just sayin',,,,
teamaltese
8 år siden
Old post.