where is your laundry room?

[ezcc]

We had a basement laundry room in our house when we moved in, it was fine- kind of old and gross with appliances from the 80s but functional. Finally the dryer completely died. At some point our house (over 100 years old) had an addition put on which blocked the outside basement entry. Our only way into the basement was a very small narrow staircase which would not allow a full size dryer to go down. So, at great expense and hassle (running electric, plumbing) we put a stackable in an upstairs closet. That has been fine too, but now we are putting in a new basement entry to the outside (for other reasons). Part of me is tempted to put the laundry back down there. While it is convenient having it on the second floor, I lost a big linen closet and the noise is irritating. A stackable in a closet makes repairs a big pain and I worry about leaks. There isn't really a good space to fold clothes, keep detergent, keep sorted dirty clothes nearby etc. Dh thinks I am crazy to want to make the switch- we are doing some work in the basement and I have the space to make a real laundry room, we were planning to put a nicer bathroom and maybe a little semi-kitchen space with a drinks fridge, sink, counter but I am wondering if we should skip that and do a nice laundry room. WWYD?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I personally don’t need or want a nice laundry room if there are other spaces that could be improved. I don’t putter around in there. we did have a nice one installed in our last house but only because it didn’t really add much to the cost and the machines had to go somewhere.
Ours is in the basement. Shelf above them for detergent and a utility sink with a small counter next to them. I bought a fold up, tabletop drying rack (which I rarely use since I actively avoid lay flat to dry stuff). It’s enough.
I never wanted it near bedrooms due to noise.
Eta- I don’t fold in the basement. Not because the space is bad but I hang most everything of mine so I just carry it up and dump it on my bed. I also don’t have occasion to soak stuff. So extra space just isn’t a big deal.

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[bisous]

I personally don’t need or want a nice laundry room if there are other spaces that could be improved. I don’t putter around in there. we did have a nice one installed in our last house but only because it didn’t really add much to the cost and the machines had to go somewhere.
Ours is in the basement. Shelf above them for detergent and a utility sink with a small counter next to them. I bought a fold up, tabletop drying rack (which I rarely use since I actively avoid lay flat to dry stuff). It’s enough.
I never wanted it near bedrooms due to noise.


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I thought I was the only one who doesn't really love having a laundry room!

So, full disclosure, my current laundry "room" is in my dining room behind folding doors. I don't love that arrangement honestly and don't recommend it. I LIKE having the laundry behind folding doors--in that I like it being open to another room. But I'd prefer it not be in our only dining space! When we entertain (which we haven't for 1.5 years, lol) it feels icky. If I had a formal dining space I might actually like it in there! (It is essentially an eat-in kitchen.)

That said, when I lived with my parents who had a dedicated laundry room, I really didn't love being in there. It felt cramped and I just couldn't wait to get the laundry out of there and somewhere else more spacious. (Their laundry room was about 8x10 feet wide--so not tiny but not enormous either) I feel like having a laundry closet is more my speed. I wash the laundry in there but I fold and organize it in other rooms throughout my house. I've never lived in a home with a basement (except in college) so I don't know how I would feel about doing in a basement.

[marinkitty]

I've had both upstairs and basement laundry in different homes, and I prefer my current basement set-up by far.

My laundry in my main house now is a big room with a brick floor and and a big island I use for folding, counter space and hanging space above my side by side washer/dryer and a big three basin sink I can use for soaking. I really like having a huge utility room and like not having it up by the bedrooms. We have a laundry chute that has access points on the first, second and third floors so we don't have to keep hampers in our rooms/bathrooms and we don't have to carry anything down. I had cabinets built in the laundry room a few years ago (I also had the island built then) and one of them has slides for six full sized laundry baskets so each family member has their own plus one for linens and after I fold, I put their clothes in there and close the doors so they are out of sight and once a week or so they take theirs up, put it away in their rooms and bring the empty basket back down to the cabinet. It's a great system and I love it. I would not like to go back to a small second floor laundry where I hear the machines running and have to put hampers in every room and collect and redistribute etc. The laundry room also serves as a mudroom, storage for all our cleaning supplies and overflow tolietries/vitamins/tp/paper towels etc. and I keep all the gift wrapping supplies in there and use the island for wrapping.

[khm]

Ours is a tiny, narrow hallway between the kitchen and garage. Like there's enough room that the washer and dryer fill up one side, the other side is a small closet and a sink. It is not wide enough for anything to be on the floor. Its not ideal, but it is what it is.

Our last house was laid out similarly, but the hallway to the garage was only a hallway and the laundry was to the backside and had its own door. It also wasn't large, but the fact that you didn't have to WALK THROUGH IT to get the garage was amazing. Overall, the floorplan didn't take up much more space, but it was SO MUCH better.

When we needed to buy a new washer, the space was so narrow that I had a terrible time finding a washer that would fit depth-wise. My old front loader was positively minimalist in appearance compared to the new ones. The doors had big trim pieces and bowed out several inches. Even top-loaders were too deep. It was a mess to find something and really cut my options down to a small handful of washers. So, definitely don't plan a new space that is tight on dimensions because these things just keep getting larger and larger.

I don't think you need to go crazy with a pinterest-y perfect laundry room in the basement, I think you could make a pleasant enough bright and clean space and still do the other living area stuff that is more "fun" than a laundry room.

[gymnbomb]

We don't have a laundry "room" but our washer and dryer, a drying rack, and a couple of wire shelves I put detergent on are in a corner of the unfinished part of our basement. I'm totally fine with them being there. I wouldn't want to give up any of our space on other floors for them. (If I had a huge house I might feel differently, but it's really not a big deal at all for me to have them down there)

[jent]

I'm interested to hear everyone's responses, b/c I've been trying to figure out our laundry situation too.

In our first 3 homes, we had the laundry in the basement which I never liked, b/c of having to run up & down stairs to load, transfer, unload. None of the basement laundry areas were finished so I always did folding and (rare) ironing elsewhere.

Our current home, our laundry is on the first floor which I like much better- it's near the kitchen and I like that we can start and transfer loads while I'm downstairs doing other things. The downside is that it is in the powder room, hidden behind folding doors. Not the worst issue in the world balancing powder room/laundry use but 1) the dryer is awkwardly placed next to the toilet and 2) no utility sink in there.

So I'm trying to decide whether to reconfigure the powder room setup, possibly by stacking the units, versus consider moving it upstairs. If upstairs, one option would be to take over a linen closet with a stacked unit. The other option would be to steal some space from our primary bedroom closets, but then it would be IN the primary bedroom (we have an odd layout where our bedroom is like a suite with hallway, closets, and bathroom off the sleeping space. I wouldn't mind that myself but I think it wouldn't be good for resale?

I think my main preference is for a first floor laundry- I find it the easiest as I spend most of my weekend time downstairs. Also I definitely worry about having laundry upstairs being too noisy.

[PunkyBoo]

In our 1970's tract, all the houses have laundry hookups in the attached garage or a small bump-out area in the hall leading to the attached garage. Ours is in the garage. (I'm in southern California, we don't have basements). I've never once in my life spent any time hanging out in the laundry room/area, I've always just put clothes in the basket and folded them while watching TV in the living room. I keep a drying rack upstairs in the guest bedroom which I use for my bras and my sweaters (so I don't have them sitting in the garage and can grab them easily when I need them to get dressed upstairs).
My in-laws have laundry in their detached garage. I would hate that and would not live with it. Growing up, our house had laundry in a closet in the living room, behind bifold doors. Not ideal but made it easy to just fold clothes while watching TV on the couch!

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[lizzywednesday]

Our laundry machines are opposite the hot water heater and furnace in a space not much bigger than a hallway that adjoins our garage and kitchen. We have two cabinets where we store detergents, stain remedies, and various other cleaning tools, as well as my iron and some kitchen aprons that we don't have space in the kitchen to store.

I hang most of my things to dry; we have a closet-rod hanging in a doorway between our entryway/dining room and living room which helps with most of that. If we ever exceed the space, I have a collapsible drying rack that I bought at IKEA I don't know how many years ago (probably when I noticed DH's insistence on using the backs of our dining room chairs for drying space also meant it damaged the finish) and an assortment of plastic hangers in various weights.

I sort loads using divided hampers with laundry bags inside; we sort into "cold water" and "warm water" loads because I prefer to wash underwear, jammies, and socks in warm water. Laundry baskets are used for clean items; DD has her own that I will deposit washed-and-dried items into, but she's responsible for folding and putting things away.

[Liziz]

I prefer my laundry to be near my kitchen, as that's where I spend most of my time so it's easy to switch batches from there. We've always been a "pile clean laundry on the couch and watch TV while folding it" family, so I don't necessarily need a ton of space, and even if my laundry room were closer to the bedrooms, I still think I'd end up bringing the clean clothes out to the living room to fold. I haven't ever lived in a house with a basement (as an adult), but I think if my laundry room was in the basement I'd constantly forget about batches and leave them sitting in the washer too long, etc. I wouldn't be a fan of carrying baskets up and down stairs and it would challenge the ease with which my kids can currently help (I have them pull batches from the dryer for me all the time, but I wouldn't want them carrying a basket up stairs yet).

OP, I think you should consider a couple things:
~Is this a forever home or will you likely sell it at some point in the reasonable future? My non-real-estate expert opinion is that a basement setup would sell much better than your current setup, which sounds like a "I crammed these machines in a closet" that might not work for a lot of people's machines.
~How disruptive is the noise? If that's a constant problem, it's probably worth a switch


My parents have the mini fridge, sink, counter combo in their finished basement. The sink and fridge get used, but the counter NEVER does (other than to get messy with random junk). I would definitely want a sink in the basement, but 1) if you're putting in a bathroom, there's a sink in there or 2) if you do a nice laundry room, you can add a utility sink (which is what I'd really like!). I wouldn't give up much (any?) space to a nice bar/counter setup, as I've just not seen it used enough in my personal experience (although you'll have to evaluate your lifestyle as I'm sure some people do use them!) I don't think you need to do a fancy laundry room, but I do think it would be nice to keep your options open and at least maintain hookups and space, even if you're not going to move it down right now or make it a large space.