Mom's desk in laundry room - like it or not?

16 years ago

I can't decide if we should combine 2 small rooms that are next to each other, into one larger room. The laundry room is 6' by 13', and is right next to the "room" where we will have lockers, a bench, a closet and my desk (we have no kids but I have seen it called a mom's desk.) This room is 7' by 10'.

Each room has a small window facing the front of the house. I think it would be more effecient spacewise to take the wall out in between and make it one larger room. I would probably lenghthen the desk room a little and maybe take a foot off the laundry room to make them the same length.

My biggest concern is having my desk in the same room as the washer and dryer I have seen that done around here (DFW) but am wondering if others have done it.

any thoughts??

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Comments (28)

dizzy8
16 years ago
I am doing something similar. I am leaving a "window" between my sewing/laundry room and bonus space. I have been warned that the washer/drier will make a lot of noise. I plan to put up drapes that can close off the window and will have alot of folds in order to muffle the sound. Currently my washer/drier is next to our bonus space and the sound is only muffled by bifold doors. I expect lint to be a challenge in the laundry room and hopefully not in the bonus room!
pinktoes
16 years ago
In our plans I had my desk in the Laundry Room (to combine functions, supposedly saving space--all the rage now). Close to the last minute I realized that I don't want to be there. I use the machines too often and even the quietest machines get noisier as they age. There's the smells, the humidity--maybe humidity is not the best thing for metal filing cabinets, books and papers. I do see the desk with the laundry in the Family Studios that builders were doing for awhile.

The fact that it kept nagging at me was my cue. When we got close to ready to release my plans, we said, let's take a couple of days and sit with this to see if there's anything we're really unhappy with. That was mine.

We moved some walls around and created a tiny office for me off the end of the kitchen, with its own lockable door (for security of financial records, etc, if workers are in the house or whatever). It's right next door to the laundry room. I think 2 doors will be enough to reduce the noise. And the distractions.
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I am firmly in the camp that believes having things too sterile is actually bad for your immune system. My great aunt, who lived to be 101 and a half, could eat things out of the refrigerator that none of us young people would touch. Her resistance to bacteria was good and built up over time and exposure. All that to say that if you are not phobic about what lurks in your laundry room, then having it serve mutliple purposes can be fabulous. If you, like several of my friends, constantly use hand sanitizer and try to eradicate every lurking germ, then you are not likely to be happy with having other activities happen next to where you wash soiled clothes. We recently did a renovation and decided to turning an old garage apartment into a multi-function space. It includes a laundry area, mudroom, pantry, office nook, and a small bathroom. The mudroom's French doors are where a garage door was 50 years ago and now open onto a smallish front porch that connects to our driveway. The mudroom is modest in scale. The doors let in lots of light. It has a little stool for the kids to sit down to take off their shoes, a low shelf for storage, several pegs for school bags, coats, and my cloth shopping bags, a small table for important papers the kids bring home, and a small tower with basket that hold sunglasses, a brush, pony tail holders, mittens, hats, etc. A large pantry opens at one end and the kitchen is up two steps at the other. From there a wide hallway opens into the laundry area in the middle section. The washer and dryer are front loaders and mount under a long counter with a deep sink at one end. There are cabinets above the laundry area that hold detergent, stain stick, vases, cleaning supplies, unmatched socks, tools we use often, seeds, etc. Eventually I hope to add a wall mounted drying rack to a space I left blank. I have had my eye on one in the Ballard Design catalog, but cannot yet spend the $$, The ironing board is mounted into the opposite wall and has a lamp, an intergrated plug, hook for hanging a couple of items, and a place to store the iron, hot or cold. The whole set up works beautifully for sorting, folding,and ironing laundry. Seems everyone is willing to help with the laundry now, because it is a pleasant place to be and well laid out. We have deep shelves built into a sort of wall cubbie. There we store two large laundry baskets on each shelf. Dirty clothes are on the bottom shelf, clean on the next. We also use the other cubbies for beach towels, pool bags, my "gift closet" and clothes that need to be donated or mended go on upper shelves, as they are culled during washing. My children never want to get rid of anything, so I have to sneak these out of their sight. I use the laundry sink for flower arranging, cleaning out coolers after a trip, and sometimes as a place to store wet dishcloths and dust rags (on a little rack that fits inside the sink) so they don't stink up the rest of the laundry until it is time to wash a whole load. The countertop serves mutliple purposes too. When clean laundry is put away it becomes a place for weighing food for our monthly co-op splits, drying art works, starting seeds in trays, polishing silver, etc. Instead of a powder room, we located a small, but full bathroom directly across from the laundry work space. Though we often set up a drying rack in the large shower, especially in winter, it is great this time of year to come in from the garden or back from the city pool and be able to take off dirty or wet clothes, hop in the shower, and throw stuff in the wash without tracking through multiple rooms. Towards the back of the house, still open to the laundry area, I have a built in desk with large triple windows over my work space. My computer, filing cabinets, and office supplies are there and it overlooks the prettiest part of our back yard. When I finally finsih cleaning out my boxes of files, we will be able to get to the door that leads out to the terrace. Other than the kitchen where I spent most of my time and even with boxed, it is still a nice space. If I had it to do over again, there would only be two changes I would want to make. First, I might make it a little bigger, as the children always want to be here with me and I would love to have a work space for them too. Second, I would add a bar for hanging up clean clothes until we take them upstair. I asked the cabinet contractor to do this as part of his work, but it didn't happen. I have since decided I would prefer the drying rack for now anwyway, but if I had more room, I would add a small closet or hanging bar. Happy deciding! Perhaps I can post some photos soon.
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kelntx
16 years ago
I am having a small desk near the kitchen. I do not think I would like it in the laundry room. Lent would be one of my big concerns, that and knowing I had to fold clothes since I was in there already!!
Zoe52
16 years ago
I am in process of a house design and I will have a large laundry/pet/office room right off of our kitchen. It is really more of a multipurpose room as it could also be used for wrapping gifts and/or doing arts and craft projects. I plan on having a large table in the middle of the room to fold clothes or to use for other activities. My DH will have his office in our library. I prefer mine separate from his and closer to the kitchen. I am planning on having just a small desk in there for my computer and an upright file cabinet.
gopack
Original Author
16 years ago
Zoe52,

How large is the room you are planning? Mine will be around 12 by 12, not real large but large enough. I am planning on the W and D, space for a refrigerator, a smallish broom closet, a jacket closet that will actually open from the hallway, not from inside the room, an area for shelves and cubbies, a small type laundry sink and my desk.

I really want my desk near a window so I am opting to put in into this utility/laundry room rather than having it in a windowless hallway. Not sure I would like it in with the W and D, though.

Still thinking. Any other ideas or comments on this setup?

Thanks for your ideas and input, so far.
charliedawg
16 years ago
Let me start out by saying I HATE LAUNDRY!!!

I would definitely want seperate areas. Like KELNTX said, I wouldn't want those clothes nagging at me while I was trying to concentrate on something else. In my world, the bigger the laundry room...the bigger the mess. I *know* I would have folded laundry all over my desk and chairs and filing cabinets if I set it up like you are planning.

Now, if your neat and tidy and don't mind dusting lent off of your office supplies - go for it. Otherwise stick with 2 seperate rooms.

Sometimes the smallest rooms in the house can be the most inviting.
nycefarm_gw
16 years ago
I don't think lint and humidity are good for any electronic equipment...
BTW, Lent is a religious observance,
Denise Evans
16 years ago
I actually think it's a good idea. I'm about 8 weeks from moving into our new house and we designed the laundry room to include a desk area where I'll have a laptop and two large lateral file drawers for household records, bills, etc... I didn't want a desk in the kitchen and didn't want that day-to-day stuff in the more formal study. It's a large space (about 12'x14') so I'm not too concerned with heat/humidity.
kelntx
16 years ago
nycefarm - LOL! OOPPPSS! I meant lint!
gopack
Original Author
16 years ago
Wow, thanks everyone for the input and comments. Hmmm, I can see both the good and the bad.

I will mull this over for a few more days until my builder tells me to finish thinking so she can start building.

Thanks!
soonermagic
16 years ago
Our multi-function laundry room has W/D, sink, upper cab storage, coat closet, broom closet, four lockers and a "communication center" instead of a "mom's desk." I didn't think I needed a desk separate from the study, where all the electronics and filing will be housed, but I did want a hub for in- and out-going mail, leaving notes for other family members, and a wall-sized calendar to keep up with schedules. So, instead of the desk, I gave more space to the lockers and made a triangular-shaped cabinet at the end of the locker run to serve this purpose. We're about a month away from moving in and I'm almost as excited about this room as I am my new kitchen.
gopack
Original Author
16 years ago
soonermagic,

I would love to see pics of your laundry/family center room!! Love the idea of the message center area. I think I have a wall space for a calendar and a blackboard. If you have any pics of the room, please show us! Also, tell us about your kitchen - I am always looking for more good ideas. (Eventhough this isn't the correct forum.)

I may go ahead and put my desk in with the laundry room. I figured out a way to put in a wall with pocket doors that would separate my desk and locker area from the laundry half. Not totally decided yet. But I could leave them open if not doing laundry and close them when the W or D is running.
kelntx
16 years ago
I think for our laundry room we are going to have a kind of 'info'/mud room type thing. Not sure still. I see it in my head it is just trying to explain it to the GC and DH! LOL! I would like to have an area on one wall painted with the chalk board paint for notes and such along with a calendar. I saw something like this in a model home. Except I would put a trim around it. Then on the other side I really would like to see a bench with some drawers or have the seat pull up for storage. Something like that. Then I would like to have some hooks on the top and more storage. Ok, I am dreaming out loud here, sorry!
kateskouros
16 years ago
i would never think to house myself in a laundry room. my katecave will be in the attic. i will get there via a private spiral stair hidden in my closet... the laundry room will have a craft space used for gift wrap and ...um, crafts. i don't actually do crafts but one never knows when one might have an urge to glue something.
Zoe52
16 years ago
GoPack: I really wanted a larger room as we will have no basement due to the high water table in our are.

My laundry room will be approximately 12' X 16' and will have access off my kitchen, a door to the backyard, and a door to my upstairs bonus room (all storage) over our 3 car garage. In addition to my computer desk and upright file cabinet, I am planning to have a W/D, a laundry tub (will also serve as a tub to wash toy poodle), a multi-task table in middle of room, an upright freezer, pet area (cat litter, pet fountain, animal dishes for 4 pets, dog bed), and a pet door to an outdoor cat and dog kennel. (We will be confining our dog in this area during the day). There will be a number of wall cabinets and storage in the remaining areas.

I do not need to have coat closets or cubbies in my laundry area as I will have a separate mud room off our garage that enters into our butler's pantry at the other end of our kitchen.

Since there will only be two of us in the house the laundry will not be going all the time. I usually our laundry once a week. So I don't think that the laundry noise will be an issue. I also plan to have a vac pan and a hide a hose for my central vaccuum system installed in the laundry area to help with clean up. I assume with all the animals in and out of there and lint that this will be one of the hardest to keep clean places in my home.
Zoe52
16 years ago
My DH will have an AV closet in one of our halls where we will have all our printers contained and other controls (not sure what else he is planning to put in there!) But I will be able to access any computers in there remotely from my computer area so I will not need a printer in my office.
dixiedoodle
16 years ago
I like the idea if the room is large and if the work being done there is more casual in nature. I wouldn't want it to be my real desk where I do work for my professional life. Very convenient location though!
jeannekay
16 years ago
I think it totally depends on your laundry routine. If you all typically dump clothes in there and they pile there for days before washing and then stay in the laundry room for days afterwards then no I wouldn't put it a desk in the laundry room. (and yes that is exactly how I would do laundry) Fortunately my dh does our laundry, he does it all in the evenings and does it all at once, gets it out, hangs & folds it and it's done. So for us yeah a desk in the laundry room would work b/c ours w/d aren't going all the time, and it would stay fairly neat and tidy as far as the laundry goes.
chisue
16 years ago
Question for those who are not in careers: What passes through "Mom's Desk" and what through "Dad's"?

I find I am sometimes running between my files and DH's for home-related things; better they were all in one place! Example: He has the tax return copies; I pay the quarterly estimates. (We're probably dividing this up wrong.)
Marcia B
16 years ago
In our original drawings I had one larger "mud" room, entering off the garage including desk space lockers, etc. This room will be plumbed for stackables, but I am having my W/D put in our master closet(1st floor master) as well as a full laundry room upstairs.

Then I went through a model.. they had a small room,(about 6x8) right off the kitchen, with a pocket door, a window a L shaped work space with 14!! feet of desk top! Lots of filing and upper storage. My hobby is genealogy, but even when I'm doing work at home, I seem to have papers spead out all over. LOVED this room! So incoperated a similar one into our plans.
{{gwi:1500441}}

Currently I have a desk in my kitchen and hate it.. always full of papers.. now I will walk past this room and can throw everything in there and sort it when I feel like it!

And I am giving my husband the small desk in the den..
chisue
16 years ago
marciab10 -- That is so cool! My genealogy (really just poking around; nothing formal) resides in some cardboard boxes in a closet. I'm afraid if I had that neat office I'd never come out!
gopack
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks again for so many helpful ideas and responses to this question. I had decided to go ahead and put my desk in with the laundry/utility/mudroom as one room, and use pocket doors to divide the desk part from the laundry part.

Then tonight I realized that the room will probably smell like canned cat food since I feed my 2 kitties canned food each morning and this is the room where I plan on putting their food dishes and litter box. Yikes. So now I am thinking of going back to having my desk as a separate small room off the kitchen. Unless anyone has a great idea on how to keep cat food odors contained.

Wow, I never thought planning a laundry, utility and mudroom and desk area would be so complicated. And yes, this is just my little desk where I putz on my computer on and off all day. We are building a nice size study for my husband who wants his own space for his large desk, bookcases, display cabinets etc. Mancave type of thing. :)
BriosaFarm
16 years ago
gopack, I too keep my cat food & water dishes and litter boxes in the laundry room, which works great in some ways...but you might think about whether this realization "tips" your decision toward putting your desk elsewhere. I like it for the fact that it keeps the cat stuff confined and somewhat hidden (I put a built-in desk in the counter, so cat food goes on the desk and litter box tucks into the well underneath) but I don't really like the kitty fur and dust from the litter box in my laundry room....now that I have it that way, I would have preferred a separate laundry area where I could put down clean clothes out of the dryer and fold them without having to clean off the top of the W/D and the counters first, and I would really not like having a desk and paperwork out in that room at all. I do have a good idea for the odors from the cat food and box, though, and it was one of the best things I put in this house....install a bathroom exhaust fan in that room (sized for the room) and put a timer on the wall switch. You can program it to run a few minutes every hour (or whatever you find works well) and also turn it on for a while if there happens to be a very smelly smell in that room at any time, LOL. It really helps keep cat food and box odors from the rest of the house!
gopack
Original Author
16 years ago
briosafarm,

Thanks so much for the venting idea for our laundry/cat/utility room! Great idea. How do you put it on a timer??

I think I am going to back to keeping my desk area out of there again. That way, I don't have to look at a mess all the time if my laundry is sorted on the floor or whatever!!

Please let me know how to tell my builder I want to put a room vent on a timer. That will help whether my desk is in there or not. Great idea.

Thanks!
ournewhouseinla
16 years ago
---------
Posted by soonermagic (My Page) on Thu, Sep 6, 07 at 15:59
Our multi-function laundry room has W/D, sink, upper cab storage, coat closet, broom closet, four lockers and a "communication center" instead of a "mom's desk."
---------

I would love to see a picture of your room, especially the area for incoming mail. It sounds functional. We are only weeks away from moving in too. I realized that there will be room for something like what you describe.

Our utility/laundry room is a walk thru from backdoor into kitchen. I want to have a place to put shoes and book bags but haven't seen anything that fits. Can't wait to see a picture.

Our new house
BriosaFarm
16 years ago
gopack, I just wrote "programmable timer switch" on the electrical plan by the utility room switch and it appeared by magic, LOL! It replaces the regular off/on switch on the wall, and fits into the same plate. I just went and looked at mine and found it online...it's called Airetrack by Tamarack Technologies. Here is a link with a picture:

http://www.rewci.com/airsolstatpr.html

I didn't realize it cost over $100 until I looked it up for you ;~) but I'd pay for it again without thinking twice....it really is one of the best things I ever did to help deal with the cat food and box odors in the house...seems that the regular exhausting of that room really cuts down on what gets into the rest of the house and you can adjust it as needed. If you keep the laundry room door partially closed it will be even more effective.
gopack
Original Author
16 years ago
briosafarm,

Thanks a lot for the link for the vent timer!! I will save it in my files and make sure I get this installed. It should help a lot.
BriosaFarm
16 years ago
You're very welcome! I think you'll like it. BTW, to go with that timer, you might want to look at the Panasonic "Whisper" series of exhaust fans ; they were recommended to us by an architect who is very into energy efficiency, and they are as advertised....very quiet and very efficient. We used them on the bathrooms and the utility rooms.

Mom's desk in laundry room - like it or not?

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