Another laundry room ? Washer & Dryer in a closet

14 years ago

I have a laundry room next to my small dining room at the end of my kitchen and I would like to expand my dining room so I can have a larger table. I would like to take the wall out between the dining room and laundry room and this would expand my dining room 2 to 3 feet if I use half my laundry room and build a pony wall. If I move the washer and dryer and do away with the laundry room for part of the dining room I would gain 6 feet. If I use half of the laundry room I can either have DH build a small closet like area and get a stackable washer and dryer. My other option is to move the washer and dryer maybe down the hallway by the bedrooms. I would lose some closet space in the hall closet but would gain more dining room space.

The wall I want to remove is the wall with the chalk board.

On the other side of the chalkboard wall on the right is the washer and dryer with a small window in between them and then if you got though the door from my dining room through the laundry room to the garage. You can see the garage door in the pic. To the left of the laundry room is a closet pantry. Will this look odd walking in from the garage into the dining room? I hope this was not too confusing. Please show me pics of you dining rooms near the garage door and pics of washer and dryer in a closet

Thanks

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Comments (9)

threedgrad
14 years ago
Why don't you have some respected contractors out - ask your family, friends and neighbors - to give you some estimates? If that is a support wall you want to remove or the plumbing is encased in the wall or heating ducts, that increases your costs. Plus you will need new flooring. I like the idea of moving the washer and dryer down by the bedrooms. But then you are adding plumbing and electrical. You have to make sure there is enough room, etc. Can you draw up a floor plan?

In my last rental house I used what was supposed to be a family room as my formal dining room. The room was next to the kitchen but in the room were also one door leading from the garage and another door leading to the laundry room.

To left of buffet as you look at it in 2nd pic, is the garage door.
CaroleOH
14 years ago
I can understand you wanting to expand your eating area and I don't think it would be odd to walk into the eating area. Alot of homes have a backdoor or garage door that opens up into the kitchen/eating area.

What I would be concerned about is losing your laundry room. Are you planning on living here long term - ie forever? If not, then potentially you could affect your resale value and make your home harder to sell. But, if you have a closet area that would work well for a "laundry area", it's doable. Do you have a basement? Could you put the laundry in the basement?

Also keep in mind that full size stackables will take up alot of room - they're over 27" deep. Compact stackables don't hold alot of laundry, so if you have a large family you might be sorry with the extra loads you'll have to do.
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rdsso
Original Author
14 years ago
My nephew is a certified plumber so I have that base covered and I would say there is not plumbing in that wall there is electricity in the wall but DH can move that he is an electrician so I have that covered. Our nephew will be at our house on the 4th of July and he is going to look into the plumbing part if we move the washer and dryer to the hall. The funny thing about this is on the other end of the kitchen is another room that is to be the formal dining area but that is DH's room - big TV, couch - the man room and the grandkids room so I would never ask him to give it up.
jmck_nc
14 years ago
In my last house we converted a shower stall in the master bath to the laundry area with stacking machines. This made it possible to make a real mud room between the garage and the house...the combo laundry/mud room was not very functional for either. I did not mind the stacking machines or having them in my master bath. For us it did not affect resale...we had multiple offers for our house the first day on the market. I think having the laundry area near the bedrooms makes great sense.
Judy
rdsso
Original Author
14 years ago
caroleoh, this is the house we will probably live in for the rest of our lives unless something BIG happens like winning the lottery!!! I would evently like to add on and expand my bedroom with a big closet and put my laundry in there. But for now my family is growing with two married children and 3 grand kids I am trying to find ways to reconfigure the floor plan I have and use the space for our needs at the present time. The floor plan we have was fine when my kids were going up but as out family changes so do my need for more space!!
My3dogs ME zone 5A
14 years ago
Do your guests enter your home through the garage or just family? I see many homes that have a 'people' door in the garage that guests come through, if not using the more 'formal' front door entry. If it's just family, it might be a bit better as far as less traffic through your dining room. Do you live in an area that has snow, etc that might be a consideration being tracked in? (Not knowing what the current flooring is and what you plan to use for the expanded DR.)

I also like a room to look 'balanced' as far as windows from both inside and out, so it looks like the room was planned that way. Will the existing small window in the current laundry room look OK or do you have plans to change it? You're lucky to have all that help right in your family!
rdsso
Original Author
14 years ago
my3dogs, my guests do not enter through the garage door unless we are having a party in the back yard and they sometime will come in through the garage but other than that DH and I are the only ones that use that door. We live where there is rarely snow so tracking in is not an issue. I have tile on the floor now and if I have to replace will be replacing with tile or hardwood. I am hoping the window will not be an issue in the laudry room. The window in the kitchen as you see is large and the one in the laundry room is 23 x 23 this my not looked balance. Since our house is brick changing out the window to a bigger window can be a problem without someone who can fix the bricks!!!
threedgrad
14 years ago
You could close in that window from the inside if it bothers you. Or do some interesting furniture placement where the small window is centered over a buffet or something like that.
rdsso
Original Author
14 years ago
threedgrad i like the idea of a buffet