I built a laundry closet / cubby for our stacked, full size Samsung front loading washer/dryer. The machines now face into our kitchen, saving many steps. Available space was tight - oh, but our house is small. We managed with 32 inches wide, 36 to 39 inches deep, and 79 to 82 inches high. The door opening is 31" wide, 79 inches high. The closet itself is 82 inches high. From the back wall to the door is 36 inches; the doorway adds another 3 inches. We'll use a bi-fold door or perhaps a curtain. The Samsung appliances are 27 inches wide, and 76 inches tall when stacked. (Possibly 78 inches tall, if the screw-feet are fully extended) Our laundry cubby has 7+ inches of room behind the appliances - enough for the hoses, cords, & dryer vent. To prevent the washer from walking too far back, we inserted 7 inch long chocks of 4x4. A couple pieces of 2x4 keep the machines from bashing against the walls. Underneath the floor, we made this extremely robust, with concrete footers and 4x6 supports. It's structurally separate from the house, so the washing machine's vibrations don't reach us. We don't notice the machine's vibrations, and I suspect that I overdid the floor support system. Main problem is moving the appliances for repairs - it's easy to gouge wood floors. So we lift the appliances (total weight is 350 pounds). We lever them up a few inches, using 1x2's and 2x4's. Then we insert appliance casters and/or a throw rug underneath. Carefully pull the stacked appliances out. Once the stack is about 15 inches out of the closet, we disconnect the hoses and wires. Then we pull the stack out completely. To make it a bit easier, we've installed several strong eye-hooks into the ceiling framing, to allow nylon straps to help with the lifting (using a come-a-long hand winch). Still, it's a challenge to service the washer and dryer. If you're thinking of this, I'd suggest: - add a service door to the back, to allow access for repair and/or lifting. - 32 inches is a minimum width. 36 would be much better - Consider putting in a 220V wiring in the wall; you can later hook this to your breaker box if you get an electric dryer. - Electric codes require that you be able to pull the plugs to the appliances, or shut off electricity to them. With the electric outlets against the back wall, we can't reach the plugs. So we have an on/off switch at the front of the closet - this disables the outlets. And, since hoses can break and washing machines may drip both water and oil, I suggest: - install a water alarm that beeps if water collects on the floor - finish the floor to deal with leaks - slope the floor to a drain - install a washing machine pan underneath (but this makes it hard to adjust the leveling screws) - put flexible plastic sheeting cut from a tarp) beneath the washer. Fold & shape it to catch water (fold down the front of the catchment when you move the appliances) Here is a link that might be useful: Closet for stacked laundry machines This post was edited by CliffStoll on Sat, Nov 2, 13 at 21:05

Not worth the gas to drive to nearest ReStore (unless we were doing a major remodel). But I'll try Craigslist. I did pull a silver 12" lazy susan out of the attic (has ceramic pieces that fit inside, 1 chipped). Put an old Tupperware container of my mom's (maybe she has 1 missed a lid) inside, fit oils and vinegars (except my quart & gallon bottles of canning vinegar) inside, but even positioned right in front of clip in stud, it wobbles. Might work on wood shelf. Large square Tupperware canister fits 5 lb flour. Too bad I only have 2, and where the shelves are positioned now there is space above for half size (maybe 3 lbs?) canister of sugar, but I use that in 1 batch of jam. Have 2 shorter square containers, but all I could find in the basement were the oval containers I used to use for pasta (before DS started eating 1/3 lb by himself, now I find it easier to just grab a box even if I have a tiny bit left, rather than filling a container and using most of it for 1 meal. I currently have 1 opened bag of elbow noodles and 3 almost-empty boxes of 3 different-shaped pasta in the pantry, unopened boxes are in basement but right at bottom of stairs. The oval containers don't fit together on the shelf as nicely as the boxes, so am I right not to go back to using those? Now, the quinoa bag has a zipper (that's in the cereal cabinet), the barley and bulgur don't so I had to put them in ziploc bags - might it be worthwhile to put those in the oval containers? They're on the same shelf as the wooden boxes, all the way over on the right, just above the flour canisters (and the partial bag of Bisquick - a 40 oz box didn't fit in the small red-topped canister - grr). Steel-cut oats and cornmeal (which has expired - don't know if it's any good for dusting a baking stone?) leave in original round containers? I swear I had more Tupperware... I did pull a couple of small wooden crates I use on my table at farmer's market (mostly to stack things on top of when they're turned upside down, they're not good size for jelly jars - I do have 1 that has a divider that is perfect for a little "bookcase" when turned on end so I don't want to use that in pantry, and another that I use for paper lunch bags that I put produce in). Not sure if they work here, but I did corral the Japanese food in the smaller one and dried fruit in the larger one. One thing about having things visible - DS eats them. You can see I have only half a bag of white chocolate chips I bought at the holidays - I didn't open them but when I found them open I put a twist tie on the bag. A few years ago I found a good price on Scharffen Berger chocolate squares, used them to make peppermint bark and put them on the top shelf (in front, I was too lazy to get the step stool out) and later found half of them gone - he had been eating them like candy bars! We've never restricted the kids' candy consumption, they go trick or treating, get candy for Easter and Xmas, but last year (mind you, he was 13 1/2) I found wrappers from his Easter candy in the supply vents in the family room. At least he didn't put them in the returns! But there was no need to hide them - I don't care if they eat the entire contents of their Easter baskets in 1 day (other than they might get sick, but then they'd never do it again) or 3 months. I just ask that eating be restricted to the kitchen, dining room, or rarely, the family room. Not the living room with wool carpet and leather furniture, and not upstairs. But I do like to keep baking supplies for baking, not snacking (esp. expensive things like that chocolate, candied ginger, etc.) and don't like going to use something to find out that I don't have enough b/c someone has been eating it without telling me. I *am* going to throw out the old (who knows how old) confectioner's sugar in the green Tupperware canister, and the cocoa (very light) that my mom gave me - we weren't even sure if it was hot chocolate mix or baking cocoa, b/c it doesn't even smell like anything, she put it in a Rubbermaid container!

Need to see the closet in conjuction with your plan. It's all about proportions; our linen closet is 39" deep and 72" wide with double doors having three 36" deep full width shelves and one 24" deep top shelf. It is designed to provide abundant usable storage. Admittedly one needs the space for such a large linen closet, our corridors are almost six ft wide. I designed the home.

If you are building or remodeling, please check your building codes. In most places in the U.S., you can't call it a bedroom if there isn't a closet. Your building codes may specify minimal dimensions. 24 inches is the standard depth to fit most hangers. 18-20 inches wide was ok in the early 1900's. I've lived with these, and it was unpleasant. By the 1950's closets were usually 36-48 inches wide. That's small by current standards, but usable with good space planning. That's the absolute smallest I would use. 60-72 inches would be better. Down the road, if someone wants to use it as a bedroom, you can be certain that the occupant won't want to go to other parts of the house for clothing.