Back again! Met with our carpenter... And he came up with the following scenario. It's a combined Laundry/Mudroom similar to geokid's last drawing, but with a 36"x24" island with canvas canvas roll out hampers underneath (open to the back). Great place for setting laundry basket, dropping things when you come in,etc. - keeping that open feel. I will be folding laundry in the great room because I like to keep an eye on the kids, so 36" drop zone countertop is plenty for me. I'd love for the island to come right up to the garage door so that we can have the 12" lower cab to the left of the sink instead of a blind front, plus easier access to the upper cab which is complicated by the island placement. But I don't think the on-site measurements will allow for the island to shift - we shall see. We reclaimed the right wall for a 24"x24" full height utility closet and six 12" wide - 16" deep cubbies (probably will not have full length dividers and instead just one continuous bench). I think there is 35 1/2" walk space between the island and cubbies so not too shabby. We are removing the pocket door system (to allow for the millwork and cabinetry on that wall) and going back to the original architect's suggestion for a casement opening. We could always add a door later if needed - but I think the way we moved the doors obscures the breakfast room and kitchen view to the laundry/mudroom nicely. The two windows and doorways are now symmetrical, which is pleasing to the eye. Of course I lost upper cabinetry with this floor plan so it gives me some heartburn, but I think I get a visually open feel and more room for 6 people's traffic, junk and laundry which we really need so it's a tradeoff. I'd like to figure out some uppers on the W/D-sink side of the room and a hanging bar. Anyone want to take a stab at elevations? Also, does anyone know if I can recess an ironing board cabinet on the exterior wall between the window and the W/D? What do you all think?

*I posted the same response to your Xpost in the 'Building A Home' forum* In a laundry this size, so many times the space is not used as efficiently as it could be. The space available in the laundry room in the revised drawing is deceiving--there is less than 2' between the island counter and the sink counter as drawn--not very feasible--3' should be the minimum with 3.5-4' being ideal. Here are 2 other options to consider. Since you changed the W/D to a stacked set in your drawing, I took the liberty of continuing that theme to give you more counter/hamper/broom closet space. A side note for the pullout hampers you want--we have 3 full counter height double pullout hampers and love them. You will need to make sure you spec 'full counter height', 'double' and 'trash pull-outs' otherwise your cabinet guy will likely order true pull out hampers which are singles or 2 very skinny wire baskets side by side left to right (vs. front to back), with a drawer above that only hold 1-2 changes of clothes. Using the original door placement: Sliding the door down & making it a pocket door (you may need to bump the mudroom entry door from the garage back out flush with the laundry room wall): I really like the original mudroom and think it will look fabulous with the window framed by the cubbies--I'd be very reluctant to change that. It's not often someone has a mudroom they can say looks pretty :-) Hope this helps! This post was edited by mydreamhome on Thu, Apr 25, 13 at 9:52

I don't use FS on sheets, but a few times, actually at least a half dozen times since I got the Duet I wasn't thinking and put it in the dispenser while doing sheets...I noticed..I really noticed..I understand the comment about it sleeping hotter...its just a strange feel to me..almost a sticky feel as if I can't roll over as smoothly, its not that I'm sticking to the sheet but more like my nighty is not flowing over it freely..hard to explain. FS does leave a residue that's the function of it afterall. I think if your used to it you don't notice the residue feel. I don't like the way things feel from FS that being said FS does help with wrinkling, static, and it makes ironing easier which is why professional laundrys use it, it keeps things from rolling or curling up around the edges. A little bit of FS is not a bad thing it can be helpful.

Amy, You are a saint. I hope all the fun the kids had makes up for all the pain and tiredness you had to endure, and I hope you're catching up on your rest. Being too tired to sleep is the worst thing on earth and I get that way a lot during planting season. My dad, having Alzheimer's, hit the acceptance stage early, probably when he was in his early to mid 70s (he lived to be 85). He knew what the AD would do to him as it progressed because it ran through his family like wildfire (one reason we kids are so glad we were adopted and didn't have his family's genetics) and, since he was one of the youngest of 9 kids, he'd witnessed it killing many of his older brothers and sisters. While he was very early in his Alzheimer's Disease, he and my mom did all the right things with DNRs, medical power of attorney given to my oldest sibling with me as the backup if anything happened to him, making their wishes very clear and in writing, etc. I don't think my mom reached acceptance until the last couple of years of her life, and my dad has been gone since 2004. When Daddy was put into hospice care in the last week of his life, then my mom freaked out and wanted to rescind his DNR and medical power of attorney (thankfully she could not reverse his earlier decisions that way because he had suffered long enough). So, from watching her I think I have learned the importance of accepting the inevitable and of knowing when to fight and when to let go. At least I hope I have. I'd never try to prolong the life of a loved one needlessly if they were terminally ill and the quality of their life was extremely poor---I think we do too much of that in this life as it is. I hold my grandmother in my heart, soul and mind as an example of a strong woman who did everything in her power to stay healthy and live a long life but who also was ready to go when the time came. Nancy, Our gardens teach us so much if only we listen to them. My garden has taught me that there's nothing on this earth that grows and invades as relentlessly as bermuda grass. lol. Digging it out and staying on top of it is all that has worked for me. I'm glad you're going 'home' to visit your mom even though I know it also is hard to be away from everything/everyone here for a prolonged period as well. Tim's mom had an atypical case of Lou Gherig's Disease that did not present with the typical symptons and which was, therefore, not diagosed during the three or so years that her health was in a steep decline. Tim's sister, who worked in a field related to the medical industry, was taking her mom to one specialist after another seeing answers, treament and a diagnosis and, quite honestly, wasn't getting anything helpful from them. At one point I remember telling Tim "I think it is Lou Gehrig's Disease" (we were driving someone and I was reading a newspaper article about someone else who had LGD with the same nontypical symptoms as his mom's) and none of them could see it like I could, so my amateur diagnosis was ignored. I think that was because they were so close to their own mother emotionally that they couldn't objectively consider that LGD might be what it was since she did not have the usual symptoms. So, anyhow, when a doctor finally diagnosed her and put her in the hospital, his sisters told him her time was going to be short and that he should fly up and spend time with her while he could. They were talking in terms of months, not days or weeks at that point. He immediately booked a flight for the following week and made arrangements to take time off from work. He was going to fly up on the following Wednesday. He even figured he'd try to go up there for a week here and there over the next few months. The doctors thought she'd last at least another few months but instead she died the night before Tim was scheduled to fly. It was heart-wrenching. He, of course, would have flow up immediately if anyone had said she might not last another week. For all that medical science knows and can do, we still just never know when somebody's time will come. Of all 4 of our parents, my mom was the one who didn't care about trying to be healthy---she didn't eat properly, didn't exercise, etc. My dad and Tim's parents all tried really hard to eat healthy, stay active, etc. So, I guess in one way it is ironic that she outlived them all by well over a decade, but she was a decade younger than them so that may have played a role in it as well. Dawn