Do you mean that the wall between the stairs and the laundry room would be knocked out? And what would you do with that space?

In general, I think it's better to have the washer and dryer on that outside wall and the pocket door NOT behind the outside door, just as your smaller plan shows. I can't speak to cost, though.

Yes, knock out the stair wall. We would use that space for baskets/laundry sorting and such. Right now we only have space right in front of the washer and dryer. With the doors to them open, there is only about 16" of space. So not enough room to even have a basket sitting there. We are a family of 8 people. We have a lot of laundry.

I agree about washer and dryer placement and door placement. That's why I changed it once he said I couldn't use the space over the stairs. I figured if I couldn't have the laundry layout I wanted I might as well make some other things better. I didn't take into account the door swing on the washer. I have never had a front loader so it didn't dawn on me that I would be losing space in front of it. Plus these are bigger than we have ever had and I didn't realize how big they were! I'm excited to have a nice washer/dryer set after many years but I would love to have more space for all the laundry. I had envisioned having a basket for each load type, lights, darks and such, in the room. There's just not space for it.

I guess I am mostly frustrated that it COULD have been a really nice laundry room and now it's just a glorified laundry closet. We could have gotten it done that way with no added cost to the build. So I don't know if it's worth it to change it at this point. But man, the room is small.... I am sure once we move in there it would never get changed. We use the washer and dryer daily. So if we are going to do it I would like to get it done now.

So, how are you certain now that you could have floored that space over the stairs? How would you place a floor, what would hold it up? With a big family, yes you need the space!

If you can place a floor, how about: use it as the pantry, open to the dining/kitchen side, maybe even with a door through to the laundry. Then take over some of the pantry space and closet space. I just love spending other people's money.

and, I want to add that I like your plan. There's a lot to be said for a nice traditional ranch.

The reason he gave for not being able to do it was that there wouldn't be enough head room going down the stairs. My husband is 6'3" and there is PLENTY of room. There is enough room to use up 4' from the back wall of the house and I was only asking for 3' to be on the safe side.

Thanks! I like it for the most part. Would love a wider living room instead of so long and narrow. I am in love with my kitchen though!

Have you gotten an estimate to see how much this would cost? It may not be worth it.

We have a small laundry "room" (more like a closet). I wish it was bigger, but we maximized the space we have in there. Can you stack your washer/dryer?

No we haven't gotten an estimate yet. I'm betting it's more than my dh realizes. Just ticks me off....sigh.

I don't know if they are stackable or not. I don't really want to. I'm not very tall. But that would give more space.

Just because your husband thinks there's plenty of room for him, doesn't mean it meets code. Is there the required 6'-8" of headroom?

Yes, for sure 6'8" if we only use 3' of space. I think it's even 6'8" using 4' of space.

HI Tammy,

Would you mind updating your post on the kitchen with the final resolution and some pics. Happy for you the issues were resolved.

I don't consider it crazy.. then again I am hoping to demo the new kitchen/bath cabinets and counters to reinstall the first available date the installer has after we get the CO...

mom of 6 laundry makeover

this video may give you some ideas for making the best of a small space.

I am going to stack my front loaders btw so that I can have extra space. With a family of 8, I don't think I would have time to sort anythings... the color catcher sheets for the wash are awesome.

Make sure you check your building codes for the min clearance for the stairs.

I would want to make use of that space above the stairs, a sliding barn style door would be easy to install and then you could have a huge cubby area even if its for just the sams club size rolls of paper towels/TP. We are looking at using some ikea cabinets for areas like this.

If you decide to stick with the current layout, I would consider stacking the washer/dryer. It is not ideal, but it does create more space for baskets and such. I am short, and stacking the dryer was a pain at a first because I couldn't really see the dryer dials very well, but it got much easier once I learned my machine. The downside: sometimes I can't reach a sock sitting in the back of the dryer. And my biggest complaint about them stacked, is that my kids can't really do their own laundry completely on their own. They should be tall enough when they are closer to adult height, so I just deal with it for now.

But the upside is a lot more space. I have a large wood table in my laundry room, where the dryer used to be (running along the entire wall perpendicular to the w/d). We have cabinets above, and a wall drying rack on the other wall opposite the washer/dryer. I can fit 3 baskets under the table, and another 3 on top of the table.

I will have to see if they are stackable. Would it say in the specs somewhere? Afa the kitchen goes...they still aren't finished! We finally got them to order what is needed from the cabinet company and he is having his guy do the finish work because we told him the house company crew isn't allowed back without our permission. I plan to post here with pictures and a big thank you once we are complete.

Yes they are stackable. CLC how tall are you? I'm 5'3". My kids help so stacking would leave just the oldest two able right now.

I'm just a little shorter than you, Miss Tammy, and I have a folding step stool that basically goes all over the house with me, lol. The kiddos use it, too. I would definitely do a stacked washer/dryer in your situation, 'cause dang Girlie, we have a ton of kids, and families like ours need that laundry space! :-D

Here is another idea that might be helpful, the dryer would be lower than stacking.

( ikea drawers on the bottom, a built in really solid wood frame to sit the machines on, reuse the counter top material from the kitchen demo )

I am 5'2"

Tammy - Similar to Sunny's idea, obviously her pic has useable cabinet space below, but what if you built out a 'counter' the entire length of the laundry room? Essentially your "addition over the stairs" would not have the same floor level to allow for head room, it could be about 2' up (that's a guess since I don't know your exact riser height) so your W/D could be raised such as in Sunny's pic, you just won't have cabinets below. Or you could leave w/d as is and use the space over the stairs like an folding counter/laundry basket storage etc. You could drop it down as the stairs went down if you want to gain the extra space.

Hopefully you followed my rambling thought, if not I can sketch something up.

Lovely ideas! I think I have convinced dh to leave things as they are. I would much rather spend the money on an attached garage. Still trying to figure out how to make the most of the space. Was thinking of putting the sorting baskets on top of the machines. Does anyone know if it's a bad idea to cover them? The pic sunny side posted looks nice and the top is covered. My dh is concerned about there being enough air circulation and being able to clean around them