What are the dimensions of the proposed laundry room? Are you consulting professional designers? (I ask because of your question about doing an island in the master closet which is clearly not wide enough to accommodate an island. At least 11 feet in width is the rule of thumb for doing a small island in a kitchen. Hanging space requires almost as much room as base cabinets require. I.e., 24" is the minimum closet depth vs. base cabinets that are 24" deep + 1.5-2.0" countertop overhang.) How much free space will you have in front of the washer & dryer? 48" is the usually recommended amount of space that is needed to comfortably work in the space. How wide is the door opening? Wide enough to easily get through with loaded baskets of laundry? To move the machines into the rooms. Is there enough space for almost inevitable repairs to be made? I'll echo what others have said; the master closet is large. IMO, a house that has a 'Master Closet' the size of a small bedroom should have more than a cubbyhole for a laundry. Better to have as much info as you can get ahead of a project rather than have regrets after it is done.

"Seniors don't want just a first floor bedroom suite, they want a one floor *house*. Why maintain and pay taxes on a house with stairs to a second floor that may get occasional use? There are some good reasons for having bed and bath on a first floor in a family home, but don't fool yourself that this transforms a family home into one good for Seniors." ^^ This. That being said, it doesn't sound like that is the issue with the OP, first house and all. Honestly, of the two options, I'm not sure which I would choose - I don't like either of them. I think the practical and best choice for resale would be laundry on the second floor with the bedroom/full bath on the first. Maybe you can put a sink in the garage if you envision needing a clean-up area? I toured a home one time that had the laundry in the garage right off the entrance to the house - I realized it wasn't a bad idea (the garage was heated) and for me was preferable to the basement, because, let's face it, as you get older schlepping down basement stairs to do laundry is just as bad as schlepping up to second floor stairs. All the area needed was some drywall to enclose it and it would have been a terrific mud room right off the house. (I wanted to bid on this particular house, but that is another story).

I have laundry in the basement-- have a laundry chute direct to the laundry. I have never wanted a laundry on the second floor but have wished that I had it on the main floor sometimes. Advantage to basement--usually have a lot of room (I don't). We can get really dirty sometimes, with gardening and landscaping projects. Can shuck the dirties in the garage or back entryway and drop down the laundry chute there (or in a bucket in the garage)...vs having to deal with them upstairs (where we have carpet). I wash clothes once a week. Smelly dirty laundry is in the basement; not stinking up the bedrooms. I have a clothesline strung in the unfinished part of the basement for drying rugs, mattress pads, sheets, jeans, etc. during the winter/ rainy days. As well as drip dry items that don't go in the dryer. The clothes line is also handy for hanging wet or damp dirty items to dry (like bath towels & kitchen towels) before they go into the dirty clothes hamper. I fold & sort items as I unload the dryer. Towel stack to the linen closet, DS's clothes in one stack, etc. Usually cart the basket to the main floor and someone else will haul it on upstairs. Have had three laundries that were in enclosed back porches and one just adjacent to the garage when I lived in the south. That arrangement worked really good and would be my preferred location for a laundry. Would not want W/D in a closet if it can be avoided. I use my laundry sink a lot as well as having the washer drain hose empty into the sink. (With a lint sock to keep lint and dog hair out of the sewer line--septic leach field if that's your situation.) You adapt to wherever the laundry is. Pros & cons to wherever it is. Main thing is that a home laundry beats the heck out of having to go to the laundromat! We've probably all had to do that at some time in our lives.

I have never made this comment before here: I think you need a talented kitchen designer to get eyes in there to make this the best it can be. Cost and maximized space use is something an expert can help with. I think the biggest issue with that half of the house is the sense of going from that spacious foyer into an immediately confining, constricting, cramped-feeling space that is the kitchen. A person has to get past that to get to another open feeling space. I just do not think the front part of your current plan does justice to the rest of your home based on the paper measurements. This is where experienced “eyes” and knowledge can help you. Is this concrete slab or crawl space/basement construction? I am asking because of the plumbing being installed. If you can redo plumbing, the current kitchen could be turned into a small living room and maybe the opening from the entry widened (adding the current mud room makes it bigger?) You could then have the remaining space to configure for the kitchen, dining (and maybe mud room entrance). Do you want a dining table or is island/peninsula seating adequate? Do you need to consider entertaining as you design your space?