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Laundry Room Design Dilemma

need help with designing a new mudroom/laundry/cat’s room.

5 years ago

I’m transitioning my summer bayside house into a year round house. I’m tired of my cats’ litter boxes and laundry appropriating valuable waterview real estate in my upstairs laundry/utility room which is going to be reconfigured to become an office. The first stage of renovation is to make a new mudroom / laundry and coat closet coming off the garage. I’m moving the litter box(es), large front loader washer and dryer downstairs to space I will appropriate from a very large garage. The washer and dryer are front loading and I will remove the pedestals so I can put a counter for folding over it. Help me plan it. Besides these 3 things it will also house a freezer and storage especially beach/pool towels. (I will have more storage in the garage and a new pantry upstairs. So it is not the primary storage area. ) Other storage is required for vacuum, brooms, washing and cleaning products and 40lb cat litter bags. This space will be at the same level as the first floor of the house. The rest of the garage is 3 feet lower and at grade level. Currently under the stairs and near the side door is crawl space where I store pool things and unused tiles and paint from a previous renovation. Part of the area inside the house between the elevator door and the garage door will be appropriated for a small coat closet opening into the house. It is the space in the garage where the kayaks currently stand. As we will be elevating this new mudroom to first floor level we will
Still need a door and steps down to the garage. The side door will have to be removed and replaced by a window. We will need to find a place further along the wall for a new door and probably have to remove one of the outdoor showers to accomplish that. Space under the interior stairs to the right of the interior door will now be accessed from the mudroom. The space is about 20 feet long by 8 feet wide. Close to the house the 8 foot width can’t change but I can add in more space if needed at the far end.. My boyfriend contractor doesn’t want to put the washer and dryer on exterior walls. There is an interior bathroom near the outside door as well as plumbing in the exterior garage wall. Help me plan it and tell me what I’m missing. Note, in the attached plan, the space at the top right of the diagram is no longer part of the garage but is an interior bathroom. The plan does not reflect this.

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Comments (3)

waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Here is a sketch of the space. 20 by 8
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
5 years ago
I’m confused by the drawing. I can’t figure out its relation to the plan shown above.

Also, if the dryer isn’t on an exterior wall how will you deal with venting? It will mean a turn in the vent line which is not optimal.

How tall are you? I’m asking because I recently stayed at a house with a counter over the FL units. They were way too tall for me to use so I ended up taking my stuff to fold on my bed.

I love working on laundry/mud room layouts, looking forward to this.
waverly6 thanked Annette Holbrook(z7a)
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Personally, I would want a door to close off the laundry room from the rest of the house. Next, I would want to access the 1/2 bath without having to enter the laundry room. You might want to use it when guests come or larger groups and I wouldn't want them having to go through the laundry. Absolutely, you need a sink.,,,hand washing, mop buckets, wet towels, etc. I have a huge double sink....one side for dog washing the other for chores. I'd want an area to hang laundry out of the wash. I would also want a lot of counter space for folding, wrapping presents, crafts, etc. Where would you put your ironing board?
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You'd probably want to leave an inch on either side of the pair and an inch between them just to be on the safe side. The standard model they give me on the layout program is 30" wide, so with those dimensions side by side is a no go. With your dimensions and adding the 3" of wiggle room, that would put you right up against the 24" deep countertop running under the windows. So it could be done, but you are pretty much locked in to that size washer and dryer from then on. I like the idea of putting the rack in the pantry style closet--that's what my mom does with hers. Another thought is to do pullout hampers. We are doing 3 sets of them. They are actually tall trash pullouts, but they will allow the kids to go ahead and sort their clothes when they bring them in to the laundry room & I can just load them in the washer. I like the idea of the shelves for the clean clothes baskets too. We did the corner sink and it looks great. We used a single basin stainless undermount large D-shaped sink. You would not believe the space in there and I don't have to worry about it staining or yellowing or cracking like alot of the "laundry sinks" out there. I've attached an 'under construction" pic for you of our countertop & sink. I don't have time right now, but I'll work on some elevations for you with some additional ideas.
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Comments (2)
I think those are great ideas as that's what I was also thinking with what I'd change and do with the plans if we were building that plan. I'm not a fan of the only powder room entrance being in the mudroom, l prefer a more formal power room with the access to it in the common areas. So I like your idea of placing it in the butler's pantry area. Now if a plan is large enough to have two powder rooms such a private one also off the mudroom area I like that too. So the family can come in, wash up..... as they come in the door. Love the locker idea and am adding them in our new build as well. I really like what you have come up with. Good luck :)
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My favorite paint colors are Behr Honey Infusion, Behr Honied White and Behr Yucca White. Honey Infusion is a great yellow based neutral which worked to lighten up a red and brown guest room. Honied white was used after the walls were painted with Killz twice to lighten up a bedroom in med blue and puke green. Yucca White was used on the master bedroom gray headboard wall after it had been Killz.
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waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Annette, thank you for taking the time to answer. Apologies for the very rough sketch. I didn't explain that we will be adding the envisioned left hand wall, sectioning off the new laundry space from the current open garage space. The elevator and space at the bottom of the sketch are in the interior of the house. The door between the elevator and the stairs opens from the foyer into the garage. The closet I have drawn in there, we have now decided will be added to the laundry room and not the foyer. The lines I have drawn in the middle of the left hand wall will be stairs going down to the lower level of the garage. There will be a door there. The sketch I have drawn correlates to the right hand section of the blueprint. The perspective would be the equivalent of the first photograph. The new wall will be placed where the dotted line is in the blue print . Am I making more sense? (or any sense.... ;) )

I agree with you about putting the dryer on the exterior wall. I'm not sure why my contractor boyfriend is so insistent on them not being on an exterior wall.

Were the Fl units you were using in the house on pedestals or without? I feel without the pedestals they will be ok. I'm short: 5'4"

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