Sorry for the hiatus. Moving and working and kids - well it's a bit inconvenient. Hahaha! Appraisal today. Now the only thing left is the health department to check the drain field and water. I hope we have a closing date soon. momtoblondie-*LOVE* my doodle. :) She by the way is having the hardest time out of everyone with all of the house showing/packing/routine changing upheaval. ;) We are not fans of that funny little angle by the front door either. We will be addressing that and the windows when we meet again on Monday. I am still trying to figure out the front laundry closet area with the windows pushed together-it is a struggle. I am also pondering the kitchen layout. The mudroom however, we like. I asked for a place for lockers, a separate closet, a small 'pocket' office and to be able to close the dog in. This is what we got and I do like it: The doorway off to the right by the closet goes outside where we will have a covered porch for grilling and also where we will let the dog in and out. The doorway by the 1/2 bath leads into the kitchen area. The square footage - hmmm. It is about 300 sq foot over what we were hoping for. So we need to look at that. Likely the mudroom is a little big because I don't feel like the actual rooms are too large. But we don't have any 'extra' rooms that I feel we could ditch. We are not including the screened porch (to be finished later) and the basement (also to be finished way later) in our sq. footage 'wants'. It's about 1700 on the main floor and 550 in the upstairs. I also need to having things figured out - this has been driving me nuts. I wouldn't say you are starting to soon but yes I concur it is overwhelming and sanity breaks are needed (chocolate also helps). We didn't think our house would sell so early. Happy it did so we can start this fall BUT the plans aren't ready and so now I feel rushed which is not what I wanted at this stage. :/ I too like watching every size build. It sometimes causes my eyes (dreams) to be larger than our budget but it is exciting to watch nonetheless! I can't wait to watch your build progress as well. When are you hoping to list your home? It kind of sneaks up on you so hang on to your hat! Thank you for your kind words and blessings - right back at you. There are a few kindred police/fire spirits on here. :)

Drains and vent pipe is an issue, as are the fuse boxes you can't block, and that's a nice arrangement in many ways. You can easily triple the storage capacity of that area: With shelving - go all the way to the ceiling with it. The top-most shelf can be deeper than the others if you size it to fit light-weight but large items, like packs of toilet tissue or stockpots. 1 - Install a shallow set of shelves (4 or 6") across the back of the closet, above the tallest adult's shoulder level. Hang a folding step stool below the shelves. Use as pantry 2 - Add shelves above the current sets, so you aren't stacking boxes like the previous owner. That's prime storage space for the things you don't use every day, like huge pots 3 - Find a roll-out cart that can hold at least two laundry baskets and store it between the appliances. That should give you plenty of ideas.

I agree about bifold doors...if not necessarily flimsy, they are awkward to operate and don't fold out of the way enough in many applications. I love your idea of the partially sliding in doors and would pick that solution myself. I don't think you need louvered doors either, they are a pain to keep clean and what kind of ventilation does a washer/dryer need? None. I'm not sure if any of the previous links go to this source, but they have a great selection for what you want, up to 110 lbs: https://www.richelieu.com/us/en/category/sliding-system-solutions/sliding-solutions-for-cabinet-and-furniture-applications/hawa-concepta-series-pivot-and-slide-in-pocket-door-system/1206997?nf_1031396=%281764651%29

I agree with MizLizzie. I think it nice as it is and a nice cabinet to match your pretty floors would be fine. I would remove the remnants of the hinges and touch up the paint in those spots. Barring that, inside mount curtain rod with curtain panels that have grommets for the rod to go through will look sharp. Pick curtain panels that compliment your decor or disappear into the visual field and it can look nicer than you think. I reconfigured my laundry area at great expense several years ago to go back to side by side w/d and the cost to put custom made (odd size) bi-folds back in was not appealing. Plus, bi-folds can experience track failures that render them useless at times and I wasn't thrilled with that either having been in that situation in the past, as well as many people I know. I opted for curtains. Warning, it did instantly visually shrink the room, but I think that had I mounted the curtain rod for inside mount it would have lessened that effect. It appears your set up is in a hallway, so probably not too much of an issue. My laundry area is in a master bathroom. You are kind of in a difficult situation, but I think the right choice of curtains and smart rod placement can at least let you close off the laundry space if you feel that is what you prefer. I have plenty of air circulation when the curtains are closed, so the washer remains a happy machine.