I wish I could be more help but I did just recently get these cute door knob type pulls for my laundry room cabinets. they come in all different finishes and are from Cliffside Industries in PA. www.cliffsideind.com

First, difference between gas and electric dryer are nil in the grand scheme of life. Plus you're not limited to an electric dryer since you have gas there you could run a gas line and electric outlet and have gas. You could put a stackable unit in there and have both. Do some upstairs and some downstairs. That way not lose as much room. You say you don't like doing laundry. Why? If it doesn't include going downstairs or the related, this probably won't force you to enjoy laundry. Maybe you need to do other things? Have kids sorting their stuff? Have kids help with laundry? I would love to have a first floor laundry. It would help me so much. But it doesn't sound like that's the case with you. My thoughts, FWIW: 1-we would lose the shoe and dog feeding area Wouldn't lose it all with the stacked unit. Not sure you'd totally lose it anyway with some modification though. 2-not really any room to separate dirty clothes This could be a bit of an issue but a small wall hanging sorter might take care of it too. Or using hampers. 3-no rod to hang clean clothes as they come out of dryer Fold down rod or rod hung from ceiling? 4-the area would seem cramped "Seem" or "be"? That's two different questions 5-not sure about electric dryer- do they work as good as gas? Yes, as addressed before. We've lived with the current configuration for as long as we've lived here (13 years) Sounds like it works for you, but... BUT--I don't like doing laundry sometimes and I wonder if moving it up from unfinished basement would make it more enjoyable? Again, is it the darkness? The steps? What is it that bothers you? Darkness can be addressed with simple lights. Maybe a fresh coat of paint? A chair and a TV? Also, the clean clothes in the basement often don't make it up to the bedrooms so the kids run downstairs every morning to grab something. Well, if you don't finish laundry down there, it's not likely you'll finish it upstairs unless something else changes. Maybe you need to put shelves/drawers in the basement to store the clothes? Then just go there for your clothes. Or have the kids bring all of it up and put it away rather than one at a time? There's a number of issues here. I don't think a new location will resolve the underlying issues. If it's working, stay with it and work on improving it. Although again a stacked unit might be a possibility. Would you put clothes away if they were on the main floor? Can the dog eat somewhere else? Do you have that many shoes that you need a special room filled with them? Maybe check out some design magazines or something at the library and some organizing ideas. Might be helpful. I know this is an old thread but might still apply. I'm curious what happened.

Our bench is at 18 1/2". Hooks in the side "lockers" are at 40" for the upper hooks. We then added a second side hook on the outer wall of the lockers at about 29". The kids use the lower hook (usually) for their backpacks after they empty them out. Hook directly above it can be used for a hat, scarf, etc.... As you can see from the picture we haven't yet confirmed where our hooks will go in the middle area but if we go with what is shown in blue tape we are looking at 40" for the lower hooks and 50" for the higher ones. Our cubbies above are each 14" high with storage above (9' ceiling). As a side note, when they first built the bench portion it was about 21" or 22" high. For my husband who is 6' it felt fine to sit on. I'm 5' 3" and there was no way I could comfortably sit and put on my shoes so we had them lower it. Hope this helps. Edit: Not sure on cost as it was built by the trim carpenter when he did everything else.

My laundry room is only that; it's not a mud room or utility room. I have lots of shelves - hub built most of them and installed them. There are huge hooks he installed for me to hang clothes on (I hang and fold clothes as I'm taking them out of the dryer). He also installed a nice rod/shelf above the dryer so that I can hang or lay things there to air dry. Other than machines, hooks on the wall, and shelves, I have lots of laundry detergent, a jug of vinegar, a huge jug of fabric softener (one lasts more than a year), a box of OxiClean and Color Catchers for when I combine colors in a load (I don't do that often, but I have a thing about only washing full loads). And a tall kitchen size trash can which seems to stay full - I haven't figured that out yet. Mine is very utilitarian, but it works for me and is in a very handy location.