Main Floor Laundry

[SuzySunshine]

Do you have a main floor laundry? Is it really the be all, end all that everyone says it is? Our realtor kept telling us when we were looking at houses that we needed a house with one but alas that is not what we ended up with.

I had a brainstorm yesterday to put a stacked W/D where my desk is now, which was going to be the mud entry and move the mud entry where the pantry is now and move the pantry into the actual kitchen. My laundry is now in the unfinished part of the basement and has a laundry chute. So my thoughts were I'd get more storage in the basement, wouldn't have to go in the basement as much and it would be a selling point someday...

But if its small will it really? There is enough room for the washer dryer and then about 2 feet of shelves/countertop and then I'd want to close it off with a door that would match the rest of the pantry/cabinets...When that door is open it would block either the exit to the garage or the mud room space depending on which way it opens. I assume the doors don't have to be open to run them?

2nd is the laundry chute, the laundry chute currently goes through the kitchen on its way to the basement, could you cut that chute off and put a basket in a cabinet to catch the laundry from upstairs? Yes, I'd be losing more cabinet space but I'm gaining a considerable amount of cabinet space by adding the dead space off of the kitchen to the new kitchen...

This may be hard to visualize if you haven't seen my kitchen, hopefully I'll have design plans soon...

Am I crazy?

[GrayMatterWife]

I would HATE to have a first floor laundry. We have a laundry room on the second floor, where the bedrooms are (and, conveniently, where the dirty clothes are). Why would I want to drag the clothes downstairs to wash then upstairs to put away?

[Vanquisher]

Most of our bedrooms are on the main floor, and so I live having my laundry there too. Most of our square footage is on one floor. It really depends how your house is laid out.

[OrionGrad]

We have basement laundry, and I HATE it. First floor laundry would definitely be a selling point if someone like me was buying your house, but only as long as there was adequate storage nearby and a little space for folding, etc.

[Pollyanna]

I would HATE to have a first floor laundry. We have a laundry room on the second floor, where the bedrooms are (and, conveniently, where the dirty clothes are). Why would I want to drag the clothes downstairs to wash then upstairs to put away?

Yes, our house in AZ had a laundry room upstairs with all the rooms, so convenient.

I don't know, what you are describing sounds like it would be a fine secondary laundry but not an actual room where you'd have space. I'd put that money in your kitchen remodel.

[SuzySunshine]

All of our bedrooms are on the 2nd floor, the laundry room is in the basement. I don't think we could put the laundry room on the 2nd floor, we could have if we had designed the massive master bath we have now but they didn't do that when they designed it. But maybe thinking about that is a better solution...

[Sheherezade]

We have a main floor laundry with stackables in a closet just as you describe. Although it's not perfect, it's better for us than a basement laundry. If I'm honest, we thought about moving it upstairs in our recent remodel but didn't because we like to fold in front of the TV. Also, we have kids bedrooms on one floor and ours on the other side of the house accessed by a different staircase. So, nothing would ever be perfect. Except two laundry rooms. Or a maid. Or disposable clothing.

I'd kill for a laundry Shute.

[SuzySunshine]

I'd kill for a laundry Shute.

I think laundry chutes should come with laundry elevators! Maybe I should put one of those in instead.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Dumb waiter??

[Pollyanna]

I think laundry chutes should come with laundry elevators! Maybe I should put one of those in instead.

Hmmm, a dumb waiter might not be a bad idea....

[SoonerTexan]

We have a laundry closet off the kitchen. It sucks. All the houses I grew up in had a main floor laundry that was also the entrance to the garage

[HouseofWool]

Oh holy cow, I can only imagine C shoving S into the dumb waiter and leaving her stuck between floors. Actually, it is more likely that S would try to convince C to do it, but since she is smaller...

I can't tell you how much I love the laundry chute, even though the first floor access is in one of my kitchen cupboards (awkward!). In my house, there is simply no room for laundry anywhere other than the basement, unfortunately. But, with a bedroom on the first floor and the kids upstairs, neither one is really ideal either.

[Sheherezade]

We had a laundry chute in our first house; our cat jumped in the open door on the third floor one time. It was slippery inside to make the clothes move easily....and he took a three floor trip down to the basement laundry basket. LOL Good times.

[ides]

We don't have a basement so the laundry is on the first floor. It's off the kitchen in a wide closet, stacked, where I could put a folding table next to it, but haven't. The closet doors close even with the doors a jar. I would love a laundry chute. I do like not having the machines near the bedrooms as I often wash at night and the noise might wake O.

[diggitydot]

Our last house's laundry room was downstairs and I haaaated it. Our new house has one on the main level in a room between the garage entrance and the kitchen. It's perfect.