In case you missed it, click on the previous post from yesterday for pics on the house demolition!
Here is the utility room. Or laundry room? We still say laundry room, but builders seem to call it utility. Not sure what they are calling them these days.
So, the first change we made was pocket doors.
They will look like the picture above. One for the pantry and one for the laundry room. Sure, they are more expensive (isn't everything, sigh), but it just seems that not having doors swinging in and out and in the way, just having an open space between the hall and the rooms made more sense. The door to the garage is still there, because, well, it's a garage, ha. Both pocket doors will be black, solid core, and 36" wide 8' tall to match the style and color of the regular door to the garage. We also made sure the pocket doors were centered in each space and across from each other for that symmetric look (this plan doesn't reflect that yet).
We also decided to put a drain in the middle of the floor. That's something not a lot of people think about but in the event the washer sprung a leak, it will drain into the floor and not into the other rooms. It'll look much like this, only more in the middle of the room.
Speaking of the floor...
...the flooring in here will be the same tile as in the guest bath. It should look very pretty. We were going to go with a generic all one-color tile, but just because it's a utility room doesn't mean it has to look utilitarian!
The last change was bigger. In the original plan, there was a 'freezer space' in the pantry. Food storage is very important to us, so we wanted to keep space for a separate freezer but we wanted our pantry to be all pantry without eating up space with a freezer. We decided to have them move the freezer space from the pantry and into the laundry room.
This necessitated the last change. With a standard side-by-side washer/dryer, the freezer spot would have been on the opposite wall...it would have been crowded.
At our apartment for years now, we've had a nice (supplied by the apartment) stack washer/dryer. In fact, here is a photo of ours now. We love a stack unit and realized that if we do that here, we can put the freezer next to it and, as we've already measured, still have a little space for a cabinet in between.
We also had the freezer and stack unit moved from the side wall to the back wall. That way, when you slide open the door, it's a straight shot to the back, not only more convenient but probably more aesthetically pleasing when you look at it in the space.
We wished there had been room for a sink in here and there would have been were it not for moving the freezer, but again, an extra freezer was more important. Hey, we will still have our sink in the garage as you saw in the post on the garage tour. It's only a few steps away from the laundry room. In the end, we still get the stand-alone freezer and the utility sink, just not in the same space, ha.
So that's it. Y'all have seen every room planned in the house except for the kitchen and the pantry. Big plans there, next week, pantry tour!
Pocket doors are so cool.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that they now have laundry machine that will wash your clothes and also dry all in one single unit? They are called; All-in-One Compact Front Load Washer & Ventless Dryer Combo in Graphite Steel with Steam.
One thing I have learned years ago; once I am done using my washing machine; I shut the water faucets off and leave the lid open for the inside of the machine to dry and done away with the black rubber hoses and went to the stainless steel hoses.
By shutting off your hot and cold faucets that go to your machine; if a hose should happen to break, the only water you will get on the floor is the little bit of water that was in the hose.
My neighbor down the road found out the hard way, cause while she was at work all day, she came home to a flooded house all because she didn't think about shutting off the faucets to her washing machine.
? Will you have a space for a fold down hanging rack. Those are really handy. Remove clothes from dryer; put on what needs to hung on hangers and can hang them up right away instead of putting them in clothes basket.
Have a great day and enjoy your evening.
Thanks 4 sharing all your new house teaser updates
Putting a drain in the floor is a great idea. In my house, the washing machine was on the first floor with basement below. One day, I had a water leak. I did not have a drain, but the water ran down the hole where water came to bottom of washer. It worked like a charm. The floor in laundry room was damaged but not wood floors or carpeting. The concrete floor in the basement eventually dried.
ReplyDeleteThe pocket doors will be handy instead of so many doors in the way.
Make sure there is enough room if the next freezer is taller or wider.
It all looks great! Oh, I like the floor, too.
I'd also suggest a fold down table of a good height for both of you so there is a handy place to fold the towels and the clothes that don't go on hangers.
ReplyDeleteWishing y'all well!
Good design decisions.
ReplyDeleteYou will definitely need a table or counter where you can do the folding of sheets and shorts and everything else that gets folded rather then hung up! And, too, you'll need something for hanging up shirts, jeans/slacks, whatever goes on hangers!
ReplyDeleteStill looking forward to that kitchen and pantry!
I was going to mention a sink, but you've got that covered already. Good call on the pocket doors and the floor drain.
ReplyDeleteOne suggestion - before the drywall is up, check if there's anything that can be done to the pocket door framing to allow hanging things on those walls. We have a pocket door to our laundry, and I SO wish I'd thought of that. I'd love to be able to hang the broom & mop holders, but don't think anything that wouldn't stick through to the door would stand up to much movement. Those plastic wall anchors are fine for things that don't get any movement, but even our toilet paper holders are loose on the side that has the plastic anchors.
Very good idea to put in a floor drain as a safeguard. The others had good suggestions about a pull out folding table and a clothes rack. The floor tile is really pretty.
ReplyDelete