Moving laundry to basement will give me a butler pantry-ish beautiful desk space

[momee]

We're building a house and if I move the washer and dryer out of the "public" mudroom which adjoins the garage I can have a beautiful kitchen desk under a picture window.

 

Trouble is I'm caring for 2 elderly in-laws and currently have 3 kids.  Will traipsing from the second floor to the basement for laundry chores become a mistake I dread daily?

 

If I move it down, I will have an actual laundry room with room for a drop down ironing board.  If I keep it up, I lose the desk.

[Luckymama]

Would you actually use the desk space as a desk or would it become a dumping ground between the garage and house (for mail, keys, things to return, bags, gloves, etc)?

[displace]

That's a tough one, but with 7 in the family and two flights of stairs? IDK if I would do it. I always had trouble with just one flight to the basement. No way would I go two floors if I could avoid it.

[Jackie]

I've had a basement laundry room. Though I prefer my current laundry closet arrangement, if my choice is between a good work area and a convenient laundry area, the laundry would be back in the basement.

 

Especially if that let me have enough room for sorting, folding, a drying rack, and an ironing board. You know, if I actually ironed anything.

[kewb]

If I was building a house I would move the laundry room to the same floor as the bedrooms. I hate going from the 2nd floor to the basement laundry room.

[fairfarmhand]

I'm not reading this because I am JEALOUS of you.

That's how small I am.

 

Just kidding.

 

If I could have the desk space as ONLY my space and nobody else was allowed to use it, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

Is there a way to install a laundry chute so you don't have to haul laundry down the stairs?

[Spryte]

I have a laundry room in the basement.  It didn't seem like a big deal when we bought this house, but I would change it now in a heartbeat.  No one wants to carry their laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs, not on a daily basis.  It will become a chore, eventually.

 

When you are sick, when the family has the stomach flu, when you are doing everyone's laundry, when you are just tired... It will get harder and harder.

 

In my case, we moved in and I developed chronic health issues.  Maybe my response is colored by that, but honestly, you can't know what's in the future.

 

FWIW, the people who built our house had the option of putting the W/D in the space that is my desk.  :)  They opted for the basement, and I lament this daily!  I would so much prefer to have convenient laundry, and a different desk option.

 

All that said, I would understand if you opted for the desk and the picture window.  :)

[nevergiveup]

I prefer mine in the basement.

 

Some of my kids' clothes REEK and it is less obvious down there.

I always have piles of dirty clothes and this keeps the unsightly mess out of view.

If the washer ever leaks, it won't damage anything.

Keeps me in shape going up and down stairs.

 

I have a desk near my kitchen and wouldn't change it.  I like having a laptop nearby my cooking area in case I  need to look something up.

[Anne in CA]

I had my pantry with most of my food storage in the basement, and while it was a pain, my kids got some needed exercise going up and down the stairs. Also, to have room to lay out laundry and iron it and fold t neatly right out of the dryer would be awesome. I have never had room to fold my laundry out of the dryer. 

 

It would be nice to have some space to yourself. Caring for so many people you deserve some.

[Sarah CB]

When we moved into our home we moved the laundry from the second floor (where it had a lake view!) to the basement.  I haven't even given the move a second thought.  I don't find it a big inconvenience to do the laundry in the basement and then bring it up.  Plus, I like having more room.  I had a big, long table with six laundry baskets on it - one for each person's clothes.  When a load was finished I would just fold up the laundry and put it in the appropriate basket and when the basket was full it would go to the appropriate room.

[LibraryLover]

Hate laundry in the basement. Best set up ever was a stacked w/d behind closed doors in the kitchen. I had a rack to hang items to dry, and room for tall baskets. Deep enough so you could shove an overload in there and close the doors.

 

Can you have it all in a new home? Space for food and you, and ease of w/d?

[momee]

I just love every response here.  You all "get" me!!

 

Sigh...so many choices in building the house but oh yes, I am amazingly grateful that we will have it.

 

I don't know anything other than what I've had which is the top of the washer/dryer and two shelves over them.  The current laundry is a closet in the MIDDLE of my living space which means...smells, sound and sights (teenaged bras are not! fun to see hanging in plain sight) are there for everyone to check out if I mistakenly leave the doors open so things dry faster.

 

The new house is back quite a bit from the street, the picture window in the mudroom will look right onto the front porch and as I said, be in the major traffic flow from garage to kitchen.  I have a feeling the males won't want to be seeing bras on their way to fix the mower, lol.

 

The basement will have plenty of light and eventually house the TV room which will be the main teen/kid hangout.  If the washer is there...all the more reason for them to take responsibility for laundry, right ;)

[Plateau Mama]

If I was building a house I would move the laundry room to the same floor as the bedrooms. I hate going from the 2nd floor to the basement laundry room.

Mine is on upstairs with the bedrooms. I LOVE IT! If I can help it I will never do it any differently.

 

If that weren't an option I wouldn't put it in the basement. No way would my laundry ever get done if I had to go up and down two flights of stairs all day. Although I might be in pretty good shape. ;-)

[momee]

I WISH I could have worked out a laundry chute but it just isn't practical.

[momee]

Space on the third floor is at a minimum.  I'm sacrificing laundry room up there so we can have a landing to do school.  No more school room for us - which is fine -but I need somewhere for the children to work besides the kitchen table and bedrooms.

 

This is exactly the question that only time will tell...

"Would you actually use the desk space as a desk or would it become a dumping ground between the garage and house (for mail, keys, things to return, bags, gloves, etc)? "

 

I am hesitant because I can see it becoming a huge dumping spot for everyone :( but I can also see it as being the perfect desk for a busy mom like myself.  WITH that beautiful window view. 

Hmmmm.

[TranquilMind]

We're building a house and if I move the washer and dryer out of the "public" mudroom which adjoins the garage I can have a beautiful kitchen desk under a picture window.

 

Trouble is I'm caring for 2 elderly in-laws and currently have 3 kids.  Will traipsing from the second floor to the basement for laundry chores become a mistake I dread daily?

 

If I move it down, I will have an actual laundry room with room for a drop down ironing board.  If I keep it up, I lose the desk.

Don't do it.  It is not a wise move from a real estate sales perspective.  No one wants a basement laundry area. You will be limited to young families only. No one older than 35 wants to traipse up and down stairs dozens of times a day for laundry, if it can be avoided. 

 

Lose the desk instead.  Create a desk space in your or another room.  Don't move the laundry from the desirable first floor to the basement. 

[momee]

Great point, Tranquilmind.  I know it but I want to ignore it...

[MistiDelaney]

Hmmm, I had the W/D behind a folding door in the kitchen in one home.  I hated it. (I am well over 50!)

 

It was noisy, the living area was filled with the smells involved, and when the washer died and just kept filling and filling, it made a mess of the floors and soaked through the baseboard in the closet across from it.  What a disaster!

 

I much prefer to go down to the basement once or twice per day.  (An IKEA bag instead of a basket makes that a less precarious process.)

[momee]

Keep the thoughts coming, they are extremely helpful.  Maybe I should post about my kitchen cabinet choices too, lol.

[PrairieSong]

I had a one-level house with a basement, laundry in the basement, and a chute. The chute was handy but then we moved to our current house with the laundry next to the kitchen and I love it! I would not want to go back. My SIL has her laundry on the second floor where the bedrooms are. Do you have space to do that?

[PrairieSong]

Keep the thoughts coming, they are extremely helpful. Maybe I should post about my kitchen cabinet choices too, lol.

Yes, we would be happy to help!

[hornblower]

I'm used to living in a condo & having the w/d right beside the kitchen - you can buy really quiet appliances & soundproof the pocket door so that it's not a total pita.

That said, when we moved into our house, the 1st reno thing we did was move the w/d from the main floor into the basement. Partly because we needed the space but also because we both said: anything that adds stair walking into a daily routine is a GOOD thing. It's a free bonus mini workout to go up & down the stairs. I run several loads of laundry a day & my pantry overflow, as well as the dogs' freezer are down there so I'm going up & down a fair bit.  Good for the thighs & butt :)

[magnificent_baby]

I would never, ever give up main floor laundry AND in a mud room AND room to iron for a desk area. But that's just me.  :D You can put a desk in other places, but walking up and down two (?) flights of stairs would be a pain. I've done it. Even though my laundry room is teeny tiny, I'm very grateful it's off the kitchen. 

[bolt.]

I'm ok with my laundry in the basement. It's our TV/play area, so we're down there often enough that it's not usually "only" going down for laundry.

 

Stairs are great for getting more fitness into daily life (a goal of mine).

 

There is a mud-room closet area that was "supposed to be" for a main floor laundry option. In my opinion, if I ever really want my laundry there, what stops me from having it moved there? There is enough space, and a plumber can make it work as easily "later" as "now" -- a cost if I want it changed, but no big deal to me if I find myself not coping well in my later years.

[Ali in OR]

I would opt for convenient laundry and find a spot for a desk elsewhere. Many hours per week are somehow associated with laundry. My desk in our bedroom is a dumping ground and I never really have time to sit there and do anything. Convenient laundry makes far more difference to my happiness level than a desk I don't have time to enjoy. We have a single level; it's very easy to pop another load in the laundry and I can hear when the cycle is done. The laundry room is near the kids' rooms, down the hall from the kitchen/great room--the noise doesn't really disturb the rest of the house, especially if I close the pocket door to the laundry room.

[AK_Mom4]

Sorry no. I have had both the basement laundry and the main floor laundry. Main floor trumps everything when you have small children and elders to care for. And if this is your "forever" house you are building, do you really want to be hauling laundry up and down when you are 80 years old?

 

Sorry. I want the private desk too. Maybe Some Day, sigh.

[Trilliums]

I think this would depend mostly on the arrangement of the rest of the main floor.  If that desk space was needed, I would out the WD in the basement.

 

Do you have other places on the main floor where you can put in a small desk/command center?  This is something I currently lack in my home on the main living area and I really miss having a central area with calendar, bills, etc.  We have a separate office but it is a bit out of the way and I have gotten into the habit of stacking up mail and "dealing with it later" and waiting until the stack becomes a messy heap before I deal with it.

 

I would not like having a basement WD but here it is very common (midwest).

[Carol in Cal.]

It's the space aspect in the basement that seals it for me.  I'd go with the basement.

I used to have a small home with a great laundry room, a drip dry rack that unfolded from the wall, a built in, sturdy ironing board, and room to fold clothes.

Then I moved into a larger home with a terrible laundry 'nook' off the kitchen that also forms the hallway to the basement stairs.  No place to hang wet clothes, no place to fold, only a portable ironing board to use in the kitchen.  I hate this, it ticks me off to this day.

 

Having a functional work area for laundry is really really nice.

 

Having said that, I would also install plumbing to allow you to have laundry facilities up in the mud room later in life in case you need it.  Stairs can become difficult in elderly years, and having that option easily available would just be good sense.

 

[Pawz4me]

And if this is your "forever" house you are building, do you really want to be hauling laundry up and down when you are 80 years old?

 

This is the question running through my brain, too.

 

It's not that much of an issue one way or another when you're young(ish).  But I've known so many seniors who've had to remodel their homes to bring the w/d up from the basement.  If this is going to be your forever home, if you decide to put them in the basement I'd see if it's possible to go ahead and have the mud room wired and plumbed so it would be easy to move them up if/when the need arises.

[LMV]

In our main home, our main laundry room is on the second floor where the majority [and those occupied by usual residents of the house] of the bedrooms are. We also have a smaller laundry room on the main floor which is mostly used for towels, table linens, etc.  As a result I do very little laundry lugging and I'm a fan of that.  

 

In one of our vacation homes the laundry room is on the main floor but it was there when we bought the house so we have dealt with it.  The vacation home that we designed and built has a laundry room on the second floor where the bedrooms are. 

 

Is there somewhere else you could put a desk or create a little "office nook"?

[Trilliums]

This is the question running through my brain, too.

 

It's not that much of an issue one way or another when you're young(ish).  But I've known so many seniors who've had to remodel their homes to bring the w/d up from the basement.  If this is going to be your forever home, if you decide to put them in the basement I'd see if it's possible to go ahead and have the mud room wired and plumbed so it would be easy to move them up if/when the need arises.

 

 

This would be good planning!

 

When our empty nester neighbors moved in across the street they moved the WD upstairs to an unused bedroom.  If you can plan now for a future location of the WD I think that would be a good compromise.  Have a desk now in the main floor but have plans later to move the WD up either to main floor or even second floor.  If you have teens at home now, they can do a lot of the laundry hauling.

[mamaraby]

Basement laundry room here and over 35 - I don't mind it. As for "no one wants a basement laundry room" - meh. Yes, it's down a flight of stairs. Yes I have to go up and down the stairs several times a day, but I already do that. My desk is in the basement as is my sewing machine and all of our homeschooling stuff. It wasn't a deal breaker for me.

 

My grandmother had a basement laundry room that she used until the Alzheimer's made it so she couldn't care for herself.

[momee]

"give up main floor laundry AND in a mud room AND room to iron for a desk area"

 

this isn't correct.  I would be giving up main floor laundry SO THAT :) I could have the mud room back, and room in the laundry room in the basement for room to iron and even sew if I wanted to.

I know what you mean...just clarifying for others.

 

I am planning to rough in but not utilize the main floor mudroom for a stackable washer/dryer if we ever need one as we age (we're in trouble if we can't do stairs though, this house has two sets).

Elderly MIL says go for it.  She knows I want/need a control center and she (at 84 is willing to go up/down stairs for me to have it) as well as stating that if time comes (it is actually time she just doesn't want to admit it) that she can't go up/down stairs for laundry I'll be doing it all for her so it is my choice.  See why I love her so?  Such a sweet spirit.
 

Our house ideally is set up for multigenerational family usage.  If time comes for resale the group moving in here is going to have more than 4/5 residents and a laundry room is going to more valuable than first floor laundry, in my opinion.

 

I reserve the right to change everything I just said though :)

[momee]

"I'd enjoy that desk for AGES!"

 

Ikr??!!

[AHASRADA]

I have had both, some houses with laundry near the bedrooms, and others with basement laundry. It really doesn't make that much difference. I actually prefer having a reason to go up and down flights of stairs carrying heavy loads. It's best to work as much "functional fitness" into the day as possible.

 

It sounds like you are considering this option, not only to have your desk, but for many other reasons, such as asthetics, keeping laundry out of the main traffic area, etc. I would therefore go with the basement laundry, but with a viable main floor option, either for resale or disability. You could even go so far as to have the hook ups installed in the alternate location to make the move easier if/when it becomes desirable.

[SproutMamaK]

If it gets too tiring to run laundry up and down the stairs all the time, just have the kids do it. Goodness knows with 3 kids and 2 senoirs living with you they should be willing to help out with something as minor as that. I would take the opportunity and enjoy having a lovely, peaceful spot for yourself.

[momee]

"If I could have the desk space as ONLY my space and nobody else was allowed to use it, I would do it in a heartbeat."

 

Sooo...how "mean mom" can I be about this??  I mean the inlaws agree their stuff will go straight to their domain but dh and dks will love the landing spot.  We will have a foyer but really, kids never use the front door they always use the garage right?

 

I seriously don't know because I have NEVER had a garage.  This is sooo exciting to even be asking these questions :)

[Moxie]

I have a beautiful laundry room but, if I were to ever win the lottery, I'm moving that sucker out of the basement! Laundry was so much easier in the old house when the laundry room was right off the kitchen. I'd put a nice desk somewhere else and keep the main floor laundry room.

[momee]

And here folks is my well worded decision...thanks ever so much for talking to me about it.  Now get thyself over the my countertop question and help me with that one :)

 

"asthetics, keeping laundry out of the main traffic area, etc. I would therefore go with the basement laundry, but with a viable main floor option, either for resale or disability. You could even go so far as to have the hook ups installed in the alternate location to make the move easier if/when it becomes desirable. "

from above post by Ahasrada

 

Builder willing to add additional hookups in mudroom for adding appliances at a later time and has agreed to enlarge the space in basement for a real laundry room.  Yippppeeee!  Thanks, ladies.

 

Will post a picture one day of the view from that pretty desk.  I'm already dreaming of decor..something old fashioned and ageless, like a great great grandmother would have had but that will look great 20 years from now.

Feel free to post design ideas - haha.

[momee]

Sigh.  Moxie!!  I was almost convinced!   :lol:

[aggieamy]

What a timely discussion.  DH and I are buying a house and the laundry room is right off the kitchen/garage area.   It's a traditional two story with a big walk in closet in the upstairs master bedroom.  Probably much like your house.   We are moving the laundry room upstairs to the walk in closet and making the downstairs room a butler's pantry.  Most of the wash comes/goes to the bedrooms.  It is the most logical place for it in the house and I would happily lose closet space to have it conveniently located.  I'm not worried about smells because it's on the far end of the bedroom and if I had something that stinky to wash I would throw it immediately in the washer anyway and get a load going.  I'm pretty excited to have upstairs laundry ... we've always had it in the basement and I haven't hated it but I wouldn't voluntarily put it there either.  It's very easy to forget you have a load going ... 

 

*oops*

 

I have to go switch laundry now.  

 

:tongue_smilie:

[aggieamy]

If I was building a house I would move the laundry room to the same floor as the bedrooms. I hate going from the 2nd floor to the basement laundry room.

 

Everyone I know with a desk in the kitchen doesn't use it.  Our realtor said they aren't even putting them into the new houses anymore because it's such a silly unusable space.  If I wasn't going to make my area into a butler's pantry I would put a bench and hooks in it and use it as a mudroom.  

[rjand6more]

I love my basement laundry room.  I can sort dirty laundry down there.  Where do people even DO that when they have a laundry closet or a mud room/laundry room??  We are looking at house plans now.  If the house has an entry way open to the laundry, it is a NO GO.  We rarely get all the laundry done in one day.  It may sit sorted waiting for a couple days.  

[momee]

I do in all honesty use my desk each and every day.  Right now it is upstairs off our master bedroom.  I am NOT going to have a desk in my master (love shack only in there, haha) and would seriously be battling papers everywhere in the new house without one.  There is not a space to keep even bills in the new place as designed right now.

 

I do meal planning, bill paying, letter writing, bible study, family photo stuff, project planning (the building of the house is my current project but I have ideas for others), homeschool work, and beginning a wedding planning business, etc.

 

I also want to do garden journaling and planning as I look out my beautiful window at the garden beds that will hopefully be blooming next year :)  Sounds like a dream.

http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Thomas-Jeffersons-Monticello-garden.jpg

 

Now my house won't have quite the view that this beautiful space Jefferson had to journal in but this is my inspiration for it all.  I just know if I don't plan it now I'll never have it.  If it means trucking laundry up stairs, I'm willing to take the chance...

 

Remind me of this when I'm whining in two/three years about the mountains of laundry I'm hiking up stairs and thinking I've made a terrible mistake...

[SproutMamaK]

Sooo...how "mean mom" can I be about this??  I mean the inlaws agree their stuff will go straight to their domain but dh and dks will love the landing spot.  We will have a foyer but really, kids never use the front door they always use the garage right?

 

They'll probably use the garage. And you can be a little mean mom about this. This is your organizational space. You've got papers, bills, etc, to work with here. Cluttering it up with random stuff is not an option. Since it will probably end up as a landing space for keys, at least, you may want to put a small basket on the corner of the desk as a designated space for that type of little stuff, so they have somewhere to put it and you don't have to feel like it's cluttering up your area.

[fairfarmhand]

"If I could have the desk space as ONLY my space and nobody else was allowed to use it, I would do it in a heartbeat."

 

Sooo...how "mean mom" can I be about this??  I mean the inlaws agree their stuff will go straight to their domain but dh and dks will love the landing spot.  We will have a foyer but really, kids never use the front door they always use the garage right?

 

I seriously don't know because I have NEVER had a garage.  This is sooo exciting to even be asking these questions :)

 

Don't be mean mom.

 

Just have a small basket next to YOUR desk. When you find odd items toss them in the basket. They will learn that having to dig for their junk is more annoying than just putting stuff away in the first place.

 

At least that's what I would do.

 

My dh throws anything on his desk that doesn't belong to him in the middle of the floor. :)

[goldberry]

I used to have laundry on the main level and laundry was my favorite chore.  When we moved to this house with laundry in basement, I began to hate it.  I let it pile up miserably because I can't stand going down there and then hauling everything.

 

We are looking for a new house right now, and everyone I see with laundry on the main level, I sigh over. And we are a family of three with comparatively little laundry.  I vote laundry main floor, especially with that many people.

[goldberry]

 we've always had it in the basement and I haven't hated it but I wouldn't voluntarily put it there either.  It's very easy to forget you have a load going ... 

 

 

 

I have forgotten so many loads I now come directly upstairs and set a time to match the washer/dryer time. 

[VeritasMama]

If we build, I am going to put the laundry room on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms. This means moving one of the kid's rooms to the basement, I'm fine with that.

 

I've had basement laundry andain floor laundry. I prefer main floor, but I see the appeal of a large mud room without any laundry in it.

[kiwik]

My first thought is you would have to carry the laundry downstairs to hang it out anyway - but maybe not. I have never seen a laundry upstairs but then the majority of houses here are single story. I moved my laundry from the kitchen to the garage next to it as I had two kids in nappies when I moved in. I quite like laundries in bathrooms though.