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

[Tree Frog]

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.

What about putting the school room in the basement and the laundry upstairs? We had an unfinished basement we put a table in and schooled there. It was great because we could leave out what we were working on and didn't have to clean up each time someone came over. I'd rather have the laundry upstairs.

[ZeeMommy]

When husband built spec house, we put laundry on second floor.  My idea, since most of laundry generated is coming from bedrooms and bathrooms.  Laundry in the house we live in is in the basement, but there really isn't any other place to put the washer and dryer.  Maybe there's a way to put in a laundry chute?

[cjzimmer1]

My parents had a two story house with laundry on the first floor.  Pretty much everyone kept their laundry downstairs and got dressed down there.  It was a pain as a child to carry clothes up the stairs (we threw the dirty ones on the stairs and slid them down so at least bringing them down was fun) and my parents didn't like it either.  And that was on the first floor.  It would have been even worse if the laundry was in the basement.

 

When we built our house it was just DH, I and an infant.  First thing when looking at floor plans, I told the builder to find a way to move the laundry upstairs.  I didn't care if it meant stackables, or putting it in the bathroom, or losing a closet, they had to find room upstairs.  They thought I was nuts but went ahead and got it in the bathroom.  While I wish there was a few more feet in the bathroom, I love having the laundry in there.  First it's super easy to run laundry everyday because I'm already in there (and the dirty hampers sit right outside the door in the hallway), second I can't tell you how many times we have had multiple puking kids in one night.  Such that the machine can't wash as fast as the messes are made.  I can throw extra dirty laundry in the bathtub, until the machine is ready, I don't have to haul that kind of stuff over the floor, down the stairs, etc where something is sure to leak, spill, or otherwise mess something else up.  Plus it's only a few feet from dryer to dresser.  I would never willing live somewhere where I had to traipse the stairs with laundry again.

[AMJ]

When I was growing up on the farm our laundry was in the basement, and I did the laundry for the family.  Now I live where there are no basements (water table too high), and my laundry is a closet.  It's quite close to all of the bedrooms and so does have it's advantages, but I miss having the space for a proper laundry room that isn't a traffic zone.

 

I play with floor plans in Google SketchUp as a mental toy.  My dream laundry is easily as big as the kitchen, and I didn't design a small kitchen (the laundry also has a utility sink and cleaning cabinets, too, though).  If I had a basement, the space on each of the floors, and the money to do so I'd install a dumb waiter and a laundry chute so I didn't have to lug stuff down or up.

 

And I'm currently trying to figure out where to put my "kitchen office" area (book case full of cookbooks, charging station, purse hooks, stowage for laptop, junk drawer, and misc. stuff).  I may spawn more variants of floor plans just playing with built in book cases and the dumb waiter.

 

I hope you figure it out!

 

[Cera]

My kids have been carrying their laundry up to their rooms since 5 or 6 years old.  There is nothing wrong with child labor.

 

Move the laundry room to the basement but keep the plumbing connections in the mud room in case you every change your mind.  

[nevergiveup]

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.

I do.  I certainly expect to be fit enough to do this when I am 80+.  That's one reason I like mine in the basement--forced exercise.

[KatieJ]

I had a two story house with basement laundry.  Two flights down and two flights back up with every load.  I can't say as I hated it, as my sewing machine was in the same space and I usually did laundry when I was sewing.  It was before I was homeschooling and before our family finished growing, not to mention I was younger.  :laugh:

 

I now have main floor laundry and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Carrying it all from end of the house to the other and back is plenty enough carrying it around for me.

 

I am not sure I would love having it upstairs if I had a two story.  I mean, I sleep up there, but I don't hang out up there.  It would eliminate carrying it up and down, but I would have to run up and down to move it from machine to machine. I think having it where you live and work makes the most sense.

JMHO :coolgleamA:

[KungFuPanda]

I dunno. Steps are steps. If you can't have your laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms which other floor it's on doesn't matter much. I dislike doing laundry in our unfinished dungeon, but the main level wouldn't be any more convenient as far as the steps go. I would MUCH rather have a laundry closet up with the bedrooms than the spacious yucky, unfinished basement area I have now. I drag everything upstairs to fold so I don't have to be down there any longer. Your basement sounds much more pleasant.

 

Here is the part where I fantasize about a house where all of the bedrooms back up to a central laundry room and the laundress can just slip clothes into the backs of all the closets without moving very much. Dirty close hampers are also accessible from said magical laundry space.

[southcarolinamom]

My laundry area is in a closed in closet in the kitchen. I love it!  

[sbgrace]

It really sounds like you'll regret not having the desk there. I like the idea of roughing in the plumbing so it can be switched later if needed.

 

Myself? Our laundry here is basement. I miss laundry on my main floor. However, our previous home was one level. you are going up steps with your laundry either way. I don't see a big difference between one and two flights. It is nice to have lots of room in a laundry area.

[DawnM]

If you don't like it, can you move it back or is this something that will have to remain permanent?

[mom@shiloh]

So, let's see if I'm reading this correctly.  If you put the laundry on the main floor, it will be in your mudroom area between the kitchen and garage?  Moving it to the basement means that you'll get your desk, plus more mudroom area?  That would be a tough call for me.  Two houses ago, I had a main floor laundry as part of the mudroom.  I loved the convenience, but didn't necessarily love mixing laundry and muddy boots in the same area.  I also had a desk area in my kitchen in that house and everyone's stuff ended up on my desk.  

 

In my last house, the laundry was in the basement, and it was harder to keep up with it.  Out of sight, out of mind.....   

 

We're building a house also, and the laundry is on the main floor.  I vote for main floor laundry and finding a more out of the way place for your desk.