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Our house is small, so the laundry room is really more of a "nook" off the kitchen that also houses the furnace and water heater. Luckily there is room for a full size side by side washer and dryer. I hate stackables with a passion. I would love it if we had an actual utility room with space for folding laundry and storing baskets. I would also love to be able to keep the litter box and dog, cat and bird food and supplies in there. A large sink where we could bathe animals would also be wonderful. However, the house just isn't big enough for all that. I will find a way to survive and be a little creative. Lol
Ding , Ding , Ding this one gets my vote ...I agree I would love the set up this poster describes ...but sadly I have yet to find a house that has this in our price range . I m sure I will find a house that I can do this with but it might take me a few years .
These responses are tremendous and it is so interesting to see how different our facilities all are. My cynical side says the reason most laundry rooms/spaces/closets are so pitiful is that throughout history, laundry has been thought of as woman's work, so who cares? But more recently (last 10 or so years?), with so many single person households, and with family members all taking responsibility for chores, even the male gender is involved. It is also interesting to see how even a small improvement over what was in our previous home is so welcome. This means to me we that as a group, we are hungry for a change.
I also appreciate the fact that square footage in a house is valuable. But if you take 6 inches off a lot of the rooms and add it together there is plenty to give us elbow room for this necessary part of our lives.
These responses are tremendous and it is so interesting to see how different our facilities all are. My cynical side says the reason most laundry rooms/spaces/closets are so pitiful is that throughout history, laundry has been thought of as woman's work, so who cares? But more recently (last 10 or so years?), with so many single person households, and with family members all taking responsibility for chores, even the male gender is involved. It is also interesting to see how even a small improvement over what was in our previous home is so welcome. This means to me we that as a group, we are hungry for a change.
I also appreciate the fact that square footage in a house is valuable. But if you take 6 inches off a lot of the rooms and add it together there is plenty to give us elbow room for this necessary part of our lives.
I'm sure that's a factor, as is the fact that more women work outside the home, and need to be able to maximize their time at home. I personally would not have bought a house without the laundry on the bedroom floor because it's common for me to put a load of wash in at night, then throw it in the dryer in the morning when I first get up. It dries as I am showering and getting dressed, and then I fold and put away before I ever go downstairs. If all of that involved multiple trips up and down to the basement, it would be a lot less feasible.
Right now, you're probably thinking "Garage is such a stupid answer, why would he say that? A garage is obviously for cars and lawnmowers, tools, shovels, and outdoor equipment."
Exactly. Look how many people have garages that is filled with none of that.
I once had a house back in the dark ages where the washer & dryer were in the garage.
Many things in home design are done the way they are because that is the way it has always been done!
Like they have one electrical outlet every 6 feet... Well we have computers now which may need 6 plug-in's at one location! Same for where TV/stereo goes not to mention kitchen counters and appliances. But still just one outlet every 6 feet!
Also bath/shower knobs and shower heads were low because they were mounted on claw foot bathtubs - nothing sturdy to mount them on. Now these are installed IN WALLS! The knobs and the shower head can be higher. If higher, a person in the bath can reach up a bit to turn the water on, and less bending to reach the knobs if taking a shower. No bending to be under the shower head.
Architects are to blame for this! These people never use a laundry room, so just keep designing them like they always have. These same people also design sidewalks for businesses which curve this way and that - they never have walked on one apparently or they would design them for the shortest route! (Straight line!) They also don't place sidewalks where people need to walk - you can see paths in the grass where a sidewalk should have been placed.
I once had a house back in the dark ages where the washer & dryer were in the garage.
Cat
I just made an offer on a house with the washer and dryer in the garage. This wouldn't be any fun in the winter up north but it works in Florida. My pick for most misunderstood is the garage. I was looking for a smaller house and saw a lot of houses where they had converted the garage into a bedroom. The one I picked has a big garage with room for my SUV, lots of storage and the washer and dryer. I like to park my vehicle in there and I will get much more use out of a garage than I would an extra bedroom.
My biggest complaint about home design is children's bedrooms. Almost every house we looked at had tiny secondary bedrooms. Why? As the owner, I have my stuff all over the house and use almost every room. I don't spend a lot of time in my bedroom. My dd keeps most of her stuff in her room and hangs out in there. She has a bed, a desk, a bookcase, night stand, and dresser. She has more furniture than I have in my room.
I certainly don't understand my garage. I can get my little Mazda 3 into it, but I can't open the doors once I'm in. I realize the garage was designed for a Model A, but were they really that much smaller than my subcompact?
No... it is the consumer that should bear the blame. They design for what the public purchases.
None of my rooms are "misunderstood". I understand why they were built they way they were.
The things I did not like in my 1966-built home I changed to suit my life style.
I just made an offer on a house with the washer and dryer in the garage. This wouldn't be any fun in the winter up north but it works in Florida. My pick for most misunderstood is the garage. I was looking for a smaller house and saw a lot of houses where they had converted the garage into a bedroom. The one I picked has a big garage with room for my SUV, lots of storage and the washer and dryer. I like to park my vehicle in there and I will get much more use out of a garage than I would an extra bedroom.
The house that I owned with the washer & dryer in the garage was in Texas. You are right that it wouldn't work up here in the "arctic."
Cat
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My pick for most misunderstood is the garage. I was looking for a smaller house and saw a lot of houses where they had converted the garage into a bedroom. The one I picked has a big garage with room for my SUV, lots of storage and the washer and dryer. I like to park my vehicle in there and I will get much more use out of a garage than I would an extra bedroom.
