I might go with something fun or maybe a luxurious dressing room feel. Personally I wouldn't worry about the water.

I would definitely not put a washer and dryer on carpet. Is it even safe to have a dryer on carpet? In our house, we're doing wood in the closet, same as the bedroom. Then I'll put a fun rug down in the center.

I would put a pan down under the w/d, do the wood and then put a fun rug over it.

In some jurisdictions, a waterproof surround and drain are required under washing machines. Sounds superfluous--until it happens to you.

I would continue with the tile, and you can put an area rug over it for your dressing room feel.

2nd the vote for continuation of the tile and put a beautiful area rug for ambience. A lot easier to pull back the area rug if any leaks were to occur.

Since the closet opens into the master bath, I vote for continuing the tile ... I'd like as few transitions /visual changes as possible. However, I'd go with a fun rug in the middle of the closet only; that'd keep it away from the washer/dryer.

In some jurisdictions, a waterproof surround and drain are required under washing machines. Sounds superfluous--until it happens to you.

Our architect had a valve fail on his second floor washer while he was out of town for the weekend. I think he's up to $250k in rebuilding costs, and they've been living in a rental for 15 months. The house was less than 2 years old, and probably cost about $600k to build originally.

We have a similar set up, with wood in master bedroom, tile in master bath, and the closet is accessed through the bath. I deliberately chose a low pile wool carpet in there because I dress in the closet and wanted something warm and soft under my feet. The w/d complicates things a bit...if your builder doesn't recommend carpet due to the w/d I would do tile w/ a LARGE area rug.

When the high efficiency washer screwed up in our apartment building, I opened the door at what I *thought* was the end of the cycle, and got a dozen cups of water or so spilling all over the floor.....I'm glad the floor was tile, and that I could just call a caretaker to mop it up. If it had been carpet or hardwood the floor would've been WRECKED.

We are doing hardwoods throughout also and I am considering whether to continue the bath tile into the closets....my husband wants to do carpet.....I was thinking about the tile that looks like wood, though we could just do wood because our upstairs laundry is not in the master but in the kids' hallway. But we can get a price break on tile because of a friend and so I was thinking of that option. Not sure if it's a trend that I'll regret in the years to come, but it seems like an attractive option, wood look tile with a fun rug on top.