It looks neat with the sink in the middle, but are you sure you don't want them directly side by side? I would be cursing while walking back and forth with wet clothes in my arms. Especially with the appliance doors opening up in the same direction, blocking me each time I returned to put more clothes in.

My rendering isn't quite accurate. I am doing a top load washing machine. Aesthetically, we just liked the separation better. The laundry will be exposed at all times (in a mud room/laundry room combo). Do you know anything about hiding the laundry valves?

These are our inspiration photos . . . See, no valves. Where are they???

I don't know the building codes, but my valves are low enough that you can't see them because they are covered by my washer and dryer. They're exposed I guess, but not visible to the eye. My appliances don't sit clear back against the wall though.

I asked my plumber if they could go there. He said code was 4 ft. I will ask him again. Thanks Beth!!!

I'm going to ask my plumber about code again. Both of these seems like good options. Thanks Dee! Thanks Beth!

The faucets/taps/valves should be easily (or reasonably) accessible. Hiding them behind tile or panels or making them otherwise largely inaccessible causes difficulty when servicing the washer, and more importantly when quick access is needed in case of a malfunction, leak, flood, etc.

You want to keep the valves, or valve, exposed and easily accessible. You're supposed to turn the water off when not using the washer to reduce wear on the hoses and also, as dadoes said, you want easy access in case something goes wrong and you have to shut off the water quickly.

In the inspiration photos, the valves are probably either behind the washer where you can't see in the photo, or inside the sink cabinet. It sounds like this may not be to code in your area.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice fashion for function.

Can the valves go higher and live inside the upper cabinet?

I asked about that. I was told you would see the tubes up the wall.

A plumber runs pipes in walls not up the outside of the wall. Are we talking about the valves or the drain pipe?

the valves.

There would be no need to run the pipes on the outside of the wall. In your bathroom the valves come out of the wall with no pipes visible. I would actually post the question over in bathrooms and also in plumbing. They can answer the question. But truly it may just be something the plumber doesn't want to do. My valves are up very high because of a stacked unit and the valves come out of the wall with the pipes in the wall. The drain pipe is on the outside of the wall. Let us know what the solution is. There must be a solution out there.

In all those inspiration pictures, the washers are the the left and against the wall. I think the valves are on the wall to the left of the washer. I see no reason the valves should be on the outside of the wall. They are pretty flush with the walls. The washer manufacturer may also have a limit on how high the valve box should be because of the drain pipe, Miele is under 4' if I remember correctly.

There are a few options for valve boxes for washers and dryers that look neat.

Sioux Chief Laundry Valve Box is one that I am familiar with.

Good luck!

I see that that last link at least gives you the option of a stainless box, if it's the plastic that's ruining your image of the space. But anyway, have the box put on the side wall and you can still tile the back wall to your heart's content. These little access boxes are a huge improvement over the old system with an ugly standpipe and crude water valves -- all in one tidy spot. You'll be glad it's there if anything acts up!

Hiding the valves is a bad idea, a very bad idea. The reason valves are present is each time a wash load is done or unloaded the valve should be turned off. And of course turned on at the start of each load.

I have yet to see it ever discussed on here, but this is the device you should be using instead of a manual valve: http://www.keeneymfg.com/timeout

From Home Depot.
This Old House installs one.

Show any of the above to your plumber and tell him to install one (don't approach this as asking him if it's a good idea, it is). The cost of parts ($100) and any additional labor (maybe $300) is money well spent.

I checked out the YouTube video but the link above it has an error message. Can you resend it? I never heard of that before. Thanks.

The link works for me, if you can't see it here's the spec sheet for the valve: http://www.keeneymfg.com/catalogs/Keeney-Timeout_sellsheet-LIT100.pdf

The TOH video explains it best.

Note the manufacturer doesn't sell to directly consumers, but any plumber should be able to easily get the valve and connectors (Home Depot).

I found the frame at Michael's then typed up the quote to fit in the frame.

Wow Mustang! That's crazy - I did the very same thing. In fact I have a shelf above it also. I want easy access to turning off the valves when we leave town for a week or so - plus in case anything goes haywire. All those photos in magazines drive me crazy - looks great but never practical. It's an easy fix and love the access.