The obvious answer for the space above the cabinets is a drying rod or rack. Personally, I would put in more cabinets because I never have enough cabinet space and I don't really use one of those fancy drying racks. Maybe a shelf or two with a rod below, leaving enough space to hang clothes on hangars for drying. It all depends on your laundry routine and storage needs. There are lots of photos on Houzz showing laundry room drying racks if you do a search on that in photos.

I would never want to block shut off valves. I too would put a rod with hangers above the counter. There is nothing aesthetically offensive about this room. Boring but functional is fine by me for a laundry room. If you want something pretty, change out the knobs or paint the walls.

I'll add my vote to what Kendrah said -- don't block off the the valves, even if it means that you can't have the pedestals. I've had front loaders (not on pedestals) for almost 20 years and I don't have any trouble bending in to get the laundry out of either the washer or dryer. As for sprucing things up -- it's tempting to paint the room to brighten it up. However the beige wall color goes well with your countertop and I'm not sure what other color would work as well, except white like your cabinets. Maybe one of the paint pros can chime in with a suggestion. Same thing with wallpaper -- I'm not sure what would look good with the countertop pattern.

I agree to not block the valves I am 77 yrs old and do not have an issue with getting clothes out of my front loaders. As for the rest you are not in yet why not a great color for the W/D instaed of white . Then use some fun art on the walls instead of trying to get something else to work with the counter . I have never had a need for a ton of storage in my laundry room but that depends on what you need to store there. I have my Oxyclean my detergent( I just went with the little squares ) , my iron and I have anironing board that hangs on the wall and looks like a sculpture.I find with the new W/Ds ther eis little to be needed in to be hung but it is nice to have a spaot to hang stuff as it comes out of the dryer so something thta folds away IMO is good.

I think it depends on what other storage you have in the house. If this were my laundry room, I'd store in it vases, picnic items, large serving platters, gardening items, seasonal objects. As for paint colors that go with this counter, there are many. I like a white laundry room though so I can really see the color of my clothes going in and coming out of the wash. Are the whites getting dingy?

If you put a rod over the counter, put more counter on top of your front-loading machines so you have folding space.

That’s a nice space! Agree that a hanging rod over the counter would be helpful (can’t imagine adding more cabinets in the room) if it were me, I would add some sort of simple toile or scene wallpaper in colors that complement the counter so i had something to look at while i folded clothes but that’s a me thing (love a bit of whimsy in spaces like this)

I was thinking of getting a washer and dryer in a different color. With my countertop what color would you recommend?

Make a wish list, define your needs (drying/folding area, access, lighting - good functionality basically) and your budget. Look at on line laundry rooms for ideas around color, decor and accessories. Good to have an overall plan. Have fun!

Michelle, congrats on the new home! I have front loaders on the pedestals and the water connections are hidden. Didn’t do on purpose but it hasn’t been a problem either. What has become the bigger challenge is barely being able to reach stuff on the upper cabinet bottom shelf! So consider this in your set up. And space on top of machines is limited to stack folded clothes. I have two of these hangers (photo) in there so very convenient when needed to hang stuff.

Love this idea ! l

Hoping I can find front loading machines that are cabinet depth like shown in the photo and that without the risers i can put a shelf in top as show in photo

It's very easy to make a table over your W&D. Here's a renovation I did of my niece's garage laundry area. I made the table from a hollow core door that I cut, reinforced, painted and used for the two side supports. The top and center support are melamine-coated plywood. I edged the top with maple (sealed with polyurethane) and screwed it on. I used L-brackets to secure the top to the sides. I screwed a piece of maple to the back edge and used that to then screw the whole thing to the wall. The water shut-off valves are hidden under a white melamine box that sits on the right-hand side of the table. The table can be lifted out of the way if service is needed by unscrewing it from the back wall and the side cabinet.

Get washing machines in white, ones that have a good track record, and for which service is available in your area. Buy machines that fit your needs and have a custom cabinet built around it. Don't buy a counter depth machine if it is not going to suite your needs. Think about your practical needs: how many are in your household and what interior size drum do you need to accommodate the size of your loads?

I think the inspiration pic below might have a shallower sink cabinet and the machine cabinets project beyond.

If it were my laundry room and I had the funds, I'd get front loaders and put a run of countertop across them -- this would mean replacing all the counters, but IMO not only would be worth it to increase usable space, it would look great. Also put uppers above that small run of cabinets off to the side.

Whatever you decide, get machines that are appropriately sized so they don't stick out beyond the wall.

Im not sure how you would run a row counter top across with the laundry tub

Front load machines are deeper than top loaders and will protrude another 4-6" into the room. This will make the cabinets above the machines difficult to access.

So, I would consider relocating some of those cabinets to the space above the base cabinets. Somewhat depends on the sizes of the cabinets and the amount of space over the wall cabinets. (Either fillers or some opening shelving alongside a cabinet?) And place a hanging rod over the machines.

Or remove the upper cabinets, pad the wall to bring the cabinets forward and reinstall over the machines. Would also think about rehanging the cabinet that is above the sink. Hang it higher so there is more distance between the top of the sink and the bottom of the cabinet. (more user friendly if you use the sink as a utility sink--mop buckets, bathing pets, etc.)

I was thinking of getting a washer and dryer in a different color. With my countertop what color would you recommend?

Would stick with white. Have fun with color. For instance, I have a postage stamp laundry area. White walls, white machines. Painted the floor a bright, clean aqua color. I love 'colors of water' for laundry rooms.

I would not stay wedded to the counters...Short runs. Wouldn't be a major expense to replace them. OTOH, the counters do look to be neutral in color so they will work OK with lots of colors. Basically depends on the budget and how important a look is to you.

I did not realize tgat front loaders were deeper than top loaders and they woukd pertrude out so much. If thats the case, am i correct tgat the front loader machine would block the one bottom cabinet in the room.

Get the GE Ultrafast combo washer/dryer to free up some space. Not only does it have slightly more capacity than a normal washer but the machine washes and dries huge comforters in just over 2 hours. The heat pump design in this machine is a huge leap forward in technology. No vent, no gas, 110v not 220v.... no heat or humidity in the laundry room and absolutely no laundry soap smell. No reason for the area to smell like laundromat. Its uses 800w to dry not the 5000w of some of other electric dryers so it's about .25 cents a load.

"Front load machines are deeper than top loaders and will protrude another 4-6" into the room."

There are smaller, even compact, machines -- they're not all giant behemoths. The Miele ones I'm considering are only about 25.5" in depth.

"Im not sure how you would run a row counter top across with the laundry tub "

Same as you do in a kitchen -- with a sink. Cabinetry underneath.

Michelle, an alternative to full size front loaders is the compact versions. Smaller capacity--generally around 2.4 cu ft. With the compact machines you might even gain a couple of inches more space over the top loaders. But, depending on the size of your household, the compact machines may be too small capacity wise.

Adding to ci_lantro's advices on machines, here's what I learned from recently researching a new FL machine.

Full size front-load washers have become taller and deeper than they used to be. In the North American market, there no longer are any full size front loaders that are counter-depth and counter height. If you want to read about that disappointment, see this long-running thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5568331/where-are-all-the-36-inch-high-washers-and-dryers#n=69 

I also found that current full size front load models will be as tall as the top of the backguard/riser on the SQ top-loader seen in your photo. So, without pedestals, full-size front loaders would not block access to the water supply faucets any more than the present owners' top loader does. At least, it would as long as you can dispense with a pedestal.

However most full size front loaders now are more than 33 inches deep without accounting for hose clearance requirements. Some larger capacity models are a lot deeper. In comparison, the SQ TL model in your photo is rated at 28" deep and it already blocks the adjacent wall's cabinet drawer and door from opening fully. You could minimize (but not eliminate) the required additional hose clearance space for FL model by getting hoses with 90° elbow attachments. (To show what I'm talking about, here's a link to random example: https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-4-ft-Universal-Stainless-Steel-Washer-Hoses-with-90-degree-Elbow-2-Pack-PM14X10008/205473453). Even so, the depth of FL washers and the required space for hose clearance still would pretty much block all access to that corner cabinet and drawer seen on the left in the current laundry room photo. Also, the new laundry room looks kind of narrow. Something else to consider is that the door swing on a full-size FL might wind up being uncomfortably close to the opposite wall as seen in your second photo.

In my recent research, the shallowest full-size FL washer models I found were around 30 inches deep, those being Speed Queen's very expensive FF7 models and the LG FL models with 4.5 cu. ft. drum capacities. So even the "relatively" shallow SQ and LG FL models are going to block even more of the corner cabinet's door and drawer than current owner's SQ TL. (FWIW, some TL washers -- in particular, Speed Queen's TL models ---- have recessed back attachment points which help with clearance issues.)

Expanding on ci_lantro's suggestion of looking at one of the higher capacity compact FL washer models, they could be a better fit for the space and several compact washer models have surprising capacity compared to older full-size TL washers. They are dishwasher-sized machines designed to fit under normal counters (so less than 35 inches tall) and also not so deep (usually around 26 inches or less). They do come with their own trade-offs.

For example, the Miele W-1 models are said to do well when fully loaded which gives them exceptional capacity for compact models. If interested, there is a very long, ongoing thread here in which some users have reported the Mieles capable of washing even king size comforters: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5434365/miele-w1-t1-washer-dreyr#n=1090 The Mieles can be had with pedestals but among other trade-offs, (a) their pedestals' 14-inch height would raise the washers high enough to block access to the shutoffs in the new laundry room in your photo; and (b) they are very expensive. Electrolux offers a well-rated compact washer with a 2.4 cu. ft. drum --- model ELFW4222AW --- but no longer offers pedestals for it. If must have a pedestal or platform, it would have to be hired-out or DIYed. GE offers a 4 inch tall pedestal for its compact models which is short enough to avoid blocking access to the hook-ups but possibly too short for some people. However, the GE machines seem to get lackluster ratings for capacity, cleaning, long cycle times and reliability. Bosch washers used to get mostly favorable discussion here but I haven't seen any recent write-ups/reviews of the current model line-up except for a Wirecutter/NYT review which came out last May and was already outdated then. Asko has a near-midsized (2.8 cu. ft. drum capacity) but very expensive FL model but I haven't seen any recent professional reviews and the recent postings here have mostly been about disappointing reliability

Sorry the news couldn't be better.

GE UltraFast combo machine, 4.7 cu. ft. drum, almost literally no space needed behind it because its unvented but dries quicker than a vented machine. No need to worry about blocking any cabinets when using one machine. Embrace new technology when the reviews are near 5 star.

"Paul F.: ... its unvented but dries quicker than a vented machine."

That seems doubtful. My vented electric dryer can finish a set of queen-size sheets with several pillow cases in 13 to 18 minutes plus a bit of cool-down time, so less than 20 minutes in some instances.

After reading Jwvideo’s response I am now at a loss as to what kind of washer/ dryer will work and not break the bank!

You probably will end up with something that's going to block the end drawer and cabinet unless you get an all-in-one W+D like the GE unit or the LG that can be slid to the right side of the space (next to the sink). The LG individual W+D which are reasonably priced are about 30 inches deep plus clearance at the back of the dryer for the dryer vent -- another 5" or so. No real easy and cheap way around that depth. Their height is 39" which has been fairly standard for these LG models for years. The LG W+D combo unit is more reasonably priced than the GE Profile unit and it is also shorter (39" vs. 47" for the GE) although height wouldn't matter if the combo unit were set at the right side of the space. If you get separate W+D you'll just have to accept that the end cabinet and drawer won't be easily accessible. I've had my LG W+D for almost 20 years with only one inexpensive service call for each (for parts that understandably wore out) so I think they are quite reliable.

@dadoes Washing and drying a huge load of sheets takes about 1 hour 45 minutes to wash and dry... since you load and walk away I'm not sure how much of that is dry time. What I know is that the sheets never get tangled into a damp ball like my LG did. In fact, I never have to adjust or add more dry time. The real test was how long it took to dry a king sized comforter without rearranging during the dry cycle. The GE takes 2 hours 15 minutes to wash and dry a heavy load like that without opening to rearrange.

The average load takes 1.5 to 1 hour 45 minutes to wash and dry. Believe me it makes me angry for this machine to have come out after I just remodeled everything with gas lines and difficult venting, even fabricating of custom stainless vents for my 3 unit triplex. I've capped the gas lines and sealed the vents because this machine is so good. It's amazing that its only a 110v plug. Your electric dryer is probably using 5000w to dry and this uses 850w, so it's far cheaper to use. Read the reviews, its great!

@Michelle Moss: >>>"After reading JWVideo’s response I am now at a loss as to what kind of washer/ dryer will work and not break the bank!"<<<

Well, you might look at Whirlpool made top loaders (also sold under the Maytag, Amana and Roper brands which Whirlpool owns). Most of them list a depth spec of 27." Reviewers say they are not terrible washers and the dryers are good and durable.. With 90°-elbow supply hoses, the washers probably would not be any worse for depth than the current Speed Queen.

Also, likely to find Black Friday discounts on them. Any top-filter Whirlpool electric dryer will be a little deeper but that's less of a concern when its away from the corner with the cabinets. The top filter Whirlpool dryers are a "mature technology" meaning that they work well, last a long time, are easy and cheap to maintain with parts avialable for decades. Especially good and inexpensive if you or your household have any DIY skills. at all. (My top-filter WP dryer is nearing the quarter century mark.)

Speed Queen's top loader set and dryer might be a better fit for your space -- at least the same as seen in your photo --- but even the least expensive SQ pair of TL washer (TR3) and matching dryer (DR3) won't have black Friday discounts and the pair cost north of $2k, at least at the independent sellers in my area..

As nester 44 says, the GE Ultrafast combo --- the all-in-one combo unit that so enthuses Paul F. --- might be workable if it weren't so expensive. One could be placed away from the corner cabinet, perhaps in the middle under the wall cabinets or even pushed all the way down by the laundry room sink seen in your photos. Either way, it would not block that corner cabinet. And, with its built-in, ventless heat-pump dryer function, you don't have to worry about aligning it to the existing vent ducts. Also, assuming you can tolerate the 2+ hour wash and dry cycles (as opposed to preferring to cycle through with a separate washer and dryer), and depending on whether you you want app control delay wash/dry functions. Might be able to find a Black Friday deal but maybe not. A friend who is considering one can't find any in stock locally and the Costco website, which says they have them in stock, wants $2199 for it. No Black Friday pricing there.

I think OP needs to figure out how, or if, she wants to re-jigger the laundry room BEFORE she buys machines -- the machines need to fit the layout/available space in addition to meeting the washing and drying capacity her particular needs require.

@jwvideo I almost never have 2+ hour wash/dry times unless it is a huge load of jeans/towels or a king comforter. Like I said, its well under 2 hours 90% of the time. I find it is actually quicker than your average washer dryer because there is no down time where clothes are sitting waiting to be transferred to the dryer. You can run to the store and come back and things are dry, not mildewed. No hot or humid laundry room, no laundromat soap smell wafting out... 25 cents a load. What's not to like?

It's at Costco for $2150... and eligible for 'Costco direct' program which I believe is another $300 off when when you spend $2000. Not 100% sure if that is a gift card or what.

Paul F, I never suffer tangled sheets in the dryer or need to rearrange blankets or my one queen-size comforter. My dryer reverses the tumble for 40 seconds every 4 to 4.5 minutes (whatever is the interval). The moisture sensor is very accurate, I never need to re-run anything except, on the rare occasions that I give them a freshening wash, one set of decorative towels of a weird fabric that fools the sensor.

My entire adult life has been untangling balled up sheets and jeans. I went from Samsung, which is literally the worlds most perfect twisting and tangling machine to LG which often created tight wet basketballs out of sheets that needed to be unwrapped. I guess paddles inside dryers now are more advanced because I had one tangle with this new machine and it involved a pull string on shorts. I'm amazed.

I beginning to think i need to reconfigure this layout the most economical way. Ideas welcome! Thank you!

If the sink was moved over to be next to the cabinets it would not block them as much. But, not sure how much that would cost to rearrange.

Moving the sink would work but only if it (and its counter) were narrow enough to fit so that it doesn't block the cabinet and drawer. It's hard to tell from the picture what the depth of that area is and the depth of the current sink+counter. Get out the tape measure! And, if the current sink doesn't fit, is there another utility-type sink available that will?

Your LR looks nice as it is. The sink is great and the cabinet and counter gives you additional folding space. I would not move plumbing or cabinetry-the room looks versatile and very useful. Adding a rod over that cabinet might be very handy. I remove many shirts and pants from the dryer that I immediately put on hangers, and having the rod is really nice. Some colorful artwork on the walls will add some nice pizzazz, and you can order glass canisters if you want to put your powder detergent in (if you use that) and that adds some style. I know many people would love to have the setup you have. Looks like you have bought a fine home.

Thank you @armjim! Good lord, it's just a laundry room stop trying to make it look like Architectural Digest!

I work for Whirlpool and am happy to send our inside pass (friends and family discount) if you want to get a Whirlpool or Mayatg washer/dryer! We have some really great discounts. Just let me know a good email to send it to and I can send it over. I still have quite a few passes left for the year :)

I have been instructed to ALWAYS leave open the washer door of my front loader between cycles to prevent mold build up. Perhaps this isn’t true anymore, but…consider how an open door on your washing machine will impede use of the room. (My w/d are in my basement near the furnace. Old school!)

I would get the washer / dryer set that best fits your needs and go from there. You need space to sort, fold, hang dry, dry flat and iron. I don’t think you need a long run of countertops, you can place folded clothes directly into a laundry basket or two.

I have to leave my top loader open or it gets moldy smelling -- so this isn't just limited to front loaders, for anyone who thinks it is.

I leave the lid of my top loader open after doing laundry also. Close it after 24 hours or so or the next time that I'm in the basement.

I own a Speed Queen top load washer so would have no hesitation about buying SQ again. Would not spend the $$$ for a SQ dryer though. My washer is 7-8 YO (zero repairs so far); the old Whirlpool dryer is probably around 25 YO and still plugging along. Old school electric dryers are very easy & usually inexpensive to DIY repair....on the rare occasion that they need repair.