Hi! We have a 1980s cape cod home that we're slowly updating. One of the areas that bothers me/stumps me is our mudroom, which connects the kitchen to the garage. And off of the mudroom is a back room (small living room) and a half bath/laundry combo. There are so many doors/openings coming off the mudroom that it's hard to utilize the decent amount of space for anything (such as storage cabinets/a bench). Additionally, the half bath/laundry room has some room for improvement too, I think. In my dream scenario, I'd have a small powder room and a separate laundry space, but I don't think it's doable because of a window that sits where I may be able to split that space up. And adding additional rooms onto the house isn't in the plans.

** I know enough to sound/look like I know what I'm doing, which is probably a dangerous space to be! ;-) Putting that out there to say that I'm not sure if what I am proposing/asking is even doable.

This is my attempt at showing the current layout. It may not be 100% to scale but it's super close and gives you the general idea.

The mudroom, half bath, laundry room area is a 12'x16' space, to give an idea of size.

Here, I've attempted a possible reworking of a few elements...

• We've discussed removing the door that leads to the upstairs "bonus room."

• I've wondered if we should move the opening to the "back room," which would give us workable area to put in floor to ceiling cabinets or the classic mudroom cabinet/bench situation. The downside is that moving the opening does really separate the "back room" from the rest of the house, and currently it still feels very close to the kitchen and a part of the house.

• Contemplated a stacking washer and dryer. I've never had stacked a WD to know if I'd love or hate it, but the space saving aspect sure is appealing.

• Stacking the WD would allow us to put in storage to the right of the WD or a nice long counter with lower cabinetry and upper shelving. Could potentially lose the bifold doors if everything is visually pleasing.

• Now here's where I start to get a little crazy... I've wondered if moving the toilet to one of the closet spots would make sense. I'm not sure if the CURRENT space behind the toilet is all plumbing? So I left a "?" on the proposed area in case that needs to become a plumbing area. Not sure how that works. Then, we shrink the vanity (width) and move that to the current toilet spot. So what does this do? It gives a big open space where I could set up a drying rack, which there currently is not a spot for. Currently, I set it up in the middle of the mudroom, which my husband isn't a fan of... but, it's the only spot.

Anyone good with space and want to weigh in? Or anyone have a stacked washer dryer and want to share their experiences with that? Thanks for any advice/thoughts/help!