How much laundry do you do? If you're just now designing the house, can't you eke out another couple inches so you can have the W/D be completely recessed into the closet? Since you're only working with a 36" hallway, I don't think you want to have the W/D sticking out. Now that I have had a second floor laundry room (previous house) and first floor in my current house (next to the primary bedroom) I would never put it in the basement again. We are empty nesters so we're not doing a lot of laundry anymore, but the convenience of having laundry near the bedrooms is important to me. And when I replaced my equipment about a year ago I got large machines because it reduces the number of loads required to get everything done. They're a little bit larger than what used to be there (when we bought the house). It makes a difference between being able to get everything in one load or having two small loads. But you have to decide what is important to you.

Thanks @kandrewspa! It's a very constrained lot and the design comes within 1" of the minimum setback on all sides. It *might* be possible to eke out a little extra space by shrinking somewhere else.

Maybe there is a better spot for it. kitchen maybe?

I did have a stackable in the hallway and loved it. It was directly outside my bedroom. What if you use a full door that opens all the way leaving the hallway free instead of a bifold.

IME, a vacation condo's (1980's-1990's idea of full size) stacked washer and dryer are okay blocking access to a single bathroom for a few minutes while you load it up or remove clothes. You cannot leave anything in the hallway, so you get used to taking your baskets and hampers back where they came from immediately.

In real life, also IME, the clearance required at the back of washers and dryers is more than the absolute minimum specified by the manufacturer. Also, the side clearances are larger. Imagine you have a big tower installed. How do you get it out for service such as annual lint cleaning for fire safety when it is surrounded by cabinetry? Work it out before finalizing your design. You could replace the hall closet with space for a full size washer and dryer with storage cabinets above and a narrow tall broom/vacuum closet.

Are you working with an architect at this point?

Would recommend the smaller sized washer and dryer but since the laundry room is next to the primary bedroom and isn't a high traffic area, a standard washer and dryer would work as well.

You may be able to cover it with a barn door - they tend to be about 3/4 - 1" away form the sheetrock. They way you could cover it. I had one like that and just hung a nice curtain over it. It really wasn't a huge deal - it's just something to get used to when in a tighter house.

Anything was better than going to the laundromat!

IMO often you need to just do what can be done in small spaces . I do laundry every day so no need for a big pile of dirty clothes anywhere . You get used to tight spaces and a laundry is really not a space thta requires use all day only short trips on the days you do wash. I think it will be fine , a bit tight but doable. You could do smaller units but a lot of thet depends on the amount of laundry you pile up. I actually like a main floor laundry since that is where I spend most of my time during the day so maybe if you are really concerend that might be the answer.

Rest of the plan? Because I see two sinks in a vanity where Person 1 at one sink will block the egress of Person 2 in a bathroom with two chambers and two annoying pocket doors. Remember that you can draw the W/D into a spot where it may prove impossible to actually place the machines in real life.

Post the entire plan. May yield alternative placement ideas.

MIL built a home in 2000. She put her full size washer dryer in what most would have used as a hall closet. The hall was very narrow and was just outside the bathroom next to an open stair case and across the hall a bedroom door. She used bifold doors with stationary luvers on them. When the door were open nothing was blocked.Laundry baskets could sit on top of the appliances.

Our lake house is that size, with three bedrooms, none of which fits a king-size bed. Our side-by-side washer and dryer are on one side at the end of a hallway by the downstairs bath, which is 5' by 8'.

In my opinion, you may be trying to squeeze features of a larger house - king-size bedroom and double sink vanity - into a footprint too small to accommodate them. The upshot is essential features, like a functional laundry space, are being short changed.

MIL built a home in 2000

Top load washer?

You can get by with less space in front of a top loader. A front loader needs more space--butt space for bending over. The dryer is less of a problem because clothes don't get plastered against the drum.

My own laundry is very small. Top load washer in front of a wide opening. The dryer is blocked but has a hamper door so it easy enough to haul the clothes out from the side and onto the door. Servicing the dryer is a huge PIA because the washer has to be disconnected and wiggled out thru the door to get access to the dryer .The opening originally had two out swing hinged doors that I removed. In the basement so it is fine without the doors.

Thanks for all the suggestions and good questions, everyone!

We'll keep iterating on the design. It sounds like, yes, it can work, but it's definitely not ideal. We'll see if we can get a bit of extra space, or move it to another location.

Hopefully this thread can be useful to people who are wondering about laundry in a narrow hallway.

I suggest looking at the plans of manufactured or modular homes to see how they fit in all the essentials in a small space.

Great suggestion, @Tara!

" a standard sized washer/dryer will probably still stick out 1" into the hallway. So no closet door in front of the machines. "

That's absolutely a no-go, in my opinion. More important than space in the hallway, is the noise and heat in the hallway. I think a laundry closet in a narrow hallway is fine, because someone would really only be blocking the hallway for 3-5 minutes at a time. But a door of some sort (even slotted) is a requirement, IMO.

How about finding a place for them in under kitchen counters, instead? There's always noise in the kitchen, so it will be less disturbing there.

(A 24" washer can handle king sized sheets, but not a king comforter.....how often do you wash the comforter?)

Can you cut out some of the wall behind it and recess them or bump into whatever room is on the other side? Keep in mind - you still have to account for the water lines and vent hose!

Front loaders that will stack will NOT fit in that closet unless they are compact, like Asko. Standard front loaders are 30"-36" deep by the time all things are accounted for.

I bought a house with a narrow depth laundry room and side by side w/d. The door from the kitchen leads into the room and to the outside. The door to the outside is placed so there was only space for the washer or dryer to barely clear the door opening (depth wise). When w/d started getting larger, I could not find appliances that could fit in the existing space and still get the outside door open. I bought a compact stackable and placed them where the solo dryer had been, away from the door - so it still opened, but the appliances encroached quite a bit into the walkway.

I have king size bedding to wash, so it was extremely annoying to have such little capacity. I babied that w/d set for years because units continued to grow in size but mine finally gave up during the pandemic. Nothing available would fit without encroaching even more into the walkway. Some of the European or more obscure brands don't have certified technicians in my community, so repairs/warranty would be a problem.

I just gave up and bought a full size electrolux set (one of the few available in-stock). It's huge and leaves a very narrow passageway to get past. Only passable when the doors are closed. It's annoying sometimes, but every time I put my king size comforter and other bedding, rugs, etc into the machine, I am thankful to have it. It's the main entrance I use to the house and most annoying is not being able to have any floor space to set things down when I carry them in. I have to leap frog grocery bags in front of one another to get them to the kitchen. I cannot get past them when they are on the floor, so it's the only way. Is it annoying? VERY. Would I go back to a smaller machine? No! I was able to get the doors switched so they both open the same direction, so putting laundry in and out is easier than with my old machines where one of the units opened away from the kitchen entrance and it was such a pain to access from washer to dryer.

So, given what you're saying about low traffic area, I would put in full size machines. Laundry baskets can be offset with no problem regarding space. And a few inches of walking space in a hallway won't matter.

This is a new build, not a make-do with an existing situation.

"Our closet will be 30" deep from the back wall to the hallway. With a recessed dryer vent box, a standard sized washer/dryer will probably still stick out 1" into the hallway."

• The CR top-rated LG WM4000HWA front-load washer is 30-1/4" deep but the installation instructions specify an additional 4" behind the machine.
• The new GE Profile 4.8 cu. ft. Smart UltraFast Electric Washer & Dryer Combo is 32" deep but can be pushed against the rear wall.
• The Miele Classic WXD160WCS compact washer will fit in a 24" deep space.