Is this laundry room layout weird?

last year

We have a smallish laundry room - 71" deep by 97" wide. Builder grade just included a terrible shelf above the washer/dryer which is unusable. We are looking at adding cabinets. The constraining factor in this design is the offset door. The door cannot open fully flush against a wall - it blocks a corner when fully opened. We aren't sure if it's worth the expense to convert this to a pocket door or if we even could. We essentially have 2 options - galley style where half the wall of cabinets is unusable unless you close the door, or L-shaped which might be a little unconventional but I think makes the room feel less cramped while still providing storage.

Above the top loading washer/dryer we plan to have 2 cabinets with a clothes rod and a shelf for easy access things like detergent. In the L - shaped design, we are considering wrapping the shelf under the window to the pantry to provide a bit more surface drop (keys, clutter, etc). Under the window is our dog bowls. Behind the door is the vacuum, dry mop, etc. In the galley style option, we would need to ensure the pantry could store a vacuum, mop, etc as we will lose that storage, and we are constrained on pantry size by the dog bowls (only room with tile).

I guess what I'm looking for is if you were a home buyer and you saw the L-shaped option in the laundry, would you make a face and wonder why we didn't do the galley style with a pocket door? Or do you have any other suggestions for layout?

example drawings attached, thanks!

Featured Answer

Lyn Nielson

last year

or switch the swing of the door. I would close the door when working in there anyway.

Do a pull out drawer for the dog bowls. Everything behind cabinet doors and drawers.

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Comments (8)

Design Fan (NE z7a)
last year
last modified: last year
Yes, I would wonder. Galley style with a pocket door is a much better layout.

We have a pocket door on our frequently used laundry room with zero issues.
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Gyr
last year
I made a face when I realized I'd have to give up having a laundry room and our machines would be in the garage.

With your problem room, I would probably just switch the door to an outswing, to allow for full use of the room. In my opinion, pocket doors on a room you would be going in and out of frequently and would want the door closed except for entering and exiting for noise and aesthetic reasons, would be a serious inconvenience. With a laundry basket in hand, you cannot just push on the pocket door to open it, then let it close on its own.
Kay B thanked Gyr
Kay B
Original Author
last year
now this is why i wanted to post here! when Lyn said switch the swing of the door for some reason I was thinking still into the laundry room but on the other side. When you (Gyr) say outswing now, that makes a ton of sense and would be much much cheaper! We personally leave the door open due to the dog, but hearing your feedback on the pocket door headaches for those who like to keep it closed helps. thank you!
clt3
last year
last modified: last year
We redid our mudroom, laundry , and powder room a couple of years ago. This meant putting the laundry where the bathroom used to be. Our contractor (friend) chose to put a barn door with frosted glass so we could get the light from the window in the former bathroom.
Kay B
Original Author
last year
@clt3 it turned out beautiful! that's also a very smart way to modernize the barn door look..
bpath
last year
last modified: last year
I grew up in two homes with pocket doors to the laundry room and it worked well. The door was usually open, but when closed it was easily left open just a bit for ventilation. Our last house had an out-swinging door and I found it to be a pain. Our current is in-swing and I hang brooms and such on the wall behind the door.

I think I’d prefer galley style here, no lost storage in corners.
bearbev
last year
We have a small laundry room and the door opens in the middle plus there’s an attic opening in there! My cats litter box in there so I bought these wall art panels and converted to swinging doors. If there’s a will there’s a way! Lol