Planning My Laundry Room and Closet Combo Room
Of all the changes we’re planning for our house, the laundry room and closet combo might be the thing I’m looking forward to the most. I can’t stop dreaming about and planning this room!
I’ve never had a proper laundry room before. In our previous two houses, the washer and dryer were in the garage. In the apartment we lived in right after we got married, we had a laundry closet that was right in the entryway. And in our house now, the washer and dryer are in the “sunroom”, which is a pretty name for the worst room in the house that now only looks slightly better than the picture below because I did some organizing in there a few weeks back.
I’ve been wanting to tear that room down since we bought the house, but it’s basically a storage room that also houses our washer, dryer, and hot water heater. So until I can relocate those things, the room has to stay. At least it stays behind these closed doors, though, so neither I nor our guests have to look at it…
Because this will be new for me, the idea of having a nice room where I can have my washer and dryer, nice cabinets, and organization, is thrilling to me. And the more I’ve thought about it, the more I love the idea of a laundry room and closet combo. It just makes sense to me.
So I spent some time this past weekend using IKEA’s Pax wardrobe planner and their kitchen planner to plan each side of the room. I really wish they had one integrated planner where you could use a mix of cabinets and wardrobes, but they don’t. So I had to use one planner to plan out the closet side, and the other to plan out the laundry side. The kitchen cabinet planner is much more robust than the wardrobe planner, which has far fewer bells and whistles on it. It’s still very helpful, though.
The room I’ll be turning into the laundry room and closet combo is our current guest bedroom. It’s the room that we’ve been using as our main bedroom for the last three years (I think). That room looks like this (when it’s clean 😀 )…
Actually, it doesn’t look like that anymore even when it’s clean. The painted floor hasn’t held up as well in this room as my studio floor has. (I used different paint, and the paint I used on the studio floor is far superior.) Also, we no longer have that wood bed base because it didn’t work with our adjustable bed. But everything else is pretty much the same.
This is the room labeled “guest bedroom” on our current floor plan, and it’s 11′ 4″ x 15′ 10″…
And once all of the changes have been made that we’re planning, this room will be the laundry room and master closet in this area that will make up the master suite.
By the way, my mom and I spent about an hour at lunch last Wednesday going over the floor plan with a fine tooth comb, seriously weighing the suggestion that several people had to keep the guest bedroom and the home gym where they are, and turn the addition into the master bedroom and laundry room/closet. We considered every possibility, made a pro and con list, and discussed it in excruciating detail, and we both concluded that the home gym and guest bedroom should stay in the addition. I’m not going to go over all of that discussion, reasons, pros and cons, and details, but just know that we considered everything. And for us (Matt and me), this arrangement works the best.
What I envision is that when I walk into the room from the hallway, the right side will be the laundry room side of the room. And after trying many different arrangements (including stacking the washer and dryer), this is what I came up with…
I wanted to keep the washer and dryer as close to the window wall as possible because, as you can see on the floor plan, that part of the room juts out further than the neighboring room. That means that the dryer can vent outside without having to have a long run of duct inside the wall.
But I didn’t want the washer shoved right up against the wall, so I added a very narrow cabinet there where I can store tall, skinny items like an ironing board, a fold-up drying rack, etc.
If you’re trying to keep your bearings, that view above looks like this view below right now…
And then the rest is pretty straightforward. I wanted as much tall cabinet storage as possible, but I also definitely want a sink in there. So I had to have at least enough countertop space for the sink. But I didn’t want it to feel crammed in there, so I gave it some breathing room (and gave me some elbow space) with one more low cabinet next to it. That left room for two tall cabinets on the right end of the wall. And then I filled in with as many upper cabinets as possible.
That view above looks like this right now…
Two things that I want but couldn’t show in the IKEA planner are (1) a place to put a hanging bar for empty hangers so that they’re easily accessible close to the dryer, and (2) a countertop over the washer and dryer.
Here’s an view from above, which I always find to be helpful so that I can be sure that there’s some wiggle room. I don’t want any cabinets jammed up against the walls, and I want to be sure that there are some extra inches in there to build cabinets around the washer and dryer. And as you can see, there’s plenty of extra space for all of that. The IKEA planner doesn’t have lots of fine tuning that allows you to get things into place down to the centimeter, but as long as I can see that I have some wiggle room, I can work with that.
The cabinets for the laundry room side of the room come to $6,594.88 according to the kitchen planner, but I’m sure that’s not exactly correct. The final price will depend on which doors and drawer fronts I choose, as those vary in price depending on the style. And that’s just the cabinets. I’ll also need a sink, faucet, and countertop.
Next up, I used the PAX wardrobe planner to plan the other side of the room, which will be the closet side of the room. I couldn’t even figure out how to add doors and windows with the PAX wardrobe planner, so the door that you see below is one that I added by taking a screenshot of the IKEA planner, and then using my photo editing software to add the door. Anyway, this is what I envision for the left side of the room, although I may swap out the deep shelves for more hanging storage. I need to think through that before ordering.
The first time I played around with this planner, I only had the cabinets lined up on one wall with nothing wrapping around to adjacent walls. But that plan used 24-inch-deep shelves for things like shoes, purses, and folded sweaters. I personally would prefer not to store my shoes, purses, and folded sweaters on such deep shelves, so I found that if I changed the unit on the end to the 14-inch-deep style, I would have enough room to wrap another 14-inch-deep unit around to the adjacent wall. I can get an additional 39-inch unit in there and still have a couple of inches between the side of the unit and the edge of the trim on the door. It’s a tight fit but it fits!
I also started out with a narrower cabinet on the long wall, which left me with totally unusable space in the corner behind where the two cabinets formed the “L” in the corner. I swapped that cabinet on the long wall out for a wider cabinet. I figured that the hidden area can be used for items that are out of season and I don’t need access to at the moment. I want to squeeze every inch of storage space out of this room as possible, so I didn’t want that corner being 100% unusable dead space.
The cabinets for that side of the room come to $2178.80 according to the PAX planner. I think that number is closer to being accurate because I don’t plan on using doors on the wardrobes. The price may change as I add/subtract the number of shelves I order, and as I think through if I want to add any drawer organizers. But I think that number won’t change drastically at all.
I want to get this plan finalized soon because I’d like to order the cabinets within the next couple of weeks. My studio is pretty much finished other than a couple of small projects. Next, I’m going to work on and finish our new bedroom. And by the time I’m finished with the bedroom, I want to have everything ready to start on this room. But every time I open up the PAX planner, I see a notice that they’re having supply issues right now, so I want to get everything ordered pretty soon so that I’m not waiting around for cabinets when I’m ready to start installing them.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Well, for the kitchen cabinets, consider the finishing panels. You probably already have two in the plan. You could consider adding a third one, between the sink and washing machine/dryer. This will give you splash control so you don’t get any water from the sink between the appliances and the sink cabinet – and it would also provide the right “wall” you need in order to install a rod above the dryer for the hangers like you want. You should be able to add the finishing panel in the IKEA designer and see if you like it and how it looks (especially before deciding whether you will go with the depth of the upper cabinets or the lower).
I haven’t been able to figure out how to add those in the planner. They have products listed as panels, but when I add them, they don’t look like I think they should look. But yes, I’ll add panels where they make sense.
Hmm, it’s been a while since I used the planner, but I could check it if you want? Would that help you?
In the European version it’s under Cabinets, after all the descriptions about cabinet with doors, cabinets with shelves or whatever. Each size of panels is under the cabinets it’s supposed to be used with.
Thank you! I’ll take another look. I’m probably looking right at it each time, but not “seeing” it.
I presume when you put the counter for your sink, it will be continuous over the washer and dryer for folding. If so, you won’t need a panel there. You can get hanging bars which can be screwed to the bottom of the upper cabinet. Depending on the height of the washer/dryer you might have to raise your sink base.
Our laundry room is small and is a major pass through from main house to powder room to garage and side door. There is no floor space to set up a drying rack and I prefer most of my tops to be air-dried. Originally we had a hanging closet bar over the washer/dryer but eventually we invested in the Lofti drying rack pulley system and its awesome but i’m sure this is something you could DIY if it made sense in the space. https://thenewclotheslinecompany.com/collections/lofti-laundry-drying-system/products/lofti-laundry-drying-system-white
We have a top load washer but I wish we had the space to have a folding counter so I could fold as I switch the laundry. Would you put a counter over your washer/dryer since they are front load?
I LOVE the combo closet/laundry room. The room is certainly big enough and it’s just so practical. I know some other commenters have voiced concerns about dust/lint, but I never had had these issues. Perhaps it’s a venting issue? but you should have fairly easy access for venting the dryer to the outside wall.
Anyway I have one single suggestion, if you can figure out how to do it…I really wish I had a pull out trash cabinet right beside our dryer, so that emptying the lint is convenient. We have cabinets around our laundry machines, but designed the trash cabinet to be on the far side of the sink, away from the dryer. It would be much more convenient if the pull out trash was right by the dryer. I didn’t think of it until after everything was installed and I used it for the first time. It only takes a few steps so it is not a big deal – just not optimal. Since you’re designing from scratch, I just thought I would mention it.
My only question is which cabinet is the shoe tower storage? 🙂 assuming the one closest to the door. That’s important!
Yep, the one by the door, with some space for overflow if needed on the one perpendicular to it. I don’t know that I have enough sweaters and purses to fill up one cabinet, but I could certainly fill up the rest of the shelves with shoes. 🤪
My laundry has some of the features you are hoping for. I had the cabinet maker install a closet rod between the two cabinets above the sink. It’s great for hanging items that need to drip dry as the water drips into the sink. I always have extra hangers hanging on the rod too for easy access to hang items.
Kristi, this is just beyond! I was one who wondered why not include the new bedroom/closet area to the addition, especially since you could then go straight out into your back yard for your morning “toes in the grass” time. But if you’ve weighed the options and found that one wanting, that’s good enough for me!
We have added small hooks a few times for me in different laundry areas (a small hall off the dining room; the garage; other places were it was difficult/next to impossible to add a hanging bar), which can push up against the wall when not in use. Not sure what they’re called but this is one I found when googling:
Franklin Brass Oval Extend-a-Hook Expandable Single Wall Hook
It comes in different styles (ours were just plain straight chrome) and attaches to the wall. It slides up, almost flat against the wall or door frame when not in use, and then when you pull it down it becomes a bar to hang stuff on. You have plenty of space so this may not be what you need, but in small or awkward spaces like I’ve had in the past, it was great. Now, and in the distant past, I actually had enough room to mount a rod for hanging stuff out of the dryer. Right now I use an old rolling rack because our laundry area is also our storage area and there’s plenty of room.
Keep on keeping on! You’re a great inspiration.
The window is tall enough for a desk, so I’d put a nice long dresser there (I estimate you have at least 9′ or 10′ between cabinets on each side) or I’d put an island in the middle of the room with drawers in it that could double as folding counter. Then I’d eliminate all drawers on the IKEA on the left, make everything hanging and have the two skinnier ones flank 3 deeper ones (symmetry) on the left-hand wall. Nothing on the wall beside the door except maybe bars or hooks that you could hang your beaded creations/necklaces from or maybe some hanging shoe rack organizers. I think this would make it more functional and aesthetic.
I love the idea of a pretty dresser under the window! I really had my heart set on an island, but I don’t know that I can make it work. I figured that I need to keep a minimum of three feet between cabinets. The cabinets on the side walls are 2′ deep, and the room is 11’4″ wide, so that leaves 7’4″ of floor space between the closet side and the laundry side. If I leave 3′ on each side, that only leaves 16″ for an island. That’s pretty narrow. UNLESS…I don’t actually need 3 feet between cabinets. If I could go 2.5 feet between cabinets, I could do an island with countertop that’s 28 inches wide and several feet long. I’m not sure if that would work, though. Matt wouldn’t be able to get in there, but he doesn’t do laundry or need access to a closet.
Sorry, I misread and switched the 11′ with the 15′! That does make a huge difference. On the left, maybe three deeper ones in the middle with drawers on bottom flanked by two shallow ones with vertical storage around the window and or entry door like hooks or those very shallow shoe hangers fastened to the wall (that’s what I did instead of hanging it over the back of my closet door; just took off the hangers and screwed them against the wall). It would be so pretty to see all your necklaces hanging on either the window or door wall too. No dresser since it probably wouldn’t work. I’d purge my clothes to fit into just that much storage instead of trying to fit more storage into the room. You could also do seasonal swaps by storing out-of-season clothes in zippered boxes under the bed. It’s nice to not have to paw through everything all the time and just have out what you are using.
Be sure you get enough space for hang up clothes. I know you have lots of clothes and many, many shoes. Make room for all of that.
In the laundry area be sure to have some counter space for folding. Think twice about putting a counter over the washer & dryer. Very hard to move them out if you have a repair.
What has happened with your workshop? One blog was it was going to be delivered that week. Then we have heard nothing about it. Did you change your mind?
I have the same front loaders in my utility room. I do have a “counter” on top to prevent things from falling down behind or beside. Mine is just a cut-to-size sheet of 3/4″ plywood that can be removed if needed. It’s heavy enough that it doesn’t move, especially with bottles of detergent, etc on top in shallow totes like you’d stash under a bed. Very easy to remove when necessary. I would never recommend attaching it to the wall just for the reason you mentioned.
My workshop is being built Wednesday and Thursday of this week. It was supposed to be last week, but they had to reschedule.
“Think twice about putting a counter over the washer & dryer. Very hard to move them out if you have a repair.”
My sister remodeled their home to make an in-law suite for our mother. Mother’s kitchenette also contained washer/dryer (both front loading) and my sister put a formica countertop over them, and it was somehow hinged to allow access. The remainder of the kitchenette had granite but it was deemed too heavy for easy lifting for the folding spot.
Definitely doable for Kristi!
Looks like you have room for an island in the middle with storage.
Probably not, with the need to be able to maneuver Matt around through there. Having a wheelchair-bound person to maneuver around means having to maintain much more open space than most people are used to maintaining (or imagining in their mind’s eye)! Far better to have a little too much space than too little, because once things are built in, it’s costly and difficult to remove anything.
I agree that Matt’s maneuverability is a top concern. That being said, how about adding a rolling island that could act as a folding table in addition to providing additional storage?
Love the laundry room dressing room combo – it will be super convenient. Three suggestions:
1) put in a hamper with sections for darks colored whites somewhere
2) a dressing floor to ceiling mirror
3) have you considered some sort of island – the room certainly seems big enough for a slim one to house jewelry etc
I have a closet in my laundry room that I love! It stores the empty hangers and allows for hanging up items to dry without a separate rack.
I love that room! My next question is: are you on a septic system or a city sewer? If septic, you can save yourself alot of money in the future by discharging the washer’s graywater out into the yard. One of the things that kills a drainfield is lots of extra water. Also using Pods or other detergent in dissolvable plastic. The microplastic particles gradually forms, literally, a plastic sheet in the dirt under the drainfield and can kill a drainfield in about 5 years since the water has no place to go. Just because something dissolves, doesn’t mean it disappears. It just changes into a different form. In this case it becomes molecules of plastic.
If on sewer, continue to drain as planned but ditch the Pods there too. Sewer treatment plants do not filter out the plastics and they are getting into our water systems. Microplastics also are being found in the human body. Testicles, vascular system and who knows what else.
Love seeing the plans! Don’t forget to add something to fold clothes on! If you prefer to sit, it could be a table and chair or I’ve often wished for a long folding counter
You will love having the washer and dryer in your closet—we just had a laundry area installed in the ante area (for lack of a better term) between our master bath and bedroom—it is so wonderful just taking clothes out of the dryer and hanging them in the closet or folding them in the dresser drawers without taking everything through the house! I even bought a laundry cart with a hanging bar across the top to help moving (since we are both getting older with back issues)!
Something to think about. I wish my front loaders were on pedestals so I didn’t have to bend over to load/unload. It would be so much easier if the openings were at waist/hip height. It might not be a problem for you now, but but I now have lower back issues and it has becomes harder to bend over and get all those clothes out. The pedestals would add another layer of lower storage but might interfere with your top cabinets (depending on how high they are) and would definitely interfere with the countertop running across the top of the appliances. Most appliance sets have the pedestals available that fit the set or you are talented enough to build them custom to fit your needs. Just something else to consider … and you may have already thought about it and decided against it.
I wanted to suggest that you put a pull down or pull out drying/hanging rack in the space outside your closet/laundry room, against the wall that backs up to the hall/guest bathroom. This way, you can dry clothes and not have the dampness be a problem for your clothes and also, your leather shoes!
Years ago, I rented a house in a humid climate for the summer with friends, and when we moved out, I found that a number of my leather shoes had a green sheen of mold on them, from the humidity in there! I know you have good air conditioning and heating, but you should do everything you can to keep your laundry room/closet dry, including moving damp clothes out of there as soon as they come out of the washing machine.
A vent fan might be a good idea.
I would rethink the no doors idea with the laundry across the room. There is always fine lint floating in my laundry room, and I imagine your clothes always getting lint on them. If nothing else, I would maybe do flat fabric panels to protect the clothes.
If you have space, you might consider a floating piece of furniture in the center. A kitchen island on casters, for example, with open shelves or enclosed cabinets. A place to fold clothes and store handbags, hats, scarves, etc. I know you plan on having a countertop over the washer and dryer, but a flexible work surface might be useful.
(I have four in my basement quilting space 😁)
I’m going to break from the crowd and urge you to reconsider your closet plans. You’ve shown us time and again that you have a tendency to pile things up and deal with them later (and I say this without negative judgement because I have the same tendency). Think of your bedroom closets before you redid the storage, the closet in your studio, or your sunroom. Having a nice new closet space isn’t going to magically change that — ask me how I know. Is this realistically enough storage for your clothing? Are you really going to be happy having it all on open display, or would the tendency to pile things up in an un-aesthetic way make you want to avoid the room, or have it devolve into another sunroom-like place where random things pile up and decrease the usability of the room?
I also personally feel that the L shaped corner closet shelves are not harmonious with the rest of the wall. I think the mismatched depth will stand out more in person. Frankly I’m shocked that your professed need for symmetry didn’t speak up on this one either! IMO you can build something yourself for that corner that will be more attractive and useful than the current layout.
My mom’s #1 dream was a combined laundry/closet. When we built her “grandma apartment” she got it. A year and a half in, she absolutely loves it. Everyone who tours her house loves it. It wouldn’t work well for a family (unless you did a shared family closet?!), but for a single or a couple, it’s amazing. You’re going to love it!
How exciting! Our combo closet and laundry room is laid out nearly identically vis-a-vis the machines, adjacent cabinets and sink. We have a closet rod over the sink which does double duty, holding hangars at the ready and being a convenient place where linen shirts, etc. can drip dry. I love having the closet and laundry areas co-located. Cheers!
I think it looks heavenly to have all the clothing from clean to dirty to clean all in one place. My dirty stuff is on one side of the house, with the washing machine outside the house on the other side, and then we have to bring in the wet stuff inside to the dryer ( know, crazy, but that’s where the hook-ups are. I think the original owner preferred to line-dry most things outside). That said, I have two thoughts, more like questions, I guess. I think the tall, narrow cabinet is a great idea, but wonder why it’s not as deep as the washer/dryer, especially if you want a drying rack to fit in there, with vacuum, etc. I often wonder that about cabinets around fridges, too. Why do most fridges stick out so much, unless you buy the expensive counter-depth ones. My other thought was regarding the sink. In the plan it looks like your basic shallow, kitchen sink. I have found it more functional to have a deep utility-style sink in the laundry area. Just a thought – I really enjoy hearing your planning and thought process as you work things out even before building them.