Upstairs Laundry

[Anonymous]

We are renovating/putting an addition on a house and have a chance to put the laundry upstairs. I love the idea of laundry upstairs, but the only place for it would be in the master bath or master closet. is it worth it? Would it impact your opinion if the nanny does the kids' laundry? Also, DH and I both WOH FT so we are doing laundry on the weekends usually. We might do it at night, but I doubt it since I wouldn't want to have to hear it while sleeping. Thanks for any input!

[Anonymous]

Where is it now? the previous owners moved the washer/dryer from the basement to a nook by the kitchen and I *love* having the laundry right there. I wouldn't want it up on the sleeping level - I don't really see it as a huge inconvenience to carry laundry up and downstairs. (maybe you could include a laundry chute in your renovation?)

[Anonymous]

it's in the basement now, and we can turn it into a nice laundry room. not sure if we can make a chute, but that is an interesting idea!

[Anonymous]

This is the #1 best feature of my house compared to previous homes. (Ok, tied with the main floor powder room.) I LOVE being able to take laundry out of the dryer and carry it 10 feet to the bed, then take two steps to put the folded laundry away. Laundry is now my favorite household chore, which it most assuredly was not when I had the machines in the basement.

[Anonymous]

Leave the laundry downstairs and put a smaller one upstairs. That way you can have a bigger one for big things too.

[Anonymous]

I love having a laundry room upstairs - LOVE IT - but I would not want it in my closet.

[Anonymous]

We love having sleeping level laundry, but you don't want it in your master bath/closet. First, there are occasions when you may need to do laundry when someone is sleeping (e.g. need a certain piece of clothing for tomorrow and you forgot to wash it during the day, or one of the parents wants to take a nap after a long hard morning and that's the day to do laundry, etc). One thing they don't tell you is that laundry is louder when you have it on the sleeping level. When it is in the basement, it is usually on a concrete slab or floor. When it is on the 2nd level, it is on wood. While the floor seems solid enough, it will still vibrate more than the concrete will. Even the gentle, quiet cycle machines designed for upper levels will still be louder. We never use high spin speed anymore because it sounds like a spaceship taking off. Medium spin is tolerable, but is still a low hum. In our case, the laundry is across the hall from the bedrooms and there is either a hallway or another room (the bathroom) between the laundry and any of the bedrooms. That's what makes it okay to sleep with a laundry cycle running. If it was next door or in the master bath/closet, then you would have to run it when no one was trying to sleep.

Also, if someone else, like a nanny may be doing some laundry, you want it outside your bedroom. You don't want someone to need to use the master bath when someone else is doing laundry, e.g. in the summer, I mow the lawn or do yardwork and need to shower afterwards, and my wife may need to do a lot of kids laundry on the weekend...would be a pain to have to share the bathroom, even worse if it is someone other than the spouses.

[Anonymous]

I'm 21:22 and will note that my laundry is in its own little closet, carved out of part of a hallway and part of a small closet in the master bedroom. It is accessible only from the hallway. If you're already renovating that part of the house, consider moving a few walls a little bit to create a dedicated space. I don't think I'd like to just plop the machines in a closet which would otherwise be for clothing and such.

I never do laundry while I'm sleeping-- I want to get it out ASAP to prevent wrinkling-- but I don't find the noise/ vibration to be at all problematic. And I have cheap builder-grade kenmores.

[Anonymous]

Just moved into a house where the laundry room/pantry is off the kitchen. The master BR is around the corner, also on the ground floor.

Two BRs are upstairs and one BR is in the basement. Since I'm in the master, I love having laundry close by.

[Anonymous]

I have the laundry upstairs, but the builder sound proofed the walls of the laundry room, very much like a movie room. We also have a pretty extensive fire alarm system so we do laundry often at night and throw it in the dryer when sleeping.

[Anonymous]

I'd want a second set upstairs but wouldn't want to give up the basement set because I'd rather have guests do their dirties with privacy. Not in the middle of my kitchen or master.

Also we let our nanny do all her laundry at our home and wouldn't want her hanging out in our closet all the time.