We are renovating our house and considering design options now including what to do about laundry. We have a full fledge laundry room in the basement with cabinetry and a sink. I can't say that I love lugging the laundry up and down the stairs now, but I make it work. In this renovation I did want a laundry option that would be more convenient. However, we cannot do a large laundry room on the second floor without sacrificing a bedroom. We decided to take over a linen closet by the hall bathroom upstairs to do stackable units. We'll keep our space in the basement for the time being.

I'm a little torn about losing the linen closet upstairs.
I've been thinking about putting it in a mudroom/pantry we are contemplating near the kitchet, but our architect didn't think it was a good idea for some reason. We didn't explore it in-depth.

Basement. Your toddler will grow up and the basement laundry will become easier.

NP here. I'll weigh in because in our three houses, we have had each of the three options, LOL. In one house it was in the basement--IMO, worst option. You're always lugging laundry up and downstairs, have to interrupt what you're doing to switch loads, etc. In another house we had a laundry room on the first level--but that was in another city where we had a garage and then a laundry/mudroom in the entrance from the garage. It was great to have a laundry room, and in that hosue it was off the family room so that was fairly convenient, although you still had to carry laundry up and down one level (but better than two levels to the basement). In our house now we have a stackable in a closet on the bedroom level, and that is definitely the most convenient--no carrying laundry, the W/D is right by the linen closet, we're obviously on that level often so not inconvenient to actually do the laundry. the main drawback is without a doubt that it is a closet and not an actual laundry room, so as a PP said, we have to fold on the bed, and hang delicates in our bathroom or kids' bathroom. Noise/vibration hasn't proven to be a problem at all. Hope this helps!

Anonymous wrote:We looked at a house a while back that had full size units in the basement and smaller stackables in a hall closet near the master bedroom.

This is like our house. Once a week I take all of the laundry downstairs and wash it, usually over a couple of days. If I need something done quickly, I use the upstairs unit. I like having both but we are a big family of 5 with teenage boys who play sports. We frequently have both units going at once.

My absolute favorite arrangement would be a large laundry room on the third level with the bedrooms. But, I wouldn't want to do all of the laundry in our master bedroom, it would be a mess all of the time.

We have a 3-level home. Laundry room is on the 3rd floor -- where all the laundry is. Noise is NOT an issue, ever. And if it is, it's only for an hour, loads don't last for 8 hour sleep cycles.

I like PP will never drag loads up and down flights of stairs!! Everyone that sees it loves it . Also keeps dirty laundry out of kitchen you can sort upstairs away from guests etc if you have pop in visitors.

Our old house had it in the basement (2 level house), and it was a pain. Our new house has a laundry room with stacked units in a closet in the hallway upstairs near the bedrooms. I love it! So convenient. No schlepping up and down the stairs.

My preference in order:
1. Top floor where bedrooms are
2. Main level where kitchen is
3. Basement (this would be tough- even though our basement is finished, I don't spend much time down there)

We looked at a house a while back that had full size units in the basement and smaller stackables in a hall closet near the master bedroom.

Bedroom level.

Anonymous wrote:I would leave it depending on cost. Or, I would keep it and go for option 2. Remember the toddlers are only young for a few years. When my son was 2-3 I would not leave him. Now at 4-5, I can leave him and worst case he will be at the baby gate to the basement asking to help. A lot changes quickly with young kids.

Exactly. Once your toddler becomes a preschooler, you can leave long enough to treat a stain and run a load or move one.