Where Should Laundry Go?
Ok, fellow brownstoners, you have helped me in the past. Here is another question… I am currently finishing up schematic plans for renovating a 20X37 brownstone in Cobble Hill. Going from a bottom duplex with two rentals on top floor to a triplex with a garden rental. We are a family of four. Here’s the…
Ok, fellow brownstoners, you have helped me in the past. Here is another question…
I am currently finishing up schematic plans for renovating a 20X37 brownstone in Cobble Hill. Going from a bottom duplex with two rentals on top floor to a triplex with a garden rental. We are a family of four. Here’s the question…where should the laundry go? Initially, I thought top floor where the kds bedrooms are, but my architect says we will have to have a stackable unit if we keep the laundry near the bathroom where all the plumbing lies. Otherwise, I CAN move it to the other side of the building but it will cost a lot and be a big pain to bring the plumbing down through four floors to the basement. Plus, that seems like valuable real estate for something as prosaic as laundry. I am now inclined to put it in my not great basement but that will mean taking the downstairs hall away from the tenant. Or, rather, sharing it. And it will mean a lot of stairs for this lazy person (me). And it will mean upgrading the basement.
Curious to hear how others have solved this conundrum? Many thanks.
Pianopiano- it might cause problems for OP to put her laundry on ground floor in tenant’s GARDEN RENTAL, what with having to go in and out of the tenant’s apartment to do the laundry. Enough to make this lazy person use a laundry service, or for a tenant to expect a significant discount on the rent.
PUT THE LAUNDRY WHERE THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF DIRTY CLOTHES/SHEETS/TOWELS come from and WHERE THE (LAUNDERED) CLEAN CLOTHES/SHEETS/TOWELS will go to. Probably the kids floor.
And DO NOT PUT IT IN THE BASEMENT UNLESS YOU ARE CRAZY OR ARE SIMPLY LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE IN HOME “GREEN” AND CORDLESS STAIR MASTER TYPE EXPERCIZE REGIME that also involves getting clean clothes dirty on the way up the stairs, as well as the opportunity to trip over the dirty socks that fell out of your laundry basket as you make your way back up the stairs with your now clean — well, they were clean until you tripped and fractured a few bones – and folded – well, it was folded until you tripped etc — laundry.
Just my two cents.
Sorry to shout.
We could have squeezed stackables on the bedroom floor, but opted for full size laundry in the basement three 1/2 flights down. The stairs are a pain, I give you that. But it’s nice to have a full size laundry room, and the drainage sink did back up once causing the entire room to fill with 1/2 inch of water. That, in and of itself, made it worth having in the basement, as I can’t imagine the headache that would have caused on the top floor.
We put our laundry on the garden level, next to the kitchen. I love being able to multi-task, all in the space where I spend the most time. I don’t spend enough time during the day on the bedroom floor to make it worthwhile to put the laundry there.
Ground floor next to the kitchen and, more important, next to the garden where you can dry the clothes without using the dryer, smells better and save the fabric..
No infants
I would love to have a full size laundry next to my kitchen, as I do most of the laundry, but I am grateful for a full laundry on the top floor w/ the kids’ rooms. It tends to get messy, and I don’t have to carry clothes up and down stairs. However clothes do get left in the washer or dryer longer than I would wish. I am glad I moved the machines out of the basement, as that seems like the most hauling of clothes, etc, and still not convenient (ie. next to kitchen. Like most things you have to be honest about how you really live before you can decide what to do.
I’d vote for upstairs. Stackable is fine and takes less real estate.
On a bedroom floor, no question. Our bedrooms are on the top floor (two flights above the parlor, that is); if it were in the cellar, it would be four flights of stairs. Kids do generate the most laundry, and having the facilities right next to our two-year-old’s bedroom is a godsend.
I agree that a full size laundry room with space for washer,dryer, hanging clothes, flat drying and storage is worth going up and downstairs. Mine is on our garden floor, in the extension off the kitchen and frankly now that the kids are teens they lug their own clothes up and downstairs. I can multi-task by doing laundry and cooking at the same time, and we don’t every worry about forgetting clothes in the laundry as we are in and out of the kitchen several times a day. Another thing to think about (especially if kids are using the appliances) is that in the event of a water leak or overflow situation, having the w/d upstairs may be a bit problematic.
One creative solution I saw to the lugging the laundry conundrum was a house with a laundry chute/dumbwaiter to the basement laundry room. If you have the space that might be a nifty alternative.
Only place to put it is on the top floor near the kids rooms. It is the best thing that I have ever done. Makes life so much easier!