Our Tiny Laundry v A Great Butlers Pantry

Our house started with a decent size laundry next to the kitchen but a really basic cupboard/pantry in the kitchen. We opted to divide the laundry in half (we know someone else has done this with this house plan) and have ended up with a laundry that measures a mere 1150 x 1600. It will be accessed by a cavity slider through the now 1650 x 1600 butlers pantry, has a window but no external door. We have a normal sized tub but its turned around 500W x 600L and my washing machine is 620 so theres just enough room for those. There is a glass slider really close so I don't think thats an issue. I had hoped to make it a 50/50 split but because of the cavity slider from the kitchen into the pantry its just not fesible. It doesn't bother me personally having such a small laundry, my husband is a very clever cabinetmaker and hes going to build overhead cupboards and a benchtop (yes, even in that small space) but I worry about resale which we plan to do in the next 2 years. I'm hoping people will be wowed by the butlers pantry instead. Would such a small laundry be a deciding point if you were looking to buy?

You should post up the plans with both scenarios so we can comment further.
Personally I'd stick with a half decent laundry and smaller pantry rather than the other way round. I think it also depends on how much storage you already have in your kitchen.
We went to an open for inspection recently for a very nice new home but off the large downstairs bathroom they had built basically a laundry in a cupboard. We talked to a couple of others there who couldn't understand why they had done that either. It seemed to be a strange choice seeing as the house was five bedrooms and marketed as "a family home of generous proportions".

Stewie

It really comes down to the specific layout, and how usable each of those spaces are. Space-efficient pantries don't feel a generous space to walk through, so by the time your pantry is also the access to the laundry, it may not be all that efficient for storage anyhow. Another alternative may be to have just the laundry, but with cabinetry to allow flexibility to use part of it as pantry storage.

Personally I wou,d not buy a house with a small laundry as I would not fit in all my white goods.


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Based on the number of people I've had ask if I'm having a big laundry it could be an issue, people seem to like the idea of big ones.

Personally though, of all the laundrys i've had my current one (rental) is my fav and its' not much more than a cupboard (1200x1800), it has really good access though, double bi-fold doors off the kitchen/dining so it doesn't feel small. It fits the tub, frontloader and dryer comfortably across the back. Less mess can build up in a small laundry!

If its a big house 4 beds or more I think people might question it.

Hi 1st-timers,

From a resale value i would make sure that the laundry can fit at least a washing machine (keep in mind top loaders need room above for the door to open whilst front loaders will need space for the door to swing open) along with a dryer. These 2 items are now almost standard in most households so if there isn't enough space (1150 x 1600 will struggle to have both i suspect) you will find difficult when it comes to resale.

Also not having direct outside access from the laundry would be an issue for me but thats a personal thing.

The tub and my washing machine side-by-side combined measure 1130mm and I do have quite a large washing machine. There will be a space of 1m in front of them. We've left the dividing wall between the pantry and laundry out of the plans with the idea of making up our mind about how we want to proceed once the house is built. I'm hoping to post a picture in the next few days once my printer issues are sorted.