<p>W/D on the second floor has been a fantastic life style enhancement for me. We put ours in an overflow pan connected to outside drain so we didn’t have to worry about leaks. I don’t have a laundry room, just a nook in the dressing room/closet area. I have rods up at an easy, reaching above my head height, for hand washables on hangers or draped intimates. The nook is out of sight from the main dressing room area. I have a GE space saver stack unit (top loader) which is fairly quiet but shakes my entire house, even rattling the windows. A friend has the miele washer- front loader, which he loves, especially since he likes to hang laundry and it is almost dry when it comes out. His laundry is on second floor and the miele shakes his house, too. I don’t know how loud it is. I could check.</p>
<p>My mother had a stacked washer-dryer in a closet between her kitchen and dining room - you could close the louver doors and it wasn’t too noisy. If I put one in the kitchen and had space, I’d put a pair side by side with a cabinet over for storage and you can use the tops of the machines for spare socks. Then I’d hide the whole shebang behind doors to keep it out of sight.</p>
<p>My laundry is in the basement down a flight of twisty not to code stairs and it’s very easy to forget the laundry. I’m sure I’d forget it less often if it was upstairs!</p>
<p>Mathmom, that’s what we’re pondering doing in the new house: putting a tiny purpose-built laundry room, big enough for side by side w/d (with a small shelf across the top), into an area that seems to be turning into sort of a butler’s pantry, on the way from the front entrance to the kitchen.</p>
<p>Right now my machines are also in the basement, down a not to code staircase which doubles as our coat closet, so it’s also an obstacle course. Bedrooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Some days I appreciate the workout; other days not so much.</p>
<p>Re machines and noise: I have front-loading Westinghouses, and they’re super quiet, but the washer does rock/vibrate. On the plus side, things really are nearly dry when they come out.</p>
<p>I’m also looking to remodel my kitchen and I don’t even know where to get started. Do I go to some remodelers and request their estimate? Do they charge for this initial assessment? How do I get estimates so I can make some decisions? (Yes, I feel totally overwhelmed!)</p>
<p>We want to complete remodel. No structural changes, but sure would like some options other than our current layout. I’ve seen several remodels of houses similar to mine, but none that said “that’s what I want” to me.</p>
<p>I want easy to maintain, lots of storage solutions and retain an area to eat in the kitchen. </p>
<p>I really need a complete interior renovation! I guess one step at a time!!! We may just start with a bathroom to dip our toes in the water, so to speak! :)</p>
<p>VAMom, it depends a little bit on where you live. If you are considering moving walls you should start with an architect. Most architects will have an initial meeting with you without charging. You see if you click with them, you can look at their portfolios if you like as well, or check out their websites. A good remodeling architect IMO is not wedded to a particular style or approach, they talk to the client and figure out their needs. Some kitchens have two cooks, some are really only used for heating up stuff in the microwave, some are really the center of family life, others not so much.</p>
<p>You can also work with a certifiied kitchen designer - they’ll likely be more familiar with cabinets styles and inserts. I’m not so I usually come up with the basic plan and then send my clients off to talk to the people who sell cabinets to refine my outlines. I usually charge by the hour, but also give a top sum based on the maximum number of hours a job should take. I’d stay away from anyone whose price structure incentivizes them to sell you more stuff.</p>
<p>We have main floor laundry and I go back and forth between wanting it upstairs or not. I am closer to the machines during the day so I think main floor is better for now. I want to move into a ranch style house and have main floor everything :D.</p>
<p>If you put your laundry near living space, ask the builder to put insulation in the interior walls for sound absorption.</p>
<p>VAMom, we did a complete reno last year. It involved the entire main and second floor of the house and we moved out for seven months. A simple explanation of our process. We started our research in January interviewing general contractors. We determined what our budget was and after deciding on a general contractor, he came up with a proposal contract. He’s been in the business for 30+ years in our area and arranged for a designer who he has often worked with, to draw up plans for our kitchen and master bath - 3 designs for each. That was the extent of the involvement for that designer. All other design elements were discussed, explored, and shopped for, with another designer he recommended. That’s the very short version of the beginning of the process. I’d be happy to answer any questions or share any of our experiences if you’re interested.</p>
<p>That was just the start of the process. It was nearly a full-time job for me for several months! Lots of fun, though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions on getting started. I’ve had one GC come in and he’s working up an estimate. I’m deciding on others to get estimates from. I figure I’d like to talk to at least 3 different companies/GC’s so I can get an idea of prices and such.</p>
<p>Here’s something I’m pondering based on the GC’s comments and others in the neighborhood. What do you think about an island/table combo versus just an island (or peninsula, which i have now) and a separate table? I have a fairly small kitchen (12x15) so any ways of opening up the space, finding more storage, etc would be helpful. I’m limited because there are two windows on one wall (one over sink area and one in dine-in area), a door to the garage, an opening to the dining room and an opening to the family room.</p>
<p>Will a table be better or barstools that use the island as an eating area?? I’ve seen it done both ways in my exact kitchen layout and I’m not sure which is better. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so opening it up more (which I think the island would do) is nice, but we also spend a lot of time at the kitchen table (eating every day, kids doing homework, etc). We do have a formal dining room, so we would still have a table if we removed the kitchen table.</p>
<p>Thoughts???</p>
<p>All you have to do is have a drain in the floor and a leaky washer is not a problem. Actually it’s worse in my basement, where I don’t see the damage until the end of the cycle and I have so much stuff in cardboard boxes on the floor. (I should know better.) Just had the plumber in this week because my laundry sink was not draining.</p>
<p>As to the island question - 12’ is minimal for an island. You have presumablely 4’ of counters on both sides of the rooms, minimally 6’ of aisles which only leaves 2’ for your island unless you don’t have counters on one side of your kitchen. Assuming counters on only one side. I think an island is nice with seating on one side and the work area on the counter side. I think though being lined up at a counter is not as nice as being around a kitchen table. But if it’s mostly just the two of you, you might prefer sitting at an island. There’s not one right answer. I’ve almost convinced myself that what I want is a kitchen cart that I can move around and not a big giant island in my way.</p>
<p>We like our layout and wouldn’t move a thing but it’s very tired. Granite does wear out, actually. And the cabinetry is very worn out, resurfacing is not an option. So I’m starting to commence to begin to solicit quotes on an upgrade. Want to keep the cost down as much as possible. The kitchen is really well positioned, great light and good space. I don’t need the greatest appliances, just solid ones. The refrigerator is fine and so is the dishwasher which we just replaced.</p>
<p>VAMom - we have a kitchen with a peninsula and a kitchen table. I was very much in love with the idea of an island - tried my best to fit one in. It seemed to work ok in the pictures I drew up with the dimensions. But when I used a similarly setup island in my friend’s house, we realized how impractical it was, given that we didn’t have enough room around the island. So, we opted to keep the peninsula and the kitchen table.</p>
<p>If you want some great ideas/suggestions, go to the gardenweb forums. Good way to waste a lot of time too :)</p>
<p>We didn’t have room for a table and a peninsula. We went with the peninsula, and it totally opened up the space! It’s beautiful, and we can still eat around it, work on it, or whatever needs to be done. The extra counter space for food prep is priceless. I don’t really miss the table. But we’re only a family of 3, so that may make a difference.</p>