New homes have Cafe room.....
#11
Member
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: OH-IO
Posts: 37
Not just a broom closet, but a BIG utility room, with a big rug to hold all the muddy shoes and wet coats. To hold the piles of dirty laundry waiting to be washed, and the drying rack never has to be drug out and put together. A room that never has to be cleaned, but stores all the cleaning supplies. I really want one!
#12
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 9,418
I have a friend who lives in a 3-bedroom house, just her husband and herself, and they did something I thought absolutely brilliant. They took one of the bedrooms and turned it into a walk-in closet/laundry room. Built-in dressers were installed on 2 sides of the room, there was a space for hanging shirts, dresses etc on the third side, and they put the washer and dryer in the center of the room. Sooooo easy to wash and put away clothes!
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Delaware
Posts: 953
When my husband built our new house, he made the Laundry room the same size as our bedroom. I thought he had lost his mind but as usual he had a good idea. Since it is at the back of the house, no one sees it but us. Our dressers and clothes rods are all in the laundry room to make it easier to put away everything. We dry everything on a clothes line throughout the year so the dryer doesn't get much, hardly any, use. The have replaced the washer twice but the dryer could be 30 years old and still be brand new! LOL We have a big farm kitchen, makes sense since we are farmers, and you are all welcome to stop by for a cuppa from my kitchen counter coffee maker anytime you are in the area. No Cafe room here.
#15
When we bought this place, the door from the garage opened into an alcove that had a large closet, and washer and dryer with the half bath entrance on one end and the kitchen entrance on the other. Drove me crazy!! There was no way to close it off from the kitchen, no place to sort clothes, no place to hang those few things that couldn't go in the dryer and no room to put the bags down after grocery shopping. It was always a mess.
The reno started pretty quickly. We gutted the back half of the house, made the small dining room and small kitchen into one large eat in kitchen with a island. We cut back the wall that separated the garage entry from the kitchen, moved the laundry area to the second floor guest bathroom (it is huge and had two sinks!) That gave us room to put in a bench and boot rack. A portion of the closet became my broom closet with space for the Dyson plus central vac hose.
One thing to be aware of, if you decide to move a laundry area--make sure that the structure is adequate for the strength of your washer's spin cycle. If it is not, you will feel the vibrations throughout the house. Found that out the hard way, in our previous house.
The reno started pretty quickly. We gutted the back half of the house, made the small dining room and small kitchen into one large eat in kitchen with a island. We cut back the wall that separated the garage entry from the kitchen, moved the laundry area to the second floor guest bathroom (it is huge and had two sinks!) That gave us room to put in a bench and boot rack. A portion of the closet became my broom closet with space for the Dyson plus central vac hose.
One thing to be aware of, if you decide to move a laundry area--make sure that the structure is adequate for the strength of your washer's spin cycle. If it is not, you will feel the vibrations throughout the house. Found that out the hard way, in our previous house.
#16
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: The Finger Lakes of upstate NY
Posts: 3,457
I'd never heard of it before, so did a bit of research. On the floor plan of the homes in the link, it appears to be the only eating area (at least on the ones I looked at, but I didn't look at them all). What Mr. Google provided makes me think that it's a more casual style of place to eat than a formal dining room.... Kind of like an eat in kitchen would be, but cushier. Possibly upholstered chairs and a small tables, sofa, etc., as might be found in cozy neighborhood coffee shops. I think younger homeowners look at formal dining rooms as a space that doesn't fit their lifestyle, so it's just a different label to encourage folks to realize that the space normally defined as a dining room can be used in other ways.
#17
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 9,541
I'd never heard of it before, so did a bit of research. On the floor plan of the homes in the link, it appears to be the only eating area (at least on the ones I looked at, but I didn't look at them all). What Mr. Google provided makes me think that it's a more casual style of place to eat than a formal dining room.... Kind of like an eat in kitchen would be, but cushier. Possibly upholstered chairs and a small tables, sofa, etc., as might be found in cozy neighborhood coffee shops. I think younger homeowners look at formal dining rooms as a space that doesn't fit their lifestyle, so it's just a different label to encourage folks to realize that the space normally defined as a dining room can be used in other ways.
#18
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 15,988
IT was directly across from the kitchen but a very large room.
My house has that room right off the kitchen and breakfast room with no practical use. The realtor said it was a Morning Room. The last owners used it after breakfast to read the newspaper, etc to get ready for the day. We use it as a playroom for the grands right now. I have no idea what to do with it. My husband said maybe a pool table or ping pong. We have a formal dining room so don't need another. And my husband has room he uses as an office (he pays the bill in it) and I have a sewing room.
My house has that room right off the kitchen and breakfast room with no practical use. The realtor said it was a Morning Room. The last owners used it after breakfast to read the newspaper, etc to get ready for the day. We use it as a playroom for the grands right now. I have no idea what to do with it. My husband said maybe a pool table or ping pong. We have a formal dining room so don't need another. And my husband has room he uses as an office (he pays the bill in it) and I have a sewing room.