Advice needed - door placement

[Deleted]

We are getting ready to move to Phase 2 of our laundry room to pantry conversion. All of the plumbing and everything has been put in place in the basement to move the washer and dryer down there, and then we'll be ready to do the actual work to convert this room to a pantry. 

The current laundry room is a step down from the kitchen and is on the same level as our garage. We are planning to build up the floor to bring it up to the same level as the kitchen. We will also raise up the floor of the 1/2 bath (located at the far end of the current laundry) and will then have a step down in to the garage. The wall where the washer and dryer are now currently will become a wall of cabinets and we'll also be expanding the 1/2 bath by approx 10" into the current laundry space. 

My question is about the back door and the door going in to the laundry room from the kitchen currently. My original plan was to leave the doorway from the kitchen to the laundry as is and put in a sliding barn door. But now I'm thinking and wondering if it might be better to actually open that doorway up even more so that it is even with the back door and have it much more open in to the new pantry space and would not do an actual door at all. As you can see, when the back door is open now, it actually partially blocks the doorway from the kitchen to the laundry. Then when we raise up the floor, and the back door, we'd also change it so that it swings open on the opposite side. 

Another idea we had was to block off where the backdoor is now currently, and actually relocate it to the wall where the watercooler and rooster picture is. But I'm not sure how that would work having our kitchen table there.

I hope that makes sense. What would you do?

[dutchgirl678]

Whatever you do, I would want to be able to close the door. The sound coming from the laundry room when using the washer or dryer will be much less when you can close a door.

[Deleted]

Jun 24, 2020 11:22:16 GMT -5 dutchgirl678 said:

Whatever you do, I would want to be able to close the door. The sound coming from the laundry room when using the washer or dryer will be much less when you can close a door.

The laundry is being relocated to the basement, it won't be in this room any more. We're tearing out what is in there, raising the floor, and turning it in to a pantry.

[dutchgirl678]

Sorry, I read over that part too quickly

[jinkies]

I think I am following. So the backdoor would then take people directly into your pantry?

I would remove the door between the kitchen and the pantry altogether. I might even consider removing the whole wall if that is an option? Or make it a half wall?

I think I would want the new pantry area to feel more like a continuation of the kitchen.

[Deleted]

Ok, so this picture is not to scale. I'm wondering if I should remove the section of wall that is circled. And also in the space that there is a question mark if I should relocate the back door there which would also enable me to put a whole other stack of cabinets in the pantry.

[simpsongal]

I don't think I would relocate the back door b/c I agree the flow w/the table there would not be ideal. Will the ceiling height be the same as the kitchen when you raise the floor?

As for the wall, I would probably remove it....or go for a wide cased opening. Arguments against removing it are more privacy for the bathroom (separation from the kitchen), or hiding mudroom type stuff (by the coatrack). You could also consider a pocket door there, but I'm guessing you wouldn't use it much.

[momin2013]

I think changing the swing of the back door will make a big difference, as then it will open into the cabinets instead of the doorway.

I wouldn’t love the idea of walking from the back door into my pantry, but if that would be preferable to you than walking into the eating area then I’d leave it where it is. Maybe you can make the pantry have a bit of a mud room feel inside the doorway with some hooks or cubbies (maybe on the wall that you’ve circled?)

I’d put a door or barn door going from the kitchen into the pantry; I don’t think you want it to be open between those two spaces.

[Deleted]

Thanks guys.

We don't ever use the back door except to go in to the backyard. So in the winter it's rarely used except for when I go out to the access the grill, in the summer it is accessed more frequently because of the pool, but it is definitely not used as an entrance to the house, when coming or going we literally only ever use the front door.

I agree that moving the door would make for somewhat awkward access, but changing the swing of the door is definitely an option I didn't consider.

I'm trying to convince my H that we should use a pocket door for the 1/2 bath, but he's not buying it.

The ceiling is the same height in both spaces, just the floor is down lower in the laundry/pantry area.

Another thing I am considering is enlarging and centering the door that goes from the kitchen to the new laundry and then using the barn door. My daughter told me that is the best idea since my kitchen is already "country" LOL

[lessel]

Assorted thoughts about things I might do...

• Change the swing on the door to the outside. It will make your storm door swing an opposite way, which generally annoys me for a front door where you might enter with an armload of groceries. But don't think it bothers me much for this case.
• Take the wall down to a half wall between eat-in-kitchen and what is effectively a new piece of your kitchen (currently laundry room). I feel like you'd basically be opening up and making a larger kitchen. (I'm cool with mudroom type stuff in that area. We don't have a mudroom in our house, so we have a little shoe/jacket station in our family room. I just try to keep it tidy.) I'd honestly be tempted to consider taking down that whole wall though. Probably worth an architect consult if you're working with one.
• Keep swing door on half bath. I'm considering a pocket door for our master bath and our architect is like, sure, that's fine for your room but don't put pocket doors for the bathrooms guests might access because they don't trust them. And, lol, I never trust pocket doors in people's houses!

[bridge5]

Changing doors, especially exterior doors, isn’t a small job. Even raising that door up will involve moving the header up so there will be wall damage inside and outside all around the door. That means things like patching siding. I see why you want to raise the floor but that opens a whole can of worms. What’s the plan for the bathroom? Are you gutting that as well? I wouldn’t want to keep a step down into the bathroom after raising the floor in the pantry.

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2020 11:30:27 GMT -5 bridge5 said:

Changing doors, especially exterior doors, isn’t a small job. Even raising that door up will involve moving the header up so there will be wall damage inside and outside all around the door. That means things like patching siding. I see why you want to raise the floor but that opens a whole can of worms. What’s the plan for the bathroom? Are you gutting that as well? I wouldn’t want to keep a step down into the bathroom after raising the floor in the pantry.

Luckily our neighbor is currently replacing their siding and gave us a few pieces of their old stuff because it matches ours, plus, we're residing our house next year, so I'm not overly concerned with how good it looks on the outside. 

We'll be completely tearing out the wall between the bathroom and laundry area, and raising the entire floor. We'll be bringing it up to be level with the kitchen which will create a step down in to the garage and on to the back patio. When we re-frame the bathroom we're going to make it about 10" wider than it is in there right now, because it's tiny. In doing so, we're also going to replumbing the bathroom and the drains will actually be reattached to the main in a different location. The whole thing is pretty involved truth be told, especially since we are DIY.