Laundry Alcove Remodel with Three Sliding Doors

How this laundry alcove came together

The goal

The plan was to turn the closet wall into a proper laundry alcove that could be closed off completely, so the room in front of it still works as living space. Nothing about the laundry needed to show once the doors were shut.

The challenge

Opening the wall meant holding up what sat above it. The end wall was cut open, with temporary wood braces under the ceiling while the framing was reworked. Once the opening was made, the walls inside the alcove were patched in many places, and the hookups and dryer vent had to fit inside one stud bay and one side wall.

The solution

The room started with a plain two-door closet at that end. We braced the ceiling, opened the wall and framed a wide new opening with trim around it. Inside, the walls were patched and finished, the washer and dryer hookups were set into the back wall, the dryer vent was run along the side wall and white upper cabinets went in above. The back wall was patched around the open hookup bay, and the floor stayed covered while the new alcove opening was trimmed and finished. Across the front, three paneled sliding doors were hung on an overhead track, so any one of them can slide aside without swinging into the room.

The result

With the doors closed, the room looks like a room with a wide wall of doors. With them open, it runs straight back to a laundry with storage above the machines. The light plank floor runs to the alcove, and the room is painted a soft mint green. The machines, the vent and the storage above them all sit behind one wall of doors instead of spreading out into the living space.

Questions about this project