Laundry Rooms With More

Whether as the primary wash-and-dry center or a secondary one, upstairs laundry rooms are gaining in popularity.

You've seen them in tiny apartments: laundry closets with stackable washers and dryers. But today, you're just as likely to spot one on the second floor of a larger house, say, off the master bath to function as a hamper for damp towels, says Minneapolis architect Christine Albertsson. Thanks to new compact and quieter machines, the upstairs laundry room—often the second such dedicated space in the house—is a growing trend for homeowners who want their laundry as close as possible to the dirty clothes and bed linens.