The Great Divide

Coke vs. Pepsi, Democrat vs. Republican, Seahawks vs 49ers. Everyone has a favorite and is convinced their side is the correct one. In my ancestral home of Switzerland, they talk of the Röstigraben, which is the linguistic dividing line between the French-speaking and German-speaking areas but also more humorously the dividing line of those who eat potato fritters and those who do not.

I’ve come to the conclusion that for homeowners, the great divide involves the laundry room. In one corner we have those who believe firmly that the laundry must be on the upper portion of the home, whether this is the main level or an upper floor, up it must go. In opposition, there are the downstairs crowd, who are just as adamant that the sacred location for the washer and dryer is on the downstairs level or in the basement. There are even the “Third-way“ crowd who insist that it must be in a mudroom or maybe the in garage - there has to be an outlier in every argument.

I’ve heard the arguments, and I must say they all have compelling reasoning. For the upstairs crowd, it’s about proximity to bedrooms. For team downstairs, it seems to be about having dirty clothes and appliances out of sight. It really is surprising how often buyers choose to not purchase a home simply because the laundry is in the wrong place for their belief system. As a home seller, there’s no right or wrong to this and if the laundry is in the wrong place for one buyer, chances are the next one will find it just right. What matters here for buyers is to identify what you prefer, and if other features like cabinets, a countertop, or a sink are also important to you as you consider the laundry features of a home.