More New Homes Include 'Mom Offices' and 'Jumbo Pantries'

New home design is always changing. Today, families are busier than ever with work, school, and extracurricular activities. They need floor plans that will function with a fast-paced lifestyle. Open floor plans aren’t the only thing parents are looking for though, larger pantries, “mom offices,” and upstairs laundry rooms are becoming necessities. 

The change is obvious when you’re standing in a large kitchen that opens to the family room. But there are changes behind the scenes, too. Behind the pantry door, for example, you may find a caterer’s kitchen, also known as a scullery or a prep kitchen.

Behind another door off the kitchen you’ll find what’s called the “mom office.” It has grown larger even as the traditional formal home office has gotten smaller.

“The mom office used to be a 'me space' in the kitchen. Now it’s the nerve center of the family — school calendars, the soccer schedule, all the chaos that has to be organized,” said Argo.

Upstairs laundry rooms — next to the kids’ bedrooms — are a new thing. Mom and dad might have their own washer and dryer in the master closet. In other homes, the laundry becomes a larger, multi-use space with cabinets and a farmhouse sink. Mud rooms and playrooms are popular. So is storage in the three-car garage.