My son has his washing machine on a cupboard (bought from local hardware chain) which works very well. It's only 16mm melamine (see pic). Something to be aware of is having adequate ventilation...I have a unit with laundry in a cupboard (in bathroom). The downside comments include smells, condensation and, in this case, having to close the bathroom door before opening the laundry cupboard doors.

I live in the country and am completely reliant on tank water. I also have a grey water recycling system and can tell how much water has gone through it at any one time as the filters need to be cleaned after so many litres of water go through them. I can almost guarantee that the bath with a couple of grand kids splashing about for twenty minutes having fun will use less water than any of their parents showering does. Even topping it up with more hot water if needed. Unless you are very conservative with your showers baths are not that bad and the value they add to the resale of the average home outweighs any downside. I definately wouldn't buy a house without one. I have had a house that has a bath the size of the shower though, about 1m x 1m by maybe 40cm deep and I think it was called a hip bath. My sister in law has one at her house, she got it from Lanark, as her house only had a shower which is not practical and it was the cheaper option than redoing the whole bathroom. I dont know if that is what you are after or not.

Looking through photos, I'm seeing some nice combinations. Slab style cabinets then the lighting, window trim, furniture and tap ware in more traditional style. The use of timber helps too. ie. bench tops. I searched "Modern Traditional" in Kitchens with Slab cabinets http://www.houzz.com.au/photos/kitchen/cabinet-style--flat-panel/query/modern-traditional/p/29 HTH

Sharyn, your photo has a tiny gap between the top of the door and the underside of the square-set plasterboard. The laundry in your photo has been cleverly and beautifully designed, detailed, and supervised and I suspect that the track for the bi-fold doors has been concealed behind the square-set plasterboard. There isn't a lot of detail in the photo so it would be good to see how neat it looks when closed. I think that the square set opening to a small, heavy-duty, utility space is likely to become damaged and dirty before too long. I would probably spend my money on somewhere else and just go with a boring and practical MDF door reveal and architrave for a European style laundry. As always God is in the details and this particular detail will cost you as far as design, detailing and supervision. I hope you have a good designer (who likes getting the details right) and a good builder (who likes building to precise tolerances) on your team. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls