Patent ID: 7624600

Claim:
A modular laundry system comprising: a first laundry appliance; a second laundry appliance horizontally or vertically arranged relative to the first laundry appliance; a cabinet module having a width equal to the width of at least one of the first and second laundry appliances and a height equal to or greater than the height of the at least one of the first and second laundry appliances, and that is horizontally arranged relative to the first and second laundry appliances; and one or more functional elements located interiorly of the cabinet module, wherein any functional elements located interiorly of the cabinet module perform non-laundry care functions selected from a group consisting of storage, staging, garbage and recycling collection, shelving, laundry sorting, hanging, bulk dispensing, resource management, resource supply and/or recovery/reclamation, resource treatment, lighting, refrigeration, entertainment, pet care, data collection and communication, home automation, home security, home safety, power outlet, power supply, and module controller function; wherein the first laundry appliance, the second laundry appliance, and the cabinet module are stand-alone units that are contiguously arranged to form a coherent modular system.