Utility rooms do you have one/would you like one?

Moved last year and this is the first time I've had a utility room.
Its off the kitchen and you go through it to access the downstairs toilet. Its houses the boiler, washing machine, dryer and a sink and storage cupboards. The side door entrance opens into it which is great when coming back from a walk with our dog. The sink is also handy when my husbands been in the garden or been decorating. Love it.

There have been utility rooms in three of the five houses we have owned.

Our current house, which we have lived in for 25 years was one of those without, but no more. Last year we extended our kitchen and added a decent sized utility room and it is bliss. It has a sink and a run of units and the washing machine is there.

I have rigged up a really good drying area in there - the radiator is a long low towel rail, ideal for drying socks, underwear and small things on, with a drying rack that folds flat against the wall above it when not with use, with an extractor fan above it, so if clothes cannot be dried outside, they can be dried quickly inside, so no tumble dryer.

It also doubles up as a boot room for gardening clothes and outside mucky gear and I also have an upright freezer is in it

I would love one.
In the USA laundry is never done in the kitchen but I have a 1920’s home in Scotland with a relatively small kitchen and if I won the lottery my extension would have not only a washer and dryer but a pulley, a toilet, so that I didn’t have to traipse through the house when gardening and a shower so that I could insist the my OH had a shower before entering the house.
Yesterday he pressure washed the hard landscaping and appeared at the kitchen door covered from head to toe in muck. I refused entry. I offered to hose him down but he chose to continue to work outside. Luckily it was warm and sunny and once he was dry most of the muck brushed off.

Oh Ladyleftfieldlover I now have walk in pantry envy! I would absolutely love one.

I want one.

I had a very small hallway in my previous house leading from the kitchen to the back garden which served as a utility room. It was only large enough for the washing machine and a couple of clothes horses but was useful, but being very badly insulated (single layer brick) I had to lag the pipework so it didn't freeze up in winter.

It was useful though and was one of the things I 'lost' when I downsized. I miss it though along with other things.

I have one. It was already her when we bought this house.We have remodeled it though.
It has a one and a half bowl sink unit. Washing machine, tumble dryer, with 3 wall cupboards over them and a full height fridge freezer and an a extra microwave which is too big for my kitchen. On the other side are three tall Ikea cupboards, two with internal drawers. We keep an air conditioning unit one that gets rolled out when we have those extreme heat waves we have had over the past couple of years. It is also the access to the back door but we tend to use the french windows from the conservatory to access the garden. We had to move from Berkshire from a 3 bed semi to a four bed in Northamtonshire to acquire such luxury. I love it!

I have a utility which we were able to add on off the kitchen. It has my washing machine, dryer & 2 upright freezers along with a sink which my husband uses for his cleaning of veggies from the allotment along with cupboards too. Wouldn't do without it and did it after the kids left home

Most houses here have them, posh or not. It is just a normal thing to have like a bathroom.

Yes, we have one finally! We used to have a very small space off the kitchen, in between the kitchen and garage. The width was just slightly wider than the washer and dryer. We had those stacked on top of one another. Other side had a small fridge freezer. We borrowed a metre from the garage and crafted a fabulous utility room with a butler sink and integrated second fridge freezer, lots of counter space too. Found out my medium sized dog fits in the sink so added bonus to wash him without having to traipse upstairs to the bathroom after a muddy walk. Love it!!

Toss a coin, kitty

Restoring a utility room is the first thing I would do if we hadn’t laid concrete floors in the kitchen. The washing machine and drier are under the counters, so not in the way of minglers. Maybe I’m just not organised enough, but it’s the washing, not the machines, that gets in the way.

Sorry to disagree, Doodledog but I would go for it, kitty.

When the family has left home and there’s only a fraction of the washing and ironing to do, it’s better to have the space to entertain when they all descend and want to mingle in the kitchen.

My utility room isn’t big enough to leave messy. The washing is sorted upstairs then brought down and put on. Then it’s bagged and hung outside or taken back upstairs to hang up to dry. There’s room for storing washing liquid, bird food and kitchen and toilet rolls (on top of the tumbler), but it’s not like one of those you see on A Place in the Country.

I wouldn’t kittylester. Whatever the size of your kitchen, having washing lying about is annoying, and with the best will in the world you won’t always want to remove it (to where? Upstairs?) as soon as it’s dry, or manage to sort it properly before bringing it into the kitchen to be washed.

I always have an ironing (or ‘to be put away’) pile on the kitchen table, and often stray socks or a red item lying around as it can’t be washed with pale colours and is waiting to join a load of similar items.

I’m really surprised the amount of you who have utility rooms. Maybe it’s just me or because I live in a city (London) I actually only know one person who has a small utility and I’ve always thought of it as an out of my reach luxury in a home hence my surprise.
I’m sure it must be nice having a space that can be messy/cluttered that only you see.

We have one and we are thinking of knocking it into the kitchen. Maybe a mistake.

Our kitchen is about 5m x 5m, which is not small, but everyone congregates in there so it is gets very congested when all the family comes.

Oh! Aren’t you folks with a utility room, just the luckiest people? I’ve had my kitchen enlarged but there wasn’t enough room for a utility as well.
I’m just lucky that my kitchen is a lot bigger than the original, due to extending into the hall! It may not be the cleverest extension, but it suits me. ?

Sharina

Yes, I’d kill for one. And a pantry!

We have a walk-in pantry. Apparently hardly anyone has one these days! I remember my grandmother’s huge pantry. It was bigger than her kitchen, I remember the white tiled walls. Lots of shelving and a meat safe.

Yes, I’d kill for one. And a pantry!

I have a utility room with washing machine, dryer , dishwasher and a central bar at ceiling height to use the heat from other appliances to dry the wash. If it is dried on hangers it often does not need ironing. the best thing we have ever done. We also have a small run-off radiator from the AGA in the utility room it gives extra drying heat. This system works really well for us.

Yes we have a utility room off the kitchen diner. I love it so much, can't ever dream of moving. It has the usual sink, washing machine, tumble dryer and boiler. Also very handy pulley and lots of cupboards and shelf storage.
The room is ideal for washing dirty dogs after walks. The trouble is the more storage space available, the more 'stuff' I find to fill it!

We don’t have a utility room at present but my daughter intends to have an extension built next year . She wants to add a downstairs bathroom and a large utility room to house coats and shoes as well as the washing machine etc. We also want a high ceiling so we can have a hanging laundry rack so we don’t have to use the tumble dryer as much .

We have a utility room in which even the dishwasher was. Needless to say, we took the dishwasher out and took out one of the smaller kitchen cupboards to put in a small dishwasher. Fab. DH has modified the utility room into a pantry as well, with shelves. There is still work to be done on it but over time...

Don't have one....Would love a utility room and also a pantry....

Yes, I have one and I love it. It also has a huge airing cupboard. I can take no credit for the brilliant planning as the previous owner of our bungalow was a builder and had completely renovated it, and I couldn’t ask for a better job.