tell me what happens in your utility room

[tanimbar]

We're moving to a house with quite a large utility room, but which needs 4-5k spent on it to damp-proof, replaster, replace ceiling etc (it's basically an outhouse). Can we justify that kind of money for a utility room? I've never had one before, so I'd like to know what people use them for, beyond laundry and kitchen overflow storage. And how is yours organised? Any brilliant storage solutions I should know about? Thanks!

[Lovage]

Laundry! It's fantastic. It means we no longer have laundry draped all over the house and making it damp (we don't have a tumble drier and don't want one). We have one of those wooden Victorian style ones that comes down from the ceiling, and then a modern fixed strings one across the sink/worktop, and also fold-out free standing airers for really heavy laundry days. We also store things that are waiting to be ironed there (on hangers hung off something similar to this www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9296523.htm ). And store the ironing board there (not quite room to actually iron in there and also DH likes to watch telly while he irons).

Otherwise, the sink is really useful for messy jobs like gardening-related things, or art projects or cleaning really skanky things. We keep a bowl of Milton there (changed every so often) for putting dishcloths in before they get laundered.

And the worktop is great for polishing shoes, or silver or copper (none of these done very frequently, but great to have a 'dirty' space to do it in).

At Christmas we sometimes move a small wine fridge into the room.

We added ours as part of an extension and it's by far the best bit of the extension, so I'd definitely say go for it, if you can afford it.

[FusionChefGeoff]

The Magic

[MagersfonteinLugg]

Complete waste of space.
I hate the smaller kitchens to make space for utility rooms.
would much rather have a kitchen big enough for a dining table than a separate room for the washing machine. Does a washing machine really need it's own room? how much laundry can the average family have? Are washing machines that noisy that they have to be given their own room?

[Stinkersmum]

Laundry, extra fridge/freezer, muddy boots, wet paws etc. I love a utility room.

[Sunnyshores]

We're renting at the moment and the utility room is tiny, our previous homes was huge, I've realised I need a large utility/laundry/boot room for washing, ironing, coats, shoes, bags, sports kit, dog, loads of crap that needs to be hidden away.

In our previous home the ironing board could stay up, I could hang shirts up on hangers on the wall, air clothes on a airer. I had all the landry stuff out to hand.

On one wall, there were hooks for each of us to put coats on. Shelving above to store stuff and shelves below, with baskets (Ikea) for each of us to store shoes etc.

Tall freezer. shelves above for tinned food.

The dog slept in there, food bowls were in there. Her food, medicines, brushes were in a basket.

I had gardening stuff (gloves, secateurs) in a basket that could be carried outside as is.

Huge cupboard that stored things like Picnic hampers, blankets, cool boxes. tupperware - all the basics that dont get used alot.

tin with spare keys.

tin with candles, torches, spare fuse wire, matches etc for power cuts

instruction manuals

I feel really disorganised without it as stuff is squeezed in everywhere around our current house.

[catwithflowers]

Love mine. Washer, tumble dryer, lots of bench space for sorting laundry into piles, extra fridge, lots of storage for glasses and kitchen paraphernalia, a big chest freezer, large bookcase full of cookery books, clothes horse. It's the first time I've had a utility room and I really appreciate it

[charlie0123]

Laundry, sink for mucky stuff, ironing, boots, coats, scarves, shelves for bogofs, special offers etc, tall freezer, extra fridge, slow cooker, microwave. Love my utility room!

[ChishandFips33]

I have one now and love it! It appears to have turned me in to a domestic goddess (or at least gives the illusion of it!)
Tall boy for shoes, shelf above holds cleaning equipment, laundry powder, basket of emergency candles, basket of dusters, basket of shoe polish have no idea why I have this as I rarely polish shoes! first aid kit and meds. Ironing board and iron along with electric drying rack damn you mumsnet and ceiling airer. Boiler, freezer, cat stuff, mop buckets, hoovers, paint in another cupboard, coat rack - it's fab sad and pretty much the woman's version of a man cave!

[ChishandFips33]

Would I spend £4-5k though to have it - possibly not

[Millymollymama]

I refitted mine and spent about that. I have never regretted it for a moment. I have a large kitchen but we use the laundry room for that purpose but we also have a very large sink in there, pet paraphernalia, lots of storage for DIY stuff, light bulbs, cleaning and laundry equipment and my wonderful wine fridge. It has built in hanging for clothes, decent work surfaces and a storage facility for paper for recycling and our rubber boots.

[CointreauVersial]

Ohhh, couldn't do without mine.

Washing machine, tumble dryer and space for laundry racks and hanging rails.

Sink for grubby stuff, rinsing muddy football kit, post-gardening cleanups etc.

Worktop for cleaning shoes, mucky jobs, and storing two hamster cages!

Storage for shoes, wellies, coats, cleaning stuff, vases, DIY stuff and kitchen "overflow".

Recharging point for drill, hedge trimmer battery etc.

Door to back garden.

None of this would be welcome in my kitchen!

[SpaghettiMeatballs]

I knocked mine through to make a bigger kitchen. In my case it was blocking light into the hall and kitchen though so was 100% the right decision in this house.

The only thing I miss is the second sink.

That said we have a walk in cupboard that houses mop, broom, ironing board etc with loads of shelves for all the stuff that would otherwise be in a utility room. I wouldn't have been so quick to lose the utility if I didn't have a massive cupboard.

[Iggly]

Second sink for washing mucky stuff.

Tumble dryer and washing machine so more cupboard space in kitchen. We didn't make the kitchen smaller - it was an extra room with the boiler in used as a study. So made sense.

We also store our tools in there that wouldn't go in the shed. Plus extra household goods etc.

We live in a flat and have a utility room. Love it.

[BillStickersIsInnocent]

We have a stacked wm and tumble dryer, big sink, cupboards for storage of gardening and cleaning stuff. Store mop and bucket there too.

And also a loo and small hand basin. Which is weird and I don't really like it - wish it was separate, but we needed a downstairs accessible loo as a condition of the build.

[BasinHaircut]

CAN. NOT. WAIT. To get my utility room done. I'm giving up a portion of kitchen for it but it's the old galley bit leading to the extension so really just a walk-through at the moment with the WM in it and it's where the microwave and kettle currently are. The boiler is in there too.

I lust after a space to hang washing and store all of the household crap such as mop, ironing board, kitchen gadgets I never use, that can be shut away. It's also going to double up as a pantry and house a second freezer.

[Farageisback]

Same as everyone else really. Landry, Washing machine, deep freezer, extra storage cupboards, muddy boots sports bags, all the cleaning stuff, mops etc. it's great!

[Buttercup27]

I love mine but wish it was bigger so I could dry washing in there. We have washing machine, second fridge used at Christmas/bbqs cupboards full of cleaning stuff , sink and all the costs and shoes.

[tanimbar]

Wow, thanks everyone, this is exactly the ammunition I need for my discussion with DH. They do sound pretty fantastic, though clearly the damp needs sorting out or it will be a useless laundry. Thinking maybe to delay redecoration etc elsewhere in house to get this done.

What kind of sink do you all have? There's a (v. grotty) stainless steel one in there currently. Would a replacement for that be the best plan, or is a butler's sink more useful?

[OwlBeeBack]

We've only lived in a house with a utility room for a couple of years but I would hate to be without it now.

Ours is pretty big and has washing machine, tumble dryer, one of those racks on a pulley from the ceiling for washing (forgotten the proper name ), work top with double sink for dirty jobs. Lots of cupboards and shelves for lightbulbs, cleaning stuff, everyday DIY kit, sports kits etc. My ironing board and ironing mountain live in there (and I iron in there except in the depths of winter). Fridge freezer. Storage of food/household items bought in bulk.

[OwlBeeBack]

I wouldn't spend much (anything) on a sink for a utility room, but mine is mainly used to clean football boots and paintbrushes.

[mandy214]

A house without a utility room would be a deal breaker now. I just wouldn't consider a house without one.

Ours isn't big - have stacked washing machine and tumble dryer, molly maid that hangs from ceiling. Baskets for all 5 of us so laundry is folded straight into individual baskets for each member of the family. Lots of hanging space.

Shelving unit with paint / excess wallpaper / DIY tools (that would be too cold if stored in garage eg paint would be ruined).

Hanging space / basket for DS' sports kit and stinky football boots.

Storage for walking boots / waterproofs etc / additional back packs / holdalls.

We don't have a sink in there and I'm not sure I'd spent £4-5k but would not be without mine. I absolutely hate washing / laundry hanging about the house - its just horrid - so worth having and using properly. There are lots of fab photos on houzz.

[NorbertDentressangle]

-Washing machine, tumble dryer, ironing board and (my favourite bit!) a Laundry Maid/ceiling clothes airer
-Row of coat hooks which means the hallway isn't cluttered with loads of coats.
-storage cupboards for cycling stuff, batteries, light bulbs, small selection of tools, cleaning stuff, space for the cushions for outdoor furniture.

The sink area (stainless steel sink and drainer) gets used for cleaning muddy football boots, soaking stained washing (a godsend when the DC were babies/toddlers), washing decorating equipment etc

The worktop is handy for jobs like repotting plants, small DIY jobs like fixing and gluing, shoe polishing, standing things that are being recharged etc.

[justonemoretime2p]

Washing machine, tumble dryer, 2 large double door fridges, chest freezer, ice machine, sink, kitchen appliances that we don't use enough to have in the kitchen (electric steamer, raclette grill, bread machine, wok, paella pan)
We always have plenty of bottled water and other drinks in one fridge and the other one has bits and bobs and plenty of room for extras at Christmas/when we are hosting a lot.
I absolutely love it and couldn't live in a house without a separate area from the kitchen.

[Sunnyshores]

I wouldnt bother particularly about the look/condition of the sink but I like a deep sink to soak things in, put a bucket in, bleach sheets etc.

[CointreauVersial]

Sink doesn't need to be posh or expensive. I would suggest you try and clean up the current one (stainless will withstand vigorous scouring).

It won't be long before it's splattered with football mud, emulsion paint and hamster poo (or is that just my utility sink? ).