To get read of utility room/ area off kitchen and make it into a larder?

[08557lemon555]

Have been craving a larder for years. We never use our utility sink. Would it impact house price if we ripped it out?

Some kitchens are like operating theatres though, that style of kitchen probably wouldn't have a washing machine.

We got rid of a large utility room in favour of reconfiguring a large kitchen diner. We had a utilty cupboard/pantry/concealed work space for toaster coffee machine etc, made instead and I don't regret it one single bit.

I think the PP is just hoping to appear in Pseud's Corner.

I'd want a utility

We have come a long way as a pp said. My Gran had a little council house that had the bath in the kitchen! There was a wooden top that folded up or down depending on whether you were in or out of the bath, and when the top was down it was a chopping board, food prep, baking area and table, scrubbed with a scrubbing brush twice a day at least. The kitchen was tiny, and outside the back door in a little lobby was the loo. I loved that house, it was so quirky. She raised four kids there, had a huge back garden and grew lots of fruit and veg.

I can't add anything, except to say that I'm on my own in my little house and like my Gran I love it too. I have the washing machine and clothes airer in the downstairs loo though, which makes the kitchen so much better. One thing I love in my kitchen is the big pull out larder with shelves, you can see what's there without muddling through everything on larder shelves. That's all. Wish you well OP. I'm not much help but I enjoy threads like this. I picture everyone's house and dream on!

My parents had a larder when my DB and I were growing up, 1970's. We often shut ourselves in there to scoff the goodies!
I have a larder space (under stair cupboard in the kitchen) but I have so many kitchen cupboards that it's turned into mini utility - storing hoovers (yes, more than one, ironing board and over sized kitchen gadgets.
I'd much rather have a proper utility room, in fact it's top of my list as hope to be moving soon.
Agree with others - put a board over the sink and have shelves to house kitchen goods.

It's not pretentious or weird to point out modern hygiene standards are different from the past. Storing food in the same room where there's a lot of dirt flying around (dirty clothes, dogs, muddy shoes, outdoor coats etc) just seems a bit gross to me. But that's just me.

My main point is that it's old fashioned to mix cleaning/washing and eating. And our concept of kitchens generally is often old fashioned.

Kitchens are generally still located at the back door of houses. That's because in the past people had to go out to the back garden to fetch water and harvest food from the soil. Nowadays it would make more sense for most homes to have the kitchen at the front (where the groceries come in) and the living room at the back. And a room for washing clothes located beside the bedroom.

Our kitchen is at the front and utility is at the back, however none of my previous homes had a utility room and plenty of flats and houses don't.

Obviously lots of things have moved on from bathtubs in the kitchen But still the design and space in loads of current homes means it's quite normal to have a washing machine in the kitchen. I mean most people living in a flat won't have an alternative space to put their washing machine, it doesn't mean they're unhygienic?

I'd say do whatever works best for you, but remember that slim pull-out larders and deep drawers are amazing space savers for spices and jars etc, if you're having your kitchen redone anyway.

I considered converting at least part of our utility room into a walk-in pantry, as I'm quite seduced by pinterest, but then realised we just don't need it. We're a few minutes walk away from several supermarkets, and with no pets and only one dc still living at home there's no real reason to stockpile extra tins and packets. Knowing me things would just end up going out of date before we used them, and I'm not one to be decanting everything into pretty jars with a label maker. For us it's much more useful as a laundry and mop bucket room (plus the microwave as it offends my sight in the kitchen...!)

@Superlambaanana People are storing tins, jars etc, not cakes on a plate! 🤣

Ok I have a large walk in pantry AND a laundry room AND a boot room [ducks]

pantry has my hoard of food in it plus the drinks fridge and a chest freezer.

laundry room is laundry only plus cupboard which stores all household items like toilet roll, lightbulbs, candles, curtain hooks etc. hoovers, mops, steamer etc all live there too. Room has a sink for hand washing or soaking.

boot room has boots/shoes, pet beds and paraphernalia, tools that are used on a regular basis, gardening stuff including seeds etc, sink, drying cabinet.

if I had to lose any it would most definitely be the pantry. It looks pretty and is instagramable if you are into that (I’m v much not) and it is useful if you store large amounts of food but the reality is it isn’t really necessary unless your kitchen is small or lacking storage space.

i could easily be without the pantry. I couldn’t be without a utility space.

Would you store food in your bathroom? It's psychological rather than actually unhygienic. Though there are increased risks associated with keeping food in areas with higher levels of dirt and germs.

Yes this is what I have and I agree the laundry and separate bootroom are preferable to additional larder space if you have to choose one over tother. But if you want extra larder space, creating a laundry cupboard can work well. If I hadn't had space for a separate laundry room (away from the kitchen, beside the bedrooms) I would have considered making the bathroom dual purpose for washing people and washing clothes. That makes more sense to me than a dual purpose room for cooking/eating and washing clothes. And indeed the idea that the kitchen and clothes washing room (utility) need to be joined. That just doesn't make sense to me unless you're living in the 1950s.

The cans of food have probably got more dirt from the warehouse than the washing has

So now there is the question of to sink or not to sink in utility area. Thinking I could put the washer and dryer next to each other in utility area with a massive cupboard above. Might not be able to fit the plumbing for the sink( we rarely use but might) too.

How precious are you about your kitchen sink and how much gardening/ dirty sport/ hand washing etc do you do? If the answers are not very and not much, I wouldn't bother with a utility sink. I don't have one in my laundry and don't miss it.

Stack the washing machine and tumble dryer (with a pull out shelf in the middle to rest a laundry basket on) and keep the sink

A sink is somewhere to get water and a drain to pour it away, so if you don't need either of those functions there's no point in putting one in.

For my planned utility room I had thought of stacking the WM and TD to one side, a tall cupboard to the other side and in between, a base unit with sink and a rail above it (so garments hung there could drip into the sink/draining board). I think that's the smallest footprint I could manage with.

If you have a full height cupboard, it could accommodate vacuum/ironing board/mop & bucket and still have height for additional shelves, plus you could have wall unit/s above the sink or just open shelves?