Would this put you off? Kitchen/utility extension.

[Thistledew]

I have a small Victorian end of terrace property. At the moment, on the ground floor there are two reception rooms (living room and dining room), which are open to the extension on the back of the house that contains a narrow galley kitchen just over two metres long with units on both sides, and a bathroom at the back of the house. There is currently a bi-fold door between the bathroom and kitchen.

We are planning an extension and will put the bathroom upstairs. I am deliberating whether to knock down the dividing wall, opening up the kitchen into what is now the bathroom space, or whether to keep the wall and door so that the bathroom becomes a utility room.

If we go for the utility room option, we will then move the fridge and washing machine into it, to free up a bit more work surface space and two more cupboard spaces. It will also mean that we can shut the door on the washing machine and not have to listen to it churning away if we put it on in the evening, as currently there are no doors between it and the living room.

One idea I would appreciate opinions on is to move the kitchen sink into the utility room. This would create a significant amount more work surface in the kitchen. The sink would only be just the other side of the wall, and the doors stay open most of the time. It would be not more than about a metre away from the cooker, for example.

Would it put you off buying a house if you found that the kitchen sink wasn't actually in the kitchen, but was very close by?

I would at least want a small sink on hand for washing veg, draining pans etc. Maybe put a big sink, with a draining board, in the utility, but have a small inset bowl sink, specifically for food prep, in the kitchen.

I think I'd want a kitchen sink to be actually in the kitchen. So it would put me off I'm afraid.

I think it would yes, just think about how many times you need to quickly run your hands under the tap when you're cooking, or how often you need to get a bit of water or fill the kettle.

Friend's of mine used to live in a house which had quite a small bowl sink with no big draining board and then a huge sink the utility, so dishes when in there but they still had access to running water in the kitchen, could that be an option?

This sort of thing
www.diy.com/nav/rooms/kitchens/kitchen-sinks/stainless_steel_sinks/-specificproducttype-1_0_bowl_sinks/Royal-Bowl-Inset-Sink-11867900

Hmm

That's maybe a good idea re the small sink.

The thing is that regardless of whether or not we take the wall down, the sink would go in the same place, which is about one metre to the right of the cooker. The only difference would be the mental barrier of there being a wall/open doorway in between.

Which would you go for regarding the extending the kitchen vs. utility room option?

Extending the kitchen would make turn it from being just over two metres long to just under 4 metres, but having it as a separate utility room would mean being able to close the door on the washing machine/dishwasher, and also have a door to shut on the laundry hanging up. I was thinking of installing one of these ceiling ones.

I would prefer the utility room and two sinks.

If I went for a small sink like in ouryve's link, do you think it would work well to just have a cold water tap with a filter like this?

MIL has one integrated into her tap at home, and I reckon they will actually in the long run work out cheaper than a jug system, which I use a lot at the moment. I would use filtered water for filling up pans, the kettle and making tea in any event, and it would not be too wasteful to use to give vegetables a quick rinse. Washing mud off things like potatoes could be done in the utility room.

I think it'd be ok to have just that tap in the kitchen, but others might miss a hot tap for handwashing. For eg, my mother now has arthritis, and she really hates washing hands in cold water, she finds it painful.

I'd also rather the fridge be in the kitchen, not in the utility room.

I think if you are looking to put the sink in the utility and the fridge freezer in there you may as well knock it all through.

I moved into a house where the previous owners had put the fridge freezer in the utility and we ended up taking cupboards out of the main kitchen to fit it in there instead. Yes, it is just a door but it is also a pain in the arse.

I can understand about the washing machine noise, but the cons would outweigh the pros for keeping the utility.

My sister has her washing machine and tumble drier stacked and they are in a purpose built cupboard in her kitchen. Or could you locate them elsewhere like the bathroom?

Also my last house, had that tiny sink and a tiny circular draining board and I couldn't wait to rip it out. Plus that filtered water tap is usually an addition to a kitchen, not something you would have as the only one in the kitchen part.

I think you need to go to a kitchen shop and have them talk you through the various options or put your measurements on here and I am sure a lot few of us would tinker.

What you are suggesting screams out, this kitchen isn't big enough so we had to put some stuff in another room. And I say this as someone who extended her kitchen last year.

What is on the other side of the rear wall of the bathroom? If it's the garden then I would open it up, put in some double doors (or a window at least) and have a lovely view of outside. For me this would trump a utility room.

We have a similar arrangement to what you're proposing and our sink's in the utility rather than kitchen, but there is no door between the two. I was very concerned about it when we were first discussing possible sink locations, but I can honestly say that in the three years we've had this arrangement we've not once wished we'd had the sink in the kitchen and it never causes any issues.

I'd want a sink with option of hot water in the kitchen; I like to be able to wash my hands immediately I've been working with/cutting raw meat or chicken.

how big is the bathroom? 6 foot by 6 foot?

I would think knock the wall down and then make a small cupboard to put the washing machine in as you don't need the entire bathroom ears as a utility room and having a larger kitchen would be much nicer - but agree washing machine sounds are not wonderful.

So making a large cupboard to put the washing machine in and possibly a tumble dryer with plasterboard and a bit of sound proofing material and a door stuck on maybe a different solution which gives you both a bigger kitchen and a small utility.

Viewed a house recently where the washing machine and tumble dryer where in a cupboard on top of each other next to the back door - it was very neat
you need to scroll down to see the washing machine in a cupboard

you may be able to make just room for a downstairs loo and washing machine under tumble drier which would appial to most to have a second loo.

ixos - I agree double doors into a garden - could you achieve with the layout op?

Ivy you are right about the size of the bathroom - knocking down the wall would add about another 6 ½ square foot to the kitchen.

Another advantage of having the utility room though is to have somewhere to put drying laundry, although I suppose I could look into rigging up a ceiling dryer in the new bathroom, depending on how how much head height we could get there. I don't really like the idea of having clothes hanging over kitchen work surfaces.

ixos - I'm not sure about doors into the garden. There is a back door off the dining room already, and you wouldn't be able to have a double door out of the back of the kitchen without losing quite a bit of work surface. I suppose it might work reasonably well to have a single door at the back, but that makes it more difficult to locate a cupboard for the washing machine.

Just a curve ball, but (having seen this done a few times) id pull the kitchen into the dining room and male it a dining kitchen.

Push the bathroom wall back as far as you can to creat a small downstairs loo at the bottom.of the galley, and the galley itself then becomes a playroom or a utility.

Thanks for the suggestion Ken, but unfortunately the dining room is not really big enough. It is only just big enough for a table that seats 6, and there wouldn't be enough room to use the kitchen freely as well as have a table out.

Is there still a wall and doorspace between the kitchen and the back reception room? Would removing that give any more space?

I have to say, I don't think I'd like no sink in the kitchen but I wouldn't be bothered about the fridge freezer being in the utility room is not actually many steps to get there. Maybe get an under the counter fridge and just have the freezer in the utility room? If the utility is 6 x 6, you only need 2 x 600 cms to fit if you stack the wm and dryer - so that's 4'. So if you reclaim 2' for the kitchen but still keep a utility room. Would that work? I think a separate utility is lovely.

Ahh ok

I think stacking the washing machine and drier in a cupboard is the best idea. I don't think I'd put the fridge in the utility room.

There is wall space between the kitchen and dining room but it used to be the external wall, so I think cutting that out would be more bother than it is worth for only about a brick's worth of space.

How noisy are dishwashers? I've never had one before and am wondering whether that would be better behind doors as well?

I'd prefer it all as one large room. If you go for the separate utility room, I'd still expect a sink in the kitchen.

I would keep the rooms separate, have a sink but not a draining board.

Put the washing machine into the utlity with a tumble dryer on top of it, and not bother with those dryers which are a PITA as water just drips on everything below.

Install a dishwasher, they dont make any sound really, and put the fridge in the utility.

We have an integrated dishwasher..tis so quiet we have to put our ear to the door to make sure it is on.