How useful/essential is a utility room?

[Iggity]

I live in a 1930s mid-terraced house in London. We are planning to extend the back of the house to increase the size of the very small kitchen. We are also adding a downstairs cloakroom. We have been back and forth over the need for a utility room. Currently, we only have a washing machine and laundry is dried outside when weather better and in winter, on clothes horses/driers/radiators. This isn't ideal and we are planning to get a tumble dryer following the kitchen extension.

If we added a utility room, it wouldn't have any windows so no natural light/air circulating etc. When we discussed this with the architect, he didn't think a house our size needed a utility room. The house has 3 bedrooms (will have 4 as we are converting loft at same time). There are 2 adults and a child in the house.

We are doing to have quite a sizeable kitchen after the extension and the plan is to have integrated appliances but would value people's thoughts on how useful it would be. We don't have animals and storage in the house is limited. We don't have a chest freezer and not sure if we need one. We will probably just buy a bigger fridge/freezer for the kitchen.

The builder had suggested a combined utility/cloakroom but we weren't very keen on the idea. I had visions of sitting on the loo watching the washing machine!

I've never ever understood why in Britain in large houses and expensive houses you still have your laundry in the kitchen.

Every house I have ever lived in bar one has had a laundry/utility room. They are essential. The one house I lived in that had the washing machine in the kitchen was a major major pain in the arse.

We don't have one, but it would be nice to have one for muddy boots and tools to go. If you don't, then worth spending money on a washing machine with a timer so you can set it to go when you aren't about. Most laundry is dried in the hall or spare room, though we do have a drier.

If you can fit one, likely with a loo in a walled-off bit, then it would be expected.

A utility room wasn't on my wish list when I was househunting last year but having moved to a house with one, I wouldn't be without now!

Even a small utility is useful. Mine is probably 6ft X 7ft but it still has my fridge, washing machine and (slimline) dishwasher in it as well as shoe rack, broom/mop, coat hooks and boiler.

My kitchen is not much bigger so I couldn't be without the extra space

We like our utility room so much, the best thing is an extra sink, and it keeps the slightly dirty things out of the way.

I wouldn't be without one. Ours is quite big- one wall of wardrobes and the other with the washing machine, tumble dryer and sink. We have an overhead drying rack. We don't have a window and wish we did because without the air circulation, clothes can get smelly when they take too long to dry (in wet summers only - in winter they dry very quickly with the radiator on.)

It's my favourite part of our extension. I agree with pps that say this architect is a man who doesn't do a lot of housework.

Having the laundry in the kitchen is messy, unhygienic and noisy. I grew up in a country where it's unheard of to have the washing machine in the kitchen and I still haven't adjusted to the British approach. We've just bought a new house and a utility room, even on our tiny budget, was an essential for me. It's sooooo much better.

And, having lived in several rental properties where the builder/architect/DIYer was clearly not the person who cooked or cleaned or washed clothes in their own home (not that I do all of this, DH does most, so this is not a male/female comment) it's really annoying trying to live in such a house! Your architect doesn't know what he's talking about; I'd view other things with suspicion too like his views on quantity of storage required...

Essential. But I would just combine it with a cloakroom but have the washer and dryer integrated.

Look in pinterest or Houzz.

www.bystephanielynn.com/2011/10/10-inspiring-laundry-room-spaces-my-tuesday-ten-no-18.html

Essential!

If you can have one, go for it. Especially in a terraced house in London, I'd say - only because if push comes to shove you'll have something most houses in London don't!

When we extended the back of our house we had one built. It isn't enormous, but houses the boiler, washer, dryer, a giant sink for handwashing, washing oven trays and hosing off rugby boots and the like, shelves on one wall for shoes and 3 coat racks for hats and coats. I've got wall cupboards above both the washer and dryer for extra loo roll and the like, the iron, all that sort of gubbins. Though I haven't yet found a naice way of housing the ironing board, hoover and steam mop so they're just stacked up againt the wall.

Ours has both a window and glazed door, but I'd agree that you don't need any windows - though I'd recommend having your tumble dryer vented outside if possible, rather than having a condenser.

We have a separate downstairs bathroom so didn't need a loo in there, but would definitely have considered that if necessary.

I'd say go for it - you won't regret it and you'd definitely "get your money back" if you ever had to sell, if you see what I mean.

I love my utility room.
Washer, dryer, heated cupboard for ironing, cupboards for cleaning stuff and a radio.
Wouldn't be without it.

Useful, not strictly essential, but wouldn't be without now.
In ours we keep - dog stuff, muddy/wet weather gear, cleaning/gardening bits, tools, bird food, washer, tumble dryer, iron + board. It has a separate entrance so keeps the main entrance clear of mud and crap.

We didn't have room for a full utility but we have a utility 'cupboard' with a sliding door into our hallway. It has the washing machine and tumble dryer stacked, a butler sink, a pull out shelf for folding laundry and a high shelf for cleaning products. The cat food goes under the sink. It is great, although obviously a full utility would be better!

Completely going against the trend. I don't have one. When we did extensive building work in our largeish house, we took out the one that was there and added the space to the kitchen.

I do have a utility cupboard which takes up the whole of one wall of the kitchen and houses fridge and freezer (as I don't like built in under surface ones), washer, dryer and a huge "stuff cupboard with cleaning stuff and tins and similar. Can't see why I would want anything else. I like space to live in not space designated as space to do chores in.

I think a combined cloakroom/utility is actually a good idea - neither get used all the time & there is a lot of 'dead space' in two smallish rooms which perhaps could be better utilised as one large room. I have a small utility room, next to the cloak room and if I had the energy/inclination I think they would be much better designed as one larger room.

Utility room is a priority for me , especially if you have an open plan / eat in kitchen. If you can plan from scratch, I would plan a laundry/messy cleaning / boot room type space- if you can put it an outside door and window it'll function better as a laundry space.

I would make it separate from the loo as well, can you access the downstairs loo from the hall somehow?

I love mine - very small but has washing machine, dryer, pulley airer, pole for hangers for hanging shirts etc on, boiler so it's warm and clothes dry in a couple of hours. Some storage for cleaning stuff, dog towels, etc. I think it's my favourite room in the house!

We are in the process (started yesterday) of redoing the en-suite showerroom. The new one will include a washing machine.

It had always seemed nuts to me, that we get undressed upstairs, lugg everything downstairs to be washed and then take it all upstairs again. So looking forward to having the washing machine upstairs.

I totally get your point, *Finally" - though where will you dry and iron it? I considered moving our washing machine upstairs too, but there wasn't room for a dryer too, and I didn't want to keep my ironing board upstairs.

I lived in the States for a few years and both houses I lived in had the laundry room upstairs.

We've just built one. Have 3 kids and never ending washing pile.

We built an extension to create a larger kitchen/breakfast room off the kitchen which meant that the rear door to our garage has become off the extension /inside the house. So we've now used half the garage (which was just a dumping ground) to be a fully fitted out utility. Lots of cupboards, work surface for folding, washing machine and tumble, sink and room to do ironing. I love it and we're sure it's added more to value of house than we paid getting it done.

If you will have a 4 bedroomed house, you are looking at the family market if you ever come to sell and most families would expect a utility room.

I just wouldn't consider a house without a utility room (or the space to create one). Simple as that.

I have 3 children (including a sporty boy), the washing machine is always on the go, we always have piles of dirty washing smelly kit / clean washing / folded washing / ironing so for me, its not so much having a washing machine / drier in the kitchen, its everything else that goes with it. I have a 1930s house - I don't dry washing at all in the house - besides the fact that I think it looks messy, I think 1930s houses are prone to condensation/ damp so I think its a bad idea to dry washing on radiators / racks in the house.

Mine is about 5ft wide, by about 10ft long so small. I have to go out of the house and access it from the rear of the kitchen. Leave the windows open permanently (because there is no access to the house so safe to do that). Have a pulley drying rack, washing machine and tumble dryer (stacked). Baskets for clean washing / laundry basket. I would sacrifice from my kitchen in a heartbeat if it meant all that crap washing was behind a closed door. Do it !

Ours is just a cupboard with the washing machine and a belfast sink and then shelves above up quite high (3m ceilings). We hang muddy stuff in there and hiking boots etc. and keep tools and outdoorsy stuff in there too.

It's off the kitchen and our pulley is in the actual kitchen but it's nice to close the door on the washing machine while we eat in the kitchen.

A utility room is great. Lovely to keep all the washing etc out of the kitchen

Ours was our must have when building the extension - it's 3m by 3m but has a downstairs loo boxed in as well, so it's L shaped. We have our washing machine, dryer, chest freezer, ceiling airer, all our DIY stuff, medicine and poisonous stuff in high cupboards, a massive deep janitor sink, our recycling, hoover, brooms, mop, cleaning products and pet food and a pull out ironing board (I don't iron, so I make DH use a tiny, but hideable ironing board). It's a godsend. We can shut the door and lose all of the noise and laundry mess. If it had been bigger, we would have put big pax wardrobes for coats and pushchairs and shoes in there, but they ended up in the lobby/hall outside (1930s semi, so it's actually the old kitchen which is now the route to the new kitchen diner across the back of the house, utility is to the side).

Our architect actually spent a fair amount of time working out where we could build in masses of storage, because he is a lovely clever man with several children. If only he had been a builder too.