Utility Room or Storgae for Coats?

[CodingYouOn]

I can't make a decision and would appreciate any Mumsneter's opinions.

In my hallway there is a space under the stairs which is approximately 90cm wide, a metre deep and 2 metres high.

I want to make use of this space and I'm undecided on its use between either turning it into a utility space (the washing machine and tumble drier stacked on top of each other) or just a large cupboard to put shoes, coats bags etc. in.

A builder has looked at it and said it is possible to plumb washing machine in and an extractor fan if tumble drier makes too much steam.

If I decide on utility space it means less space for coats, shoes etc in hallway. I keep trying to reduce the number of shoes and coats in hallway but it just creeps back up again so the coat pegs are overflowing with coats and shoes are tripped over by the front door.

If I decide on cupboard for coats it means the washing machine and tumble drier would have to be in the kitchen which means less cupboard space in kitchen. Plus we plan to turn the kitchen into an open plan kitchen/diner/living space so the washing machine and tumble drier would be in this space too - (although I do try to only use them on timer at night for cheaper electricity).

What would you do utility room or cupboard for coats?

Not sure about these appliances in a cupboard- don't you need that storage for vacuum, brooms etc?

I don't do coats and shoes downstairs. Everyone has wardrobes and cupboards for such things in bedrooms. Unless coats or shoes are damp when they are dried overnight near a radiator, everything is put away. There are five of us in the house and if we all kept two coats and two pairs of shoes downstairs that would be 30 individual items cluttering up the hallway.

I would create a utility room - is the wall under the stairs an external wall? If so, vent the tumble dryer outside. You can probably open up the space under the rest of the stairs with a couple of doors opening into the hallway too. You may be able to fit coat storage in as well as the washing machine and tumble dryer stacked (put a partition between the two areas and separate doors opening into the hall). At the very least you can get some shoe racks in there.

We keep shoes upstairs in wardrobes, coats on hooks in the hall, but it's a 30s house with quite a bit of space.

wowfudge- do you keep all coats in the hall?

I would turn into utility and keep all coats and shoes in bedrooms.

We also keep all shoes and coats in the bedroom as wouldn't have space in the hall way

Would there be any issues with noise having the washing machine at the bottom of the stairs - would it disturb sleeping children for example?

I would favour the coat and shoe storage I think. Never thought I'd say that but we have the world's tiniest hallway and shoe storage affects our lives more than I'd expected. I'm often in and out of the house 6 times in a day and it would drive me mad having to put my shoes away/get them from upstairs all the time. Coats are not much of an issue for us though, we just have one per season plus the odd hoody.

It might be worth running a family experiment, seeing how you get on without the shoe storage for a couple of weeks before you commit to it long term.

I think it comes down to what you have least of really. If you can have the utility cupboard and still space for a trug of shoes and wallspace for coats, that is v different from having to sacrifice all hall storage. Similarly the downsides of keeping the machines in the kitchen depend very much on how short you are of kitchen cupboards.

yellow - pretty much. We have five large double hooks which are staggered up and down. If it's summer then winter coats are put away in wardrobes. We have a shelf above the hooks for scarves, gloves and bikes helmets. I don't like clutter, but then we don't hang out in the hall and the coats are near the door at the bottom of the stairs.

Luckily we have always lived somewhere with a utility room, apart from when we rented. Washing machines in kitchens are my pet hate and I really wouldn't want a kitchen diner being a laundry too.

Ok thanks for your advice.

I'm going to try once more to store coats and majority of shoes upstairs to see if that can work.

I hadn't thought of noise issue so will ask builder if utility cupboard could be sound proofed abit.

Utility. Just get a condenser drier. We had a builder create a utility cupboard in our hall last year (previously an alcove). It is far better than having them in the kitchen.

Get Ikea shoe storage for along the walls in the hall.

Utility. Every time, no question.

But, slightly off topic (sorry OP) I am [shocked] about everyone saying shoes and coats are stored upstairs. How does that work - you come in the door (maybe with shopping, school bags etc), you take your shoes and coat off, immediately go upstairs to put them away and then come back down?! And then every time you go out, you all have to go upstairs to get a coat and shoes? We have a small hall cupboard too for coat/shoes that is ignored useful, but am genuinely impressed / surprised that you're all so well trained (including your children) to put things away. Would love to do the same!

Well we don't store everything upstairs, but I always change out of work clothes when I get in so putting shoes away is part of that. We also wear shoes or slippers around the house - no 'no shoes indoors' rule here. Having coats upstairs would be a major pain and take up too much wardrobe space.

Namechangedtoday15 I too am surprised by number of people storing coats and shoes upstairs and it working!

My DH insists that we should be able to do this too as when he lived at home with his parents this is what they did. But I'm dubious if he and his sister really did do this or if his mum just spent her days going up and down the stairs putting shoes and coats away as she is very tidy and super houseproud.

I would convert the under stairs area into a washer/dryer room (but making sure there's enough ventilation: make sure the door is slatted, for example) and get the builder to build you a shallow, narrow, ceiling height hallway closet for shoes next to a box bench with a lid that lifts (and can store umbrellas, wellies, hats etc inside) with pegs above it for coats and a ledge for keys.

I suggest this because it's what we have

We have just got this shoe storage for our hall cupboard. Would something liek that fit as well as your washing machine etc.

Then only allow currently used coats in the cupboard or hall and everything else upstairs in wardrobes.

Codingyouon I think it might be the latter . Hats off to anyone that can manage it though, I am in awe! We'd never get out of the door!

We didn't store shoes by the door when I was little either, but it was strictly one pair of shoes per child then and we were a shoes-on household for warmth, so there were no spare shoes to store.

We did have wellies by the back door actually.