Tell me about your perfect Utility Room!

[kali43]

Remodelling and on first draft ours will be approx 2 x 3m. What should we have in it to get the best out of it - especially given we live in a wet and windy Wales!

Ours is the size of a single garage because that's what it was until last year. We've got a load of Ikea open shelves and pull-out baskets - the baskets contain mostly shopping bags, umbrellas etc, and the best use for the shelves is that the highest ones have the cat carriers on. Space underneath where the toolbox lives. Plumbed-in condenser dryer stacked on top of the washing machine, with a stacking kit that includes a pull-out shelf for folding. Sink and drainer over two deep drawers, fold-down wall-mounted drying rack over the sink. Three full height kitchen cupboards (one narrow and shallow to fit the space). Games, swimming kit, a clothes rail for out of season coats, boot storage. Handy space between cupboard and wall that just happens to fit the two freestanding drying racks. Cupboard on top of a series of drawers for screws, tape, drill bits etc. Big freezer (there's an under counter one in the kitchen) and another cupboard over. Shoe cabinet. Wall mount for ironing board, bracket for the iron, and wall mounted charger for the cordless Dyson.

Best bits are the open shelving, cos I fitted it, the stacked washer and dryer, wall mounted drier (great when we haven't got enough to justify a big drying rack, but too much for a radiator), deep drawers for washing powder (after years of having them on top of the washing machine), and the Dyson.

DH wants a TV in there, for ironing entertainment. I'm happy with the radio - DAB, between R4 and R4 Extra I can always find a nice person to talk to me while I iron.

Oh, also very useful for storing the fittings for the bathroom as they wait to be put in - they'd be in the living room driving me mad, or the garage getting dirty otherwise.

Ooooo! I have a ironing room! Aka as an utility. The tumble dryer is in there and an extra undercounter freezer. Then I have a long counter where I pile oroned clothes. Baskets and baskets of clean clothes are.stored under the counter waiting for Sundays to come round.
Sunday, my DH makes a roast dinner while I iron while watching Netflix for hours. The ironing board stays up 24/7 and tv is purely for keeping me entertained.

Can't imagine a house where there is no where to hide piles of clothes!

We have washing machine, tumble dryer, lots of cupboards, drinks fridge, extra freezer, iron, ironing board, fuse box, water softener (in cupboard), one of those old fashioned clothes dryers that hangs from the roof (fantastic). It is pretty big.

We have:

Washing machine
Tumble dryer
Sink
Room to put up ironing board
A rail to hang ironed clothes on
A box per person for socks
Extra freezer
Cupboard for Hoover, mop etc
Worktops all the way round
Flat screen smart to to keep the head ironer (me) entertained
Cupboards for general cleaning stuff
Cupboards for the posh dinner set
Room on the worktop for a table top hostess thingy

Love it!

Ours is currently half laundry, half crap store, but I really want to sort it... At the moment there's a door to the side passage, but am thinking of blocking that off to make more cupboard/work surface space, and just have the window instead - the door would need replacing otherwise as it's very breezy and not hugely convenient for getting into the house - would that be a dreadful idea? We never use it anyway and girls come in from the garden into patio door in the kitchen onto a big mat, plus we have no dog etc to need hosing down...

Meanwhile, plan is to have washer and dryer next to each other, cupboards next to and above the work surface, sink, tall cupboard for ironing board, and several of those fold down dryers from ikea. Now that we've got a utility I could never be without it - where on earth would all the laundry go while waiting to be sorted out?!

Yy - double sink here. So worth having.

I'd be lost without my utility room. I didn't have one where we lived before and now I wonder how I managed without one. The boiler's in there, the washer/dryer, sink and drainer, double cupboard for cleaning materials, another cupboard where I keep things like dog food, hot water bottles, hats, scarves and gloves for dog walks, resuable shopping bags etc. The steam mop lives in there, as does the ironing board, sweeping brush, washing basket and various pairs of shoes and boots (the ones used for dog walks).

It opens onto the kitchen so the wall mounted TV in there can be seen while I'm ironing.

I have a utility and a separate boot room (spoilt) I'm probably bucking the trend as I don't have lots of cupboards In the utility. Just a washer, freezer, boiler, work tops, Belfast sink, Sheila's maid, huge laundry basket. One cupboard for cleaning stuff. I like to live clutter free so I think that excessive storage just encourages hoarding.
The boot room earns its space and is amazing, it hold all of the crap I don't want in the house, it's captured and contained before entering the house. It has a separate entrance so the main entrance is always immaculate.

No space for one but I'd put in a decent radiator that can run off the mains but also on electricity so you can switch in on on a cold damp "summer" day when you have stuff to dry without turning on the heating in the whole house?

I like the cubby holes idea. I saw them on Houzz/Pinterest once - a wall-mounted square wire basket for each member of the family so you can fold and sort as you go.

Coat and boot storage sound essential. I'd be tempted to again put something in that gives everyone their individual space [to stay within], otherwise ancient trainers and wellies never get thrown out.

Lastly - may not be an issue if you are rural and have an outdoor tap but it's handy sometimes to attach a hosepipe to a source of warm water? Greasy car/bike or whatever? You will need to make sure that the tap spout isn't a fancy square design or you won't be able to get anything on it

Party fridge is handy for hosting bbq's and overflow at Christmas or just because you like to make individual choc mousses or similar, storage for rarely used kitchen stuff that you need to keep.

Can I ask a stupid question? I'm planning a house extension this summer for a new kitchen and I've never done one before. I am thinking of having a fairly large utility area in the kitchen, instead of a separate room (for reasons of light this works better). But will I be losing out not having a separate utility space?

I also have a cupboard under the stairs that I don't know how to handle. It could be a pantry, though there is probably space to have food storage in the new kitchen. We have nowhere to put coats and shoes at the moment, so we could use it for that. PIL say we should have a downstairs loo, but there are only two of us here and when I had a second loo in my last house it was never used. Which would you go for?

We have a utility room. The washing machine and tumble dryer are in there. An additional fridge/freezer. A butler sink for soaking and washing dirty things. Lots of cupboard space, and a cupboard to store ironing board, air dryer, and broom.

Holly I'd keep the under stairs are for coats and shoes and if I possible try to have a door between the kitchen and utility. That way when the washing machine is on and there are piles of crap laundry etc in there you can shut the door.

Good point about the mess. I am quite tidy, but in my heart of hearts, I am sort of hoping this kitchen will transform me into complete minimalist who floats around airy, white spaces while gently radiating a beatific glow. It's not going to happen, is it?

It might happen...

My main reason for a utility was so I could close the door on the washing! The airers go up in there and are only moved out to fold washing. The floor is literally full when they are up - the under 2m x 2m was wall to wall, not free floor space!

I also find that a condenser tumble dryer pumping out heat and clothes on airers gets all the washing dry in record time - this is assisted because it's a small room with ventilation so it heats up like an airing cupboard without becoming too damp.

Drying racks or hooks or something, not for washing but for wet coats, dog towel, waterproof trousers - ideally over boiler. Then you can dry these without making washing muddy or getting dry coats wet. Also hooks at low level so all children including visitors can hang up their own coats - good for umbrellas, scarves etc when they get bigger. Twice as many hooks as you think you need. It took me a few goes to get that lot right. And then cupboard doors over the rest of it so you can pretend its tidy...!

Our utility room is very useful and I'm glad we've got it, however it's a bit unusual in that it's a sort of conservatory design, uPVC with half glazing all the way round and a plastic roof. I reckon the previous owners have added it on the back at some point.

Pros: room for washer/dryer, extra fridge freezer and cupboards for all the extra bits and bobs, cleaning gear etc which would otherwise clutter up the kitchen or bathroom. I also keep a heated propagator in there and have a potting shelf (until i get my own potting shed at least!) for seeds, cuttings etc. So it's a sort of utility/greenhouse.

Cons: the conservatory design means it's unheated, so FREEZING in winter and also quite damp so there's a lot of mouldy spots everywhere. Then v warm in summer. Also all the glazing means it's less practical for storage above waist height and sometimes I wish I could use it as a proper conservatory for sitting in and looking out at the garden!

I think we're going to pull out the old shelving (which must have been the old kitchen cupboards) and put in some of the IKEA shelves/baskets and a worktop so it's a bit nicer to look at and better storage. But I'd like to have a proper roof or heating in it or something to cut down on the extremes of temperature or make it more of a 'rear porch/utility' than a 'rubbish conservatory/room of mouldy cleaning stuff'.

Ours is 5m x 2m and part of our extension but we ran out of money so haven't got round to getting it properly kitted out.

I have a load of IKEA wire baskets stuffed with shoes etc.
Laundry baskets
Tumble dryer
Extra freezer
Treadmill (!)

Ideally I want shelving and a counter along one side, a Sheila maid thing and a tv for when I'm on the treadmill!

Ours has washer, a drier, a sink, two Towers of wire baskets, a shower and a sauna. Lots of hanging space.

So many ideas, I feel all inspired!

I read the thread title and laughed out loud......
My perfect utility room has s door that you can close on all the junk that's behind it! It's the only room of my house that's a shit tip! It's got a washing machine, freezer and storage cupboards along with the boiler. And it's where the cat litter and cat food is. And it's where muddy (Wales) boots get kicked off.

Dontcallmebaby i think i am in love with your utility room. Where di you get your clever stacking folder gizmo thing? Treadsoftly like the radiator hint, maybe one of those lakeland heated airers may be an idea always secretly desired one herethereeverywhere a giant airing cupboard sounds lush! Thanks all, I'm on a roll now!

Underfloor heating!
The 'WarmUp' system that is really low cost to run and can be turned on and off independently of the rest of the heating but also set onto a timer if required.

My futility room is being finished off as I write! Very excited by it all. Mine has been created out of what was the downstairs bathroom behind the kitchen - it's pretty small but has 3 appliances under a worktop on one side and a double kitchen unit with big sink on the other. And a loo next to that which makes it a lootility I suppose. I'm a bit concerned about heating though as there's no radiator in there, will any of the clothes I put on my new sheila ' s maid actually dry??