Design ideas from other countries?

[vcrees6]

I am hopefully moving to a new house quite soon, if all goes to plan. Will be moving from a 2 bed flat to a 4 bed house so will have to buy quite a few new things (furniture and appliances), upgrade our existing things and update bathrooms and the kitchen.

I am fairly sure there are designs that are quite common in other countries that for whatever reason or not common or not available in the UK that would be useful and more aesthetically pleasing that what you find commonly here.

For example in America you can get washers and dryers that are higher in height and slimmer that sit side by side, which means you don't have to bend over to load/empty/transfer washing. Their slimness also means they don't look so bulky at that height. Maybe I haven't been looking hard enough in shops/online but I don't think these are common here .

Unfortunately that's all I can think of but I'm sure there must be more! Any ideas?

From my Swedish friends homes I noticed that most of their clothes storage was in floor to ceiling cupboards in the hallway rather than in bedrooms. I thought this was really a good idea as it saves you having to go into every room to deposit clean laundry. They also had a large glass canopy over the deck covering their garden furniture which I though was a nice idea - keeps furniture dry and lets light in unlike American style veranda's.

I live in North America the frontal washer an dryers are not that high it's because they sell matching drawers that go under them and elevate them.
like this ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/5639058/LG-14-inch-Front-Load-Washer-Dryer-Top-Mount-Pedestal-Refurbished-L13392985.jpg

if you like the design and it is not sold in the UK there are plenty of DIY/costum ideas like this addicted2diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IMG_3700-edited.jpg

Designs you have and I can't find: wall mounted toilets and the overflow that can also be used to fill the tub.

My husband is from the US and we've just bought our first house here in the UK. He initially drove Me mad with trying to bring his US home ideas to our home (wanted to rip out fireplaces, stacked utilities, a god awful fridge freezer that looks like a transformer, a "mudroom" when we barely have space for a mat, and he insisted on a shower curtain which I have allowed).
I love the big kitchen diner we are building, we are having the fireplace opposite the TV (he really doesn't get the putting your TV in the corner thing), and he's agreed to all the amazing mod-cons you only find in US kitchens... just not the massive f/f. Insinkarator, professional tap, two huge sinks and the island. The hardest bit for him was having to have our utilities crammed in there too

I was watching an episode of fixer upper (a US property show)the other day and chuckled at the couple looking round who were startled about the fact that in the house they were viewing, the washer/dryer was IN THE KITCHEN! The lady who does up the houses quickly reassured them that in the redesign they would be moved out of the kitchen. Here in the UK I don't know anyone that doesn't have the washing machine in the kitchen, unless they are lucky enough to have a utility.

In Australia we often saw the tumble dryer stacked on top of the washing machine (maybe with a supporting shelf in between) and they would put the tumble dryer upside down so you could easily reach the buttons to start it.

tumble dryer above washing machine is standard in the UK, obviously the washer is heavy so can't go on a shelf. Are Australians generally too short to reach buttons?

washing machine needs to be near a water supply so the kitchen is the obvious place, unless there is another room. I've seen them in downstairs toilets which also works.

waste disposal units are an environmental disaster BTW - using drinking water to wash food waste into the sewage plant isn't good. Most UK councils now collect food waste if you don't have space for a compost heap.