Utility room or playroom?

[NotAPuffin]

We've just moved into a new house. The kitchen has less storage than we're used to and we don't really want to add more as we'd lose the space we currently have for a small table and chairs, which we like having there.

We were thinking of using the converted garage as a playroom but I'm considering converting it to a big utility room, to add extra storage, laundry facilities (and a laundry shute because it's under the bathroom ) and cloakroom type stuff, all of which is necessary.

The kids are 6 and 5 and tend to play all over the place, not in the playroom. It's really just where the toys are stored. But they have large bedrooms and we could easily fit the toys in those.

DH thinks they should have their own space aside from their rooms, but I think it's more important to have the utility-laundry-storage stuff. If they want to be somewhere other than their rooms there's the sitting room, dining room and study, so it's not as if they'll be forced into being in the same room as us when they're teenagers and we're too embarrassing or annoying to be in the same room as them.

Thoughts?

Playroom all the way! They can have friends over in a child-safe environment, without you worrying. Your children may respect your home, but other kids may not, a playroom is the stuff of dreams!

Utility

in your situation I'd do the utility.the kids have big bedrooms and it sounds like you've got plenty of other rooms in the house to escape to.

Plus I yearn for a utility with a chute and ironing board permanently up and somewhere to stick the airer. Balls to the kids having their own space

Utility, kids will either be in their room or bring their tous to where you are. If they have big rooms then they can go there with friends

Could you not just have a few units in there with appliances behind cupboard doors then have the rest as a playroom? My kids have their own sitting room which is great for friends over and general extra noisey teen activities- like the bloody PS /xbox!!

Utility all the way. We have a playroom and the kids never play there, it's just used for toy storage. It's lovely not to have toys all over the Sitting Room in the evenings but if you think you could contain the toys to their bedrooms (maybe with some kind of 'sweep everything into this chest at the end of the day' arrangement downstairs) then I'd totally go for a lovely big practical Utility room. Our utility room has completely transformed our lives laundry mountains

Utility room, without a doubt.

I think a whole garage conversion is wasted as a utility. Take an area out of the back of it for a utility and use rest for a small tv room. My youngest is 8 now and the playroom seems to bevused mainly for music practice, but I'm sure we will put a tv and games console in there at some point.

I'd say utility room. My lo plays in the living room because he's only 16 months. But when he's older he can play in his room.
Yes a playroom would be nice of course. But I'd say a utility room is. Ire important right now.

Playroom!
Although I renamed ours to 'the snug' or 'the music room' 3 years ago ......just didn't seem right that my DDs who are now late teens were asking if they could have their boyfriend round and use the playroom!
Nowadays DH and I also use the room when one of the DDs wants pre-drinks at ours and uses our larger lounge etc.

Can't you have both? One side units and white goods, other side massive cupboard for toys, manky kid quality sofa and maybe a table?

So you've already got 3 reception rooms? I'd definitely go for a large utility/boot room. I wonder why they converted the garage to a 4th reception room in the first place? If the kids need a snug in the future you could always use the dining room or office for a few years.

I'd love a utility room!

We have a sitting room, dining room and kitchen diner downstairs as well as the playroom (which has a loo off it).

Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms, one of which we're using as a library/study type thing.

So there's really no shortage of rooms for the kids to have friends in (and it would be a priority for us for their friends to feel welcome and at home). But all the stuff I want to put in the utility room is necessary and would make family life a lot tidier and more organised, which is also important.

I would say both - snug plus smaller utility. When the kids are older you might not want hordes of teenagers all over your house and prefer them to stay downstairs

Talking about your dc friends - not your dcs

I think it depends on the aspect. My integral garage is north facing, and if converted would still be quite a dark, cold space that nobody would want to sit in, but would make an excellent utility. If it was a south facing room that was light and bright, then yes a playroom would be lovely.

We converted our integral garage last year. Playroom at the front with a stud wall about 3/4 back with a utility room behind. I've got kitchen units along one wall, a fridge freezer (our kitchen one is tiny!) and a tumble drier along the other wall and lots of shelves. It's brilliant. The playroom will turn into a 'snug’/ study as they get older and I've still got all the extra storage and other bits hidden away which makes a huge difference...

It sounds like you've made your mind up. Would teenagers really hang out in a dining room or upstairs study though? More likely they will either go to your kids' bedrooms or the main living area.

It has two east facing windows and one north facing, so it's quite light all the time and particularly nice in the morning. But morning isn't exactly peak time for teenage socialising.

I'm pretty much convinced, I think. We really do need a utility room, given the size of the kitchen, and I'd rather use the whole thing than subdivide it and have a poky unsatisfying utility room and a poky snug that would only fit a two seater couch and a flat screen.

Next task is to convince your DH.

One thing with garage conversions is they are often quite prominent at the front of the house. Is yours tucked round the side or something? Our garage conversion is the only room passers by, postman etc can see into so it's the one room I avoid putting washing out to dry in.

It's at the front. The drive is fairly long and there are shrubs to the side so no-one really has much of a view in from the path. And I don't really care if people see my utility room, to be honest. A playroom would be much more likely to be messy!

Definetly utility.

Do you have space and funds for a sunroom/conservatory off the kitchen? If ever you could add one the current dining room could move into it and the dining room become a teenage den.

How big is your converted garage? I ask because we converted our double garage into a playroom for the children but kept the back 6ft for storage.

In one of the original garage areas we have a large Ikea sofa bed under the window and then on the opposite wall Ikea wardrobes that hold the xbox/wii with a 32" tv in it.

On the other side of a brick wall we had built dividing the room, is a run of storage units. I have a larder freezer in there in addition to the one I have in the kitchen and I still have over 2m to the side of it. I couldn't keep an ironing board up in it but that is where I store it.

When we moved here the children were 6 and 3, they are now almost 14 and 11. Trust me, the playroom is the best thing we ever did. When you have "children" the size of adults gallumping round your house it is nice to have their own room. Downstairs.

My children always played in their playroom because I made a point to be in there with them. Closing the door on laid out train track or lego construction and spending the evening in my lovely tidy lounge.

I always think bedrooms are for sleeping in, not playing. If you have the space, then it is bliss to be able to leave stuff out if they are mid play with something.