Utility room: What do you keep in yours?!

[FranklinTheCat]

And how big is it?

We're planning one as part of our extension and am trying to work out how big it should be and what should go in there beyond a washing machine and a pull-down airer.

Sorry, that should have said a 2x2 shelf for 4 baskets! Basically a small space under the worktop converted into 4 pigeon holes large enough for a small laundry basket.

Ah! Slightly less useful as an intruder deterrent

Ours is bigger than the kitchen, we replaced the kitchen units and reused them in the utility room. Roughly 12 x12. So mostly fitted units plus washing machine, tumble dryer and large fridge freezer. Got tall larder unit at end of run. Dog food bins under wall units. Lots of storage and worktop space. Can bring on my seeds in electric propagators in the spring on the worktops.

High hole in the wall for an extractor fan which would be essential if wet washing was draped in there

Rail for hangers

Low hole in wall for vented drier.

Plumbing for washer

Large sit-on sink (no worktop under it so no problem with splashes and drips. A catering one would have been bigger).

Would have put in a stopcock for a garden tap through the wall if there wasn't one in the adjacent WC.

More electrical sockets than you would think necessary, and switches for appliances under worktop.

worktop for washing, and shopping to be unpacked (it is close to the front door).

Big fridge freezer, washer, drier.
Iron, board, laundry supplies
Cleaning supplies
Vac
Some garden chemicals
Kettle, teapot, mugs, plates, cutlery, glasses incl for garden and Barbie use

Some cupboards

Electric heater (think I might put a towel rail in there one day)

At one time it had a small cooker for the guest room.

Ours is 2.1 X 2.4m, and has always been very much an overflow area for our smallish kitchen. We've just re-worked it and put a third bloody door in!

Previously it had a lot of worktop, sink, WM, TD and either the main fridge or a pantry cupboard. Storage for a lot of tools, camping gear, pet food, tins of paint. It was always a total mess.

Now we've sacrificed worktop for a door through to the garage, so that hopefully the tools stop piling up. We have a run of WM, TD, sink, wall mounted boiler and some narrow 30cm shallow drawers for little bits like batteries, keys, cling film, candles, torches kind of thing. We have a wall mounted microwave out there to free up space in kitchen. On the opposite side we have big deep tall larder type cupboards, full of storage for camping, pets, alcohol, kitchen overflow, cleaning stuff etc. This is a mixture of shelving and some hefty pull out drawers. We don't have a tall cupboard for vacuum, mops, ironing board etc as these live under stairs or in garage. I only iron in rooms with a TV!

We have a washing machine with s plumbed in dryer above. These are in a bespoke unit with storage above for detergents etc. Next to that is a huge hand wash sink with a spray tap and drained draining board. Under the draining area and some work top is a wine fridge. Above the sink etc are cubby holes for sorted non iron washing. One per household member plus a spare!

On the other walls there is a large towel airer radiator. There is also a long rail for handing drying items such as shirts. This sits above work surface with drawers under for light bulbs, string, spares etc. Below the drawers are two storage baskets. One for welly boots and one for paper recycling. At the end is a large broom cupboard for mops, Irving board, iron, polishes etc.

We don’t have the ceiling height for a Molly maid and, having had one before, I prefer my built in rail. I have French windows out to the garden!

Hanging drying items!

I love mine.
Sink
Washer,
Heated airer
Fridge
Freezer
Veg basket
Washing basket, powder
Shelves with all pantry/dry food on
Cupboard with cleaning stuff in
Vacuum
Mop and bucket
Coat rack
Shoe rack
Slow cooker
Ironing board
Cat dishes and spare food
Love it!!

Does anyone use one of these over door hangers? I'm thinking it would be good for drying shirts. Not necessarily this brand.

HANGERWORLD 6.9-Inch Plastic Super Strong Over The Door Hooks for Coats/Clothes/Towels, Pack of 2, White https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001VYUZZE/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_FKGmCbMANC7EW

Sink with draining board, tumble dryer, washing machine, fridge freezer. Pulley dryer that comes down from the ceiling, two folding drying racks.

Oh yeah, and cat's food dish plus litter tray.

Forgot microwave is in utility too. I Love not having it in the main kitchen. We have three doors too, but it's ok. I have a tray which fits over the sink so I can use it for bits of gardening stuff, eg planting bulbs. Window ledge is full at the moment!

Washing machine, tumble dryer, American fridge freezer, sink and draining board, 5 kitchen cupboards with all the homework / school files, cleaning stuff, ironing board, mops, kitchen bin and a clothes rail above the sink where I hang everything which can’t go in the drier. Kids keep all the school bags and PE kit in there too. Also all my spare cereal, toilet rolls, bottles of water and things like that

Just fitted this in mine.

Love, love, love it

www.juluhome.co.uk

I love that airer @Flyingsouthwiththeswallows. Looks very versatile
Would it be too awkward to use if it was mounted above sink?

I'm planning a towel radiator that runs on the central heating or electric so will be handy for drying bits as and when. Also thinking of getting this folding airer for it: pin.it/lsetg2uls6imkx

Lakeland do a cheap one too.
www.lakeland.co.uk/26052/Lakeland-Radiator-Airer-for-Heated-Towel-Rails?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjryBvqvb3wIVTUTTCh2lkQ-QEAQYASABEgIfPPD_BwE&src=gfeed&s_kwcid=AL!49!3!275625961140!!!g!361152322797!&ef_id=XCVBnQAAAEM29zlC:20190107091914:s

And space for a dehumifier

Ours is not next to the kitchen, there’s a lobby between where we keep coats, shoes, bags.
I really want the fridge freezer out of the small kitchen but would need to go through two doors to it if we put it in the utility. Would fridge freezer be ok in lobby?

Matt I don't see why not.

I wouldn't personally. We used to have our FF in the utility and after a year it drove me bonkers. Every cup of tea made or bowl of cereal would mean 2 trips to the utility room for getting and replacing the milk. I'd keep a fridge in the kitchen and put a separate freezer in the utility. But if putting them in the lobby works for you, go for it.

Mine (rented house) had the boiler and radiator in when we moved in. We put our washing machine and tumble dryer out there too. I love being able to keep all the washing and drying tucked away out there, the radiator means things still dry nicely in winter, I have an airer out there and have the window slightly open.
When dh gets round to it he's going to put some shelving on top of the washing machine and dryer so I can stack washing baskets easier.

If I was planning one of my own I'd make it like Believability above, like a boot room. Hooks for kids bags, storage for shoes etc. Those go in the porch at the moment which is OK but a constant mess, and obviously the first thing you see when coming into the house!

Mine is 3m x 3m. It is the same size as the kitchen. It has top and bottom kitchen units along one of the walls and bottom units on another wall. the 3rd wall has the washing machine and dryer and the boiler above these. We have a work top that runs the whole length of 3 walls.

We have a huge coat/shoe rack in here too which is rammed with coats so we shall have to rethink the coat storage. We also keep our bins in here.

The spray mop and vacuum cleaner are leaning against the coat stand.

The kitchen cupboards in here are rammed with kitchen stuff as we don't have enough storage in the kitchen itself. I also think we have too much stuff that we need to get rid of. The cupbaords house the tupperware (too much), serving dishes, a whole cupboard dedicated to baking things; too much since I haven't baked in over 2yrs, my work PPE (much needed so this is very good use of that cupboard), under counter freezer, corner cupboard has kitchen rolls, bulk bags of spices/herbs, huge bag of rice; DMum (bless her) insists on bringing 10kg bags with her each time she visits, food mixers, bbq gadgets (need to get rid) and another cupboard for washing powder, bin bags, car screenwashes, etc. The other top cupboards have junk food, canned foods, jars, more spices and herbs and the other has wine glasses and flutes, jugs.

The top of the surface, we have basket with onions, potatoes, garlic, cookbooks perched in one corner.

Plenty of storage but I think it is poorly used. No sink in there which I would like to have. We plan to do the kitchen so we shall get the utility reconfigured.

You all sound like you have massive utility rooms and I'm jealous! Mine has washing machine and microwave. There's a sink with a cupboard underneath with all the cleaning stuff. The hoover is kept in there (wall mounted Dyson) and steam mop and the bin/recycling. There's some wall units with stuff like medicines, crisps, spare batteries etc. It really needs a clear out...

Our (f)utility is small and in the middle of the house. One side has an external door to the side of the house (the only exterior wall in it), the other walls border the dining room, kitchen (with another door) and a downstairs cloakroom. It's not the full width of the kitchen because of the cloakroom.

It has the (wall-hung) boiler, the washing machine, a sink/drainer and a double cupboard under the sink. It did have a long shelf on the wall above the sink but we changed the boiler and I haven't put one back as the boiler door now opens that way.

I've seen another small utility room no door and quite narrow - one side had the washing machine/freezer/tumble dryer and the other side had storage cupboards. I thought it was a brilliant use of a small space. Because of the opening doors, mine is way too narrow for any additional storage and because the boiler is above the washing machine you can't stack the tumble dryer on it (but that's the external wall as the external door is to the side of the house.

We have wondered whether to take down the wall between the kitchen and utility but wouldn't really gain anything from it.

Ours is quite big and is part of our kitchen (though there's a door between we tend to keep it open) it's fully fitted with units same as kitchen including a larder unit.
It's got the large fridge freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer, another freezer, sink, microwave. It's also home to hoover and ironing board
Coats are hung there (can't be seen from kitchen) back door and access to cloakroom/toilet.
I store food in the cupboards and other stuff and it's too full of crap need to sort it at some point.

And the printer is in there too as we have worktops like a kitchen