Does a utility help sell the property?

[CheamMumOf2Kids]

Hi Ladies.

Need advice on having a utility and what do people mean by a utility.

We are in a process of a massive refurbish of our ground floor. Creating a snug/living/dining/kitchen space on the ground floor.
Now the question is should we squeeze a uitlity into this. Apart from this we already have a formal reception room.

Also I am confused about what a utility is.
Does utility only mean a laundry room or does it mean another room where you can cook/wash.

If utility means a laundry room then we do have one (like a store) but on the 2nd floor. But not sure if it will count as a utility but quite like it as I do not have to bring my laundry downstairs everyday.

If utility means a small kicthen where one can cook and wash without keeping the open plan area messy, then we will have to squeeze out space in ground floor which I am not quite happy about.

But at the same time would not like to limit the potential of my house.

An upstairs laundry cupboard is common in the US and I always liked them - less carrying stuff up and down stairs. Some kind of downstairs boot room at the back door would be useful for coats and boots etc though, especially if you have a dog. If you have room for a sink in it all the better.

It depends on what sort of house it is. At the higher end of the market people often have “prep kitchens” so they can entertain in the open plan kitchen/living/dining room, but keep the pots and pans out the way. I would personally love an upstairs laundry room but I’d still want a mudroom- I guess a cloakroom with a sink - downstairs for all the muddy stuff and outdoor clothes etc

Ideally the utility/laundry room would open onto the garden so you can hang clothes outside if possible. A sink and room to leave an ironing board up is great. Also leave room for sites, though they can go on the ceiling.

Airers not sites

Yes a utility/laundry is a MUST for me...with enough space for a sink, storage, washer, dryer and a bin or two. Coat hooks, some welly storage and space for a clothes airer to be open and also an ironing space. 👌

We don’t have a utility room but have halved the double garage into one, joined to the house so don’t have to go outside. Fitted it out like a kitchen with units and a Belfast sink. It houses the dogs fridge and freezer, washer and dryer. Oak worktops and wall kitchen units house bbq and picnic stuff and Christmas booze. We turned our old kitchen into a boot room which was much higher up on the wish list than a utility room.

I wish we had a utility but it was on our 'nice to have' rather than our essential list. If you're designing a very open plan kitchen/living room/dining space then I would not like having the washing machine in there because of the noise. If there is somewhere upstairs to have the machines that is a bonus, but personally I do washing at night or early morning so the noise would be an issue for me there too

When I moved house a separate utility room for the washing machine/dryer was my deal breaker. I know in theory it makes sense to have it upstairs, but (as a typical Irish mammy) I love to hang my clothes on the line in the garden. So I think it is better to have one with its own door outside.

I think maybe the non-laundry 'utility' you're thinking of is a spice kitchen? They can be quite useful if you're from a country where there is a lot of grease involved in food prep and the spices you use tend to hang in the air for a while. Also handy if you have a beautiful open plan kitchen and want to get some messy cooking done whilst keeping your 'on display' kitchen looking more presentable for example when you have guests over for a dinner party and don't want to look at food prep mess whilst you eat. Our Indian friends have one and swear by it. But it's not actually a utility I don't think.

With our current house, the architect's plans originally included a spice kitchen, but we asked to have that removed as I preferred to have a larger open kitchen area with a really big island. A second 'messy' area feels a bit indulgent to me; I'd rather have the space. I (perhaps mistakenly!) feel that guests always tend to gravitate to the kitchen to talk to the chef anyway, so hiding the messy cooking away isn't really going to do anything except make the space feel more cramped and the cook feel isolated.

As for an actual utility room (which for me would mean a space for washer and dryer plus ideally a laundry folding area, an extra fridge, shelves and cupboards for storage, and a sink), it was one of my non-negotiables for a new house. I've got one now and it's brilliant. Having one makes my life so much easier (we have a laundry chute straight from our kids' bathroom to the utility which is a solid win) and is a good solution for keeping things like extra kitchen roll, recycling, cleaning supplies, canned goods, etc out of the kitchen.

So, short answer: it would definitely be a major plus in my book if I were looking around.

A utility room for housing the washer and dryer will be a must for our next house move.
If there is no space that's a dealbreaker fpr me, I absolutely don't want to have the laundry in the kitchen.

How long are you planning on living in that house. If a long time then I wouldn't worry about and do as you would want.

We are doing the same to our house but removing the utility room in the process. Everyone tells me I shouldn't and I will regret it but it would really reduce the size of our room and impact the design if we didn't. When I asked people why it is such an issue reasons given are 1) mess and 2) noise. Yes it would be nice to be able to dump a basket full of clothes out of sight but I don't feel this perk would be worth the trade of our perfect room. And we only ever out washing machine on at night so noice isn't an issue either.

We are not planning on moving though so might reconsider if we were

A utility room is one of the most sought after features when people are house shopping. Basically a laundry room with a sink, drying rack and storage for cleaning products and appliances.