Thoughts on utility cupboard v utility room

[rmagee611]

Hi there,

We are in the very early stages of figuring out our options for a single story extension to our 3 bed semi.

We are trying to decide if it’s worth adding a utility room onto any plans. This would involve extending out to the side of the house slightly. We are not prepared to lose our access completely, so we don’t have a lot of room to play with.

I think the utility room would be pretty tight, especially if we try to get an external door to outside which would be an even bigger demand on space (but something I’d like if we are going to effort of a utility room!) It would also require a door from the kitchen which would potentially break up the flow and we’d lose some counter space.

Our other option is to put in a large utility cupboard where we can stack a washer/dryer and have room for ironing board hoover. This also means we lose out on some counter space, but will not require us to extend out to the side of the house.

To me the cupboard feels a bit more sensible/practical option for us, but I’m very aware that people love having a utility room and don’t want to not seriously consider it as an option.

I’m very conscious this probably isn’t our forever home, but is it worth squeezing a separate utility room in, even if it’s very small?

Sorry for the long rambling message! Any thoughts appreciated!

In my previous (much bigger) house I had a utility room. In my current terrace I have a utility cupboard. Perfectly happy with the latter....clearly the former was better but if pushed for space not worth compromising so much on kitchen space for imo.

Definitely a room, even if its small. We have a pocket door into ours (brilliant) but its only about 2.4m × 1.5m ish. Planned it meticulously - its crammed full but looks bigger / neat as everything has its place.

I love, love, love my utility room. We made room for it with a rear extension and by moving several walls around so we didn't have to have a side extension to.

This is our forever home though.

Personally, I wouldn't extend to the side purely for a utility room - it would probably look a bit odd and you'd also likely have to apply for full planning permission rather than under permitted development as it wouldn't purely be a rear extension anymore.

I do have a utility room, but only really use it for the washer and tumble dryer and to store drinks and cleaning products in (even though the room is very large for what it is) as I HATE ironing in there - it gets too hot and I'd rather iron in the kitchen where I can open the back doors and look at the view!

We had a quote for a very tiny extension, and it was prohibitive. £25k of my actual cold hard cash for a space not big enough to swing even a kitten. When we actually had a quote saying it would be that much, it was an easy decision, and we are very happy with our unextended refit.

Is there space upstairs for a utility cupboard/room? Used to have one an upstairs and loved it. Massive time saver.

If your utility room will be a very expensive glorified cupboard, then you might be better off sticking to an actual cupboard. They are brilliant if you can get all stages of laundry sorted (sorting, soaking, washing, drying, folding, ironing, hanging, stain removal, etc) with room to hide unsightly mess when you’re entertaining and a place to stash overspill that doesn’t fit nicely in the kitchen (2 ltr bottles/ giant cornflakes). If it’s too small it just becomes an awkward, cluttered space trying to be too many things at once. (That said, clever storage and self discipline are both sadly lacking in my home so I might be unduly pessimistic).

I have a ur, but I sort, fold and iron at the kitchen table chatting with the dc and with them helping. I don’t really want to be on my own in a room staring at a wall.

I’m actually scratching my head over our extension plans at the moment and wondering if a cleverly designed laundry cupboard, closer to the garden (with a pull out ironing board and power socket) would free up the ur space for a generous pantry and be a wiser use of the space for me.

It doesn't sound as though your utility room will be worth extending for.

If you do decide to go for it, try and use the space as best you can. Do you need an external door? Our utility room doesn't gave one and it's never bothered me. When we moved into our house we did consider putting a door in but then decided it was better to use the space.

Do people air laundry in utility rooms? For those with utility cupboards: where do you air / dry laundry?

I think a utility would be need to:
Have a washing machine
Separate tumble dryer (possibly stacked)
A sink for dirty jobs
Storage for cleaning stuff
Storage for ironing board
Somewhere clothes can be left to soak, i.e space for a bucket.
Ideally space for a clothes horse to free up living areas of drying laundry.
Maybe act as a boot room too.

Ironing I would do somewhere more comfortable!

The utility cupboard you're describing would be fine by me.

Cupboard would be fine if you wash then tumble most days and keep ontop of the washing . If you let things build up then might be better with a room you can sort stuff out in.

We have a utility room, which has 3 cupboard spaces: 1 washing machine, 1 tumble dryer and 1 sink unit. I don't have enough space to iron or dry clothes in it, unless you totally blocked the room which I wouldn't. I love my utility room because apart from the obvious reasons of keeping washing machine etc out of the kitchen, I use the worktop to pile up recycling before it goes out (and can close the door to it) and having a second sink is very handy.

That being said, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, as long as there was a utility cupboard. From what you've described I wouldn't be getting an extension just for that.

It's interesting how usage varies. We've just redesigned our utility. We love it, but its real function is just to house the washer, dryer, mucky sink and wall mounted airer. We fold laundry and iron in front of the TV, I don't need or want to do that in the utility. We do also use it for a load of storage, but those things could all equally well be stored in the kitchen.

Funny we are in the process of re-doing our utility, it's very small and we took the decision to do away with the second sink as we just didn't use it, kids are older teens now so not much mucky stuff and without the sink and draining board I'm able to have my washing machine and dryer stacked, next to a full size fridge freezer, two sets of under counter drawers and a big piece of uninterrupted work top.
Think really carefully about how you would use the space. A stacked washing machine and dryer would easily fit in a utility cupboard and if you are clever with the space maybe add a drying rack or those hook arms that can be folded back once shirts etc have dried it might be enough.
I use min for over flow food bits been invaluable
In these Covid times and at Christmas, I use it to store my vacuum, broom, steam mop, ironing board and iron too.
Maybe write down what you will do with it or look online for people that have really well organized utility rooms and cupboards and work out what you want.

Can you have the utility room door opening outwards into whichever room it is off to maximise space? I've got a very small utility room & I plan to change to way the door opens when I've got the funds & can be bothered

How much is your planned extension and what is it extending? Kitchen? How much would the side ext cost and what size would it be? How long will you be in the house?