Does a utility room NEED to be next to the kitchen?

[NicFairy]

What are the advantages of having a utility room directly off the kitchen? Ours will be used mainly for dirty laundry and also a boot room / room for the dog when he’s muddy from walks (it will have an external door leading to the garden).

When we extend, we will be converting the narrow garage space that runs down one side of the house, so we would have room for a narrow but long utility room and a downstairs shower room and WC, running alongside the hallway. We have two potential layout options: shower room at the front of the house, utility room behind that, leading onto the kitchen. Or: utility room at the front of the house, with shower room sandwiched in between utility room and kitchen.

The reason I’m pondering putting the utility room at the front, is because then we could have a front facing window, which we wouldn’t have if we put the shower room there (privacy! Not sure about a shower room
with front facing window leading straight onto our front drive) Perhaps a front facing window on that side isn’t important, but I’m having trouble picturing it without the front elevation looking a bit weird and unsymmetrical if there isn’t a window there?

So, would it be an awful idea to not have the utility room next to the kitchen? (It would be only about 2 metres further away down the hallway). We’ve never had a utility room before so I can’t work out the practical advantages of having it leading directly off the kitchen. We would have a big pantry and sink in the kitchen so I can’t see the utility being used much for kitchen storage and overspill. The only thing I can think of at the moment is that it would be nice to have the dog room leading directly off the kitchen so that we can contain the dog to the back of the house.

Any insight or wisdom on these two potential layouts would be appreciated!

For plumbing/water supply??

@underneaththeash no, more for practicality / day to day living reasons. The plumbing will be fine in either layout option.

My utility room is at the far end of the house from the kitchen, and accessed externally. So I've to go out the back door, across the patio and in another door to get to it. It doesn't bother me in the least, and means we don't have any machine noise in the house at all.

I think it would be better to have the utility near the kitchen as you will wander in and out quite a lot presumably with washing etc. If you want to use the utility sink as overflow from the kitchen you want it right there.

Also as I am looking at houses a lot currently, unless you plan to die in this house then think carefully about what most future buyers will want and don't go for a weird layout. Most people will want the utility near the kitchen. Have seen some really odd extensions and the houses don;t sell anywhere near as easily.

If you have the shower at the back, how do you access the utility?

Is this a laundry room, with ironing board etc? Having a window there is good if so.

Our utility room is not directly adjacent to our kitchen (big old house, quirky layout) and it is a total non issue. In summer it’s a little further to the washing line but that’s made up for in winter when it’s closer to the stairs and putting the washing away. Having a window in a utility room is a big plus though so maybe do that?

Our utility isn’t directly off the kitchen and it’s never been an issue for us. We use the room mainly for laundry/sort of a boot room/pram storage. It’s very useful. If it was off the kitchen it would make it slightly easier to bring laundry out into the garden to dry, but that’s it really. I think it depends if it’s going to be utility as in laundry/cleaning etc, or if you plan on using it as part of your kitchen. Ours are very separate so it works for us.

Our utility room is in a completely different part of the house and it doesn’t affect us in the slightest. Nothing we do in the utility has anything to do with what we do in the kitchen. Our utility room is just off the garden so is used as a boot room and it’s also useful to have access to the garden for hanging washing out.

It entirely depends on whether you see there being overlap between kitchen and utility activities.

Seems I was wrong about most people wanting the utility by the kitchen!

My utility room is on the opposite side of the house to the kitchen as that allowed us to have easier outside access to it and also better light & layout elsewhere. No issues at all 2yrs on, since for me it is for laundry, boots & extra storage, not an overflow kitchen.

For me, yes, but it depends how you intend to use it.

We use it as an extension to the kitchen - so whilst the washing machine and dryer is in there, we also have the microwave in there, the toaster, all my extra pots and pans for when we entertain, cleaning material etc. It would be strange (and inconvenient) to have that away from the kitchen.

We did have it at the end of the house previously (not accessible from the kitchen) and we just used it for laundry and more of a garage store (you know, tins of paint, tools, hoover & sweeping brush etc). It wasn't a kitcheny utility if that makes sense, it was a garagey/laundry utility.

I don't think its unusual to have a window on a downstairs loo / bathroom - you'd just need to obscure the glass maybe?

@OneEpisode the room is a bit too narrow to iron in so we will store the ironing board there but do the ironing in a different room.

I should have mentioned that there will be a window in the utility room either way, whether we go with layout 1 or 2. The only thing that will change is no front facing window if we put the shower room at the front. Both rooms will have windows on the side elevation, though - a glazed one for the shower room most likely.

Our is by the back door. Works for us, we also put a loo in it as we knocked together a small utility and cloakroom to make one bigger room.

Our utility is outside - we have a brick out building
Washer, dryer and sink
It has power, heat and light
It doesn’t bother me and actually it’s nice to not hear the noise and see the laundry indoors

I think the whole utility room next to the kitchen thing is for convenience if someone is in and out of the room constantly with lots of kids washing. Might depend how often you intend to use the room!

I've just moved our utility room further away from the kitchen and made the old one a boot room. It's now off the main hallway and faces the front of the house. I do have to walk further to hang out washing but realistically I don't do that, that often and it's literally 15 steps further away.
I like that in the winter it's nearer the bottom of the stairs for taking washing up and down.
Lots of people have utility's upstairs now. So they definitely aren't near the kitchen.

I am extending and very deliberately putting my playroom directly off the new kitchen/living/dining room and the utility off the playroom. It is also a long narrow utility/boot room with direct access off the patio.

I think it is more important to be near the bathroom (which it is) for collecting dirty washing and I 100% will not be using it as overflow storage for the kitchen.

I have had a giant pantry/ utility room off my kitchen for the last 3 years. Kitchen was big with an aga but had limited storage so fridge/freezer, food storage etc was all in the pantry.

It was a pain in the butt constantly walking back and forth. Not a big deal to most but if you have very small children then every minute counts when you are trying to get dinner cooked without them crying, hitting each other, breaking something etc. And the way the kitchen was organised at least doubled prep time and tidy up time.

I am having 3 runs in my new kitchen. One wall run, a large island and a larder run of cupboards on the other side of the island. BUT absolutely everything that I need to use day to day must be stored on the wall run or that side of the island. The larder run is for extras and ocassionally used appliances etc only. That is how sick of the back and forth I am. Larder has a dedicated cupboard for cordless hoover, broom and spray mop but Henry and Steam mop etc will live in utility.

Playroom will be through a large opening so can see kids while cooking etc. Utility just off there.

@Africa2go we could obscure the glass but I’m not sure how I feel about the privacy aspect even with obscured glass. The window would be right next to the porch and front door, and only about 6m away from the public pavement. I think even with obscured glass people would be able to see the shadow of whoever is in the shower room. We could get blinds / curtains, but I know they would stay closed all of the time, so what’s the point? A small glazed window on the side elevation, further away from the front door and not visible from the drive / pavement feels a lot more private for a WC / shower room, I think.

@Muststopeating yep, we currently have a store room directly off the (badly laid out) kitchen, which houses our fridge and pantry items because they won’t fit in the kitchen. I am sick of the back and forth and have been mentally planning to make sure the kitchen has enough space to not need the utility to be an overflow kitchen.

I don't think a kitchen and utility room are related and don't need to be near each other. Presumably your washing machine and dryer is in there not kitchen? Is there a sink in there? If so, don't worry about it

In my dream house, the utility room will be on the first floor, so I won’t be lugging dirty and clean washing up and downstairs anymore.

This is our utility, it’s next to the kitchen but we have a shower room in there as well. The window at the front is obscured glass. It works really well for us and because it’s a bit further away I can’t hear the machines running when the door is closed.

Utility rooms should be upstairs!

If it's essentially a laundry/boot room, it doesn't need to be next to the kitchen, I'd say it's more important for it to be near the door, for chucking dirty things in there when you come in. (Ideally, it would be on the first floor, to save carrying laundry up and down the stairs.)

If you have a big sink in your kitchen, and a pantry off it, then you won't need the utility for food prep/storage/washing up.

It's my preferred way of organising things - big kitchen (with pantry off it if space permits) for all food-related things, and separate laundry room. They are two separate functions/activities after all.

In fact, we are doing a ground floor extension/redesign, and the architect originally had the utility off the kitchen, but I asked her to change it so it's now accessed from the hall (by the side door). Much more practical. We will be using it for laundry and pushchair storage... if we are still using the pushchair by the time the damn thing gets done!!

I currently have a small cramped kitchen with a small cramped utility adjoining it, massive PITA.

Anyway, to answer your question Yes put the utility at the front and the shower room in the middle. Makes sense.