Utility rooms - are they all that?

[Slimmingstar]

I’m looking to buy a house as currently live in a flat.
I’ve got the idea in my head that I 100% want a utility room.
I’ve visited houses with them and I think they’re fab - the dog can sleep in them, the freezers can live there (have 2 large freezers for dog’s raw food) and there’s a little bit of a snobby part of me that sees it as a lovely middle class addition to a home.

Am I misplaced in my desire, as I’m currently discounting all houses without them and I’m looking for advice?

Thanks all!

No, definitely not misplaced in your desire for a utility room.

I would go almost as far to say a utility room is life changing!

They are amazing. Really practical and nothing showy about them (unless you want to paint silly words on yours and stick it on Instagram). Double that positive review if you have dogs.

If you think about the old sculleries, it’s a similar delineation.

Second most important room the I the house, especially if you can have a door to the garden.

I personally prefer walk in pantries. Utility rooms / spaces can always be built into garages; but you definitely don’t want your pantry there!

@kindlekeeper

Second most important room the I the house, especially if you can have a door to the garden.

Agree. Also utility rooms without a door to outside/garage are the weirdest thing, why walk through another room to hang up the washing? Or coming in from outside and having to go through a perfectly nice room in your sweaty/muddy running or sports kit, grim.

I have a tiny utility room and it's only close to the back door, but I wouldn't be without it.

Love my utility. Great for hanging up washing out of the way and using the sink for messy jobs. Also great not to have the noise of the washing machine and tumble dryer in the kitchen.

@Ozanj

I personally prefer walk in pantries. Utility rooms / spaces can always be built into garages; but you definitely don’t want your pantry there!

It’s not difficult where I am to get both on average houses.

I was actually getting quite stressed about a proposed move to an area where it does seem to be more either/or. A lot depends on the history of the housing stick and recent building.

Having a utility room is possibly the greatest luxury. Nothing toxic within reach of small children, washing out of the way.

In our case, no kitchen bin in the kitchen which was my pet hate living in an apartment.

I love my utility room. It isn’t at all pretty, just functional. The units are circa 1991 style. But it houses washing machine, tumble dryer, sink, cupboards, massive water tank and all the cleaning stuff like hoover, ironing board, iron, mop and bucket etc. We also keep all sports kit, wellies, gardening shoes etc in it. It has a door to the garden with washing line right outside.

I'd bloody love one, had one in my last house and I don't half miss it! Thought I could do without one as my kitchen is bigger, but it's so useful for ironing board/laundry basket/extra freezer.

Love ours, so handy for everything you want out of the way, wouldn’t be without one if I could help it in any future properties.

Thanks all! So glad I wasn’t misled in my desire!

I love mine, I have washing machine, dryer, small second fridge, sink, boiler, all cat stuff and clothes airer in mine .

@RickiTarr I’m in a neither area lol. Am building a walk in pantry into the kitchen but it’s not the same.

[quote Ozanj]@RickiTarr I’m in a neither area lol. Am building a walk in pantry into the kitchen but it’s not the same.[/quote]
Relocate!

Mines a utility room/pantry - best room in the house, wouldn't be without it!
Has:-
Washer/dryer
Fridge
Freezer
Microwave
Slow cooker
Sink
Vacuum
Heated airer
Coat racks
Cat food/bowl
Bogof offers
Shelves with spare tins, packets, bottles
Cleaning stuff
Iron/ironing board
Shoe rack
Love it!!!

I love it ! I’ve got the washing maschine and tumble drier in there and and extra freezer . The cushions from the garden furniture , step ladders , tools , you name it - I store it there .

They are all that. Even better is having ibe on the floor with all the main bedrooms. I had one which was really a large cupboard but so convenient. I don't need a sink and freezer space - though a room for vacuum and all that crap is handy nearer the kitchen.

Surely what a utility room gives you is more space. Officially we have one, but its just an extension of the kitchen. Very useful space, but a bigger kitchen would be just as useful. Its got an outside door to the side of the house, so otherwise of a locked gate to the garden.

I would happily lose half the utility room to make a downstairs toilet.

The best thing about ours is that it's an excellent place to put the cats' litter trays.

My last 2 houses have now had utility rooms and I couldn't live without them now.

They’re amazing, ours is the width of the flat so its long and narrow.

In ours we have tumbler, washing machine, two of those ceiling mounted clothes horses (I don’t know the proper name). Ours is a fitted utility, so one entire wall is cupboards floor to ceiling with gaps where the washing machine and tumbler are. We can store a lot of stuff in there without it being on show, on the wall without cupboards we have wall mounts for our bikes.

I went from having a utility room, to not having one and I miss it. I'm definitely 100% going to be looking for one in our next house.

I have one (have had in all the recent places I’ve lived) and wasn’t really sure why it was considered “a good thing”. People talked about the washing machine being out of the way as being an important factor, which I didn’t really get, until I was on the phone to someone the other day with an open plan downstairs and I could barely hear them over the noise of their washing machine or tumble or whatever it was spinning!!

I have noticed since then that I’ll often close the utility door when the machine is spinning as it’s quite noisy but I haven’t ever really considered that this would be impossible if it was in the kitchen!

I think I’d only consider not having one now if the bathroom was big enough to put the washer and dryer in there.