Utility room ideas

[peranaka]

Our utility is pretty small (measures 2.4m x 1.7m), and currently has the washing machine, boiler, sink and some base cabinets along one of the 2.4m walls. Things are VERY old, and need modernising.

Where might I get the sink, worktop (I'm thinking terrazzo), and cabinets from? The likes of Howden's, as if it were a kitchen?

And does anyone have any clever clothes airers that fold down from the wall? I want something discreet I can hang socktopuses from. Would a clothes maid be the right thing? (It's an Edwardian house so fairly high ceilings)

Thank you!

Bump!

Clothes maiden or pulley maid to Google for ceiling hanging airer. They are fab.

Yes any kitchen shop will have units to do the job.

I would think carefully about storage and clean clothes sorting. Pinterest has fab ideas.

Pull out wire drawers for sorting into then take out to put away sort of thing.

Thanks @RandomMess we unfortunately have to use under worktop space for storing tools and things, not clothes-related paraphernalia. So relying on clothes maids etc. for drying. I already have a standard drying rack that stands on the floor. A ceiling maid would be lovely, but will end up costing £200 including installation - is that worth it then?

Ours cost £70 and we stalled it ourselves 🤷🏽‍♀️ DH made several small holes in the ceiling finding the beams to screw it into.

Ours is above the stairs so it goes the flow of warm air. Love it.

We did our utility room cheaply. Most of the materials came from Wickes & B&Q. Painted shaker kitchen doors for the cupboards and wood effect laminate for the worktops. We used a wood effect waterproof laminate for the flooring and solid oak doors with some expensive handles. It looks pretty smart.

On the downside- the B&Q shaker doors swelled up when some water was spilled on them. Fine for dry areas like wall cupboards, but probably best not used under a sink. Better quality painted shaker doors would probably fare better. The laminate worktops scratch easily. If they’re getting heavy use then I’d choose something sturdier.

The solid oak doors are excellent though, and the waterproof laminate flooring has coped really well with puddles and splashes. I would absolutely use those products again.

@RandomMess was it difficult finding the joists? That's the bit I don't feel confident about.

@TheMagicDeckchair thank you for the tips! Would the builder cut the worktop to size? Our kitchen one (quartz) had to be cut to size in their workshop, and I don't think our builder would've been able to do it. Though I was thinking of acrylic or similar for the utility, so maybe that's less hard?

Not especially a bit of trial and error.

Can you lift the floorboards in the room above to try figure it out?

It's a bathroom and we'll be having it redone soon. Perhaps we should pull up the carpet (I know! Not our decision to carpet a bathroom) and take a look before works begin?

We're just doing out. Cabinets, sink and tap from eBay, we got wood work tops cut to size. We'll make an airing rack, something along the lines of

www.juluhome.co.uk/collections/laundry-ladders

Our utility is on the darker side of the house so we didn't put an airer back in (the seller's children took their parents' one [probate sale]) but we moved the builder into loft when we had the heating done which left room for a condenser dryer as well as the washing machine. We got cabs and worktop from magnet, it is lovely now (if DH would stop leaving tools and recycling on the sides it'd be even lovelier). Now that it even has a door to sit the noise out it is even better

@TwinkleToesStrikesAgain oh wow are you making your own? So impressive. Can you make mine too?

@comeundone do you know if magnet is happy to do just a sink, a cabinet and a worktop? I feel like our tiny room wouldn't be worth their while but maybe they'd be happy to help.

Our builder dealt with them, so we had a good discount, and it was the equivalent of a (small) kitchen without appliances really. Worth asking, they can only say no in which case b&q or IKEA will be happy to take your cash. IKEA's cabs are a slightly different format to regular but they have nice ones

And did you get their worktops or from another supplier? Our kitchen worktop is quartz, but not sure if we should do the same for utility, or acrylic? Or even laminate??

@peranaka you can look up plans online. There's no complicated mechanisms involved...

We cheated and got the work surface cut by the supplier, and we only needed a couple of units so easier to get them new off eBay. The sink is s bit cheap looking but I couldn't find a second hand Franke sink large enough for soaking things.

@TwinkleToesStrikesAgain thank you! Can I ask why a Franke sink in particular? I've always had non-branded Belfast sinks in the kitchen and am not up to speed with stainless steel ones, and I expect we'll want a stainless steel one for the utility.

[quote TwinkleToesStrikesAgain]We're just doing out. Cabinets, sink and tap from eBay, we got wood work tops cut to size. We'll make an airing rack, something along the lines of

www.juluhome.co.uk/collections/laundry-ladders[/quote]
Love that rack
Is it easy to make?

Another suggestion is a rail on the wall and hang clothes from hangers off it to dry
Less ironing too

I've recently done up our utility - the worktop was an offcut, washing machine underneath. Used to have a tumble dryer on top, but have since got rid due to costs. I bought the shelving from IKEA and fitted it myself. I'm pleased with it so far, but like the idea of a pully clothes made for the ceiling at the top of our stairs to increase drying capacity. (victorian house with tall ceilings too)

The wire drying racks are mostly used as backup or for finishing off clothes line drying if they need it. In winter I'll plug in the dehumidifier to help.

@DancingChairs you've got one of my ideas for hanging the socktopus in practice! I was thinking I could put up some shelves with a hook or bar underneath, and hang the socktopus from that.

It's very convenient - from washing line to indoors in a jiffy.

@peranaka yes, your kitchen fitter will be able to cut laminate to size. We have quartz in our kitchen and you’re right, that and granite has to be properly measured by the company and laser cut if I remember rightly. It wasn’t worth it for us as it’s only a utility room, so we kept costs fairly low.

If you’re having it photographed for a magazine or going on Pinterest/Instagram, or it’s a really expensive, high end property you might do things differently.

Some of the kitchen companies make it difficult/v expensive to order just a few cabinets. My Mum recently ran into problems when she wanted to put a cupboard where a dishwasher had been and Wren had a minimum five cabinet order thing going on!

IKEA would probably be the cheapest if you buy new due to no minimum order - unless that has changed?

I have been looking at these. Not cheap but look a good idea. Comes with or without the extra shelf. They do different styles too. But I am considering this wall mounted one as we have to walk through the futility room so cannot have a normal one in the centre of the room - and our ceilings are not high
www.foxydry.com/products/foxydry-wall-plus?gclid=CjwKCAjwrqqSBhBbEiwAlQeqGiY6zvPCY4hxe3MVVkZsiSCs_XW38eY5pkbXZaJcmTjbx8-mgumQNhoCBH0QAvD_BwE&variant=39383410344118

Also we have found a single sink with a very small draining board to save worktop space in our utility - fits entirely within a 600 base unit. www.diy.com/departments/cooke-lewis-sagan-polished-inox-stainless-steel-1-bowl-sink-drainer/1310477_BQ.prd?ds_rl=1272379&ds_rl=1272409&ds_rl=1272379&gclid=CjwKCAjwrqqSBhBbEiwAlQeqGpTFmgWEUH6t5MVA1bdLJZomUTbfYOhwbkKy0yk-kQfQf6lHaLz7ehoCA6AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&storeId=