What do I need for a utility room in the conservatory?

[yetanotherdaytoday]

Apart from the obvious!

I have a washing machine and dryer, a good start

I'm moving them into the conservatory. They'll be stacked in what is effectively an alcove.

The conservatory is old and crap - freezing in the winter, baking in the summer, so we don't really use it, so it does have space.

I'm quite excited* about making a new utility area. (Yes, I know this being excited about laundry is deeply sad, but I'm owning it 😅)

What do I need to make it functional and nice? What things do you have in your utility area?

I should probably say there's no sink (does that make it a laundry room, not a utility?)

Not sure why I said "apart from the obvious". I do need help with anything less obvious than the washing machine and dryer tbh!

This looks great, for example. But is it a practical set up?

I'm used to doing the laundry in a tight space, in chaos!

I've been watching those declutter programmes where they make it all organised and lovely 😁

But I don't know where to start. Do you have a nice set up for doing laundry? What is it like?

(Pic from here).

I have a combination of laundry and utility room - about 3m x 4.5m - so have one long wall which has a sink unit plus fitted cupboards alongside to store all sorts in and which also houses the washing machine and tumble drier in a stacked cupboard.

I also use it as an airing and ironing room.

I have 2 x tall but slim (almost floor to ceiling) cupboards to store folded away ironing board and collapsible clothes drier, plus brooms and mops go in the tall cupboards too, along with the hoover. I have then got shelved tall cupboards where I store fresh bedding and towels.

I have other cupboards for cleaning products and laundry products and also have a dehumidifier on a pullout bottom shelf which I use if I am drying clothes in winter. When I don't need to use it it slides back in and I close the door and it is tucked away out of sight.

Under the window side wall I have a padded top box bench to sit on while I muster up the enthusiasm to iron (sneak a cheeky glass of wine) 🤪 and inside the box go all the wellies and boots we don't use very often. I also have a little table to put coffee cup (aka wine glass) on and maybe a magazine or two if I fancy a quiet flick through.

I left the other 2 walls blank so it has plenty of space in the middle of the room for the ironing board and/or the clothes drier as needed.

I love it - never had one before, and really really enjoy this as it is my hidey hole as DH rarely comes in 🤣

Oh wow, I love this description! Especially this bit, of course:

"Under the window side wall I have a padded top box bench to sit on while I muster up the enthusiasm to iron (sneak a cheeky glass of wine) 🤪 and inside the box go all the wellies and boots we don't use very often. I also have a little table to put coffee cup (aka wine glass) on and maybe a magazine or two if I fancy a quiet flick through."

This has given me lots of ideas, thank you.

If your conservatory is old and crap, won't it be damp?

In which case wouldn't any stored fabric get musty and mouldy and anything metal get rusty? Wouldn't any clothes on an airer take forever to dry? If you used a dehumidifier, wouldn't that use lots of electricity to be effective?

Maybe it would be wise to measure humidity in the conservatory before planning how to use it.

I have one of those 2x4 IKEA things with the removable boxes to sort clean washing in for each person. I dump all the clean dry stuff on the top until I can get round to sorting it.

I also love a ceiling airer but I don't think they will work in a conservatory, especially if it is cold.

OMG I have a spare one of those, 2x2. Just need new boxes for it. Sorted. Thanks!

It's being used for shoes at the moment but not very successfully, I want a proper shoe rack instead.

Maybe 2x2 isn't bit enough though? Hmm.

Funnily enough, it's not particularly damp. Not enough to make clothes musty anyway. At the moment it can end up a bit of a dumping ground for random stuff, and clothes don't come out musty.

It's definitely old and cheap though.

*crap not cheap!