If you have a utility room…

[TakeMe2Insanity]

How big is it? And what do you have in it? What do you wish you could have in it?

I have a small one - it's a converted cupboard so maybe 1m x 2m in size.
Door in the centre.
Stacked WM/TD to the left with ironing board.
Shelves /storage to the right with clothes hanging rails.
No room for a sink.

Ours used to be the old galley kitchen so a decent size I guess. We have floor to ceiling storage cupboards for hoover etc. spare freezer. Wm and td. Large sink. Separate wc. Wall cupboards for medicine, cleaning products and drinks. Also a towel radiator used for drying. I would have loved a dog shower too but we couldn’t make it work and I guess mixing clean laundry and dirty dog would have been a mistake!

Bigger than the kitchen. Washing machine and tumble dryer, pet food cupboard with worktop over them. Above that is a run of cupboards for multiple purchases of household items, dry goods etc. 4x2 kallax unit with boxes to sort laundry, store washing powder, pegs etc. Boiler, fridge freezer, base unit for cooking gadgets like mixer, slow cooker, blender etc. Couldn't live without one now.

I was in a holiday villa recently and saw a marvellous thing called a laundry sink. I’d have one if I had a utility. It had a scrubbing section and a deep sink for soaking clothes and could also be used for washing grubby items such as wellies without using the kitchen sink.

Ours is quite small, and also slightly poorly laid out in that the boiler which is above the counter is off centre, meaning we can’t put a double height cupboard in (ie the washing machine is under the counter, would love to put a tumble drier on top but boiler in way as just seems to have been slapped part way). So washing machine, sink, boiler, and a couple of cupboards under sink and counter. We do also keep the bread machine in there, and a tall clothes airer. Because it’s a small room which gets a lot of sun and we have a dehumidifier in there clothes dry amazingly quickly so I absolutely love having the utility room and no longer having to have clothes drying in the spare room, plus not having to have the washing machine in the kitchen. There is space to put up some shelves for more storage and maybe have an overhead clothes airer on a pulley, but in my absolute dream scenario it would also have a tumble drier and a second fridge/freezer. Overall though just bloody love having a utility room even if it is small.

Fairly big- roughly 13 ft by 6ft. We designed and built the house ourselves and I wanted a big utility room as in our previous homes (not designed by us) we either didn’t have one at all or they felt much too small - the standard size seemed to be about 5 ft by 6ft.

We decided on a long row of worktop on one side of the room, with a big butler style sink at the end with an extendable spray attachment tap (there is also a hanging drying rack over the sink/drainer). The tumble dryer and washing machine are stored under the worktop, plus more under worktop space left clear for boot racks etc, then a row of cupboards for storage above the worktop and a big full height mop/broom cupboard at the other end. The opposite wall has hooks for coats, dog leads and wet/outdoor gear, a small bench and space for pet beds on the floor and a folding clothes drying rack/tree.

Imo utility rooms are especially useful if you have pets (or ever sell in future to people who have pets). Our cats and dogs sleep in there at night, cat litter trays are kept out there under the work surface (so less smell in kitchen), pet food and water bowls are left out there to avoid mess, our small/medium sized dogs are bathed in the sink etc.

Basically having a good sized utility room means all the stinkiest or messiest pet related stuff can at least be kept out of the kitchen and bathrooms and the muddiest/wettest coats and boots can be kept out of the front entrance/hallway too. Utility rooms often end up being used for more than just laundry and storing cleaning supplies, so need to be as spacious and well designed as possible if you can imo.

1 x washer
1 x dryer
1x sink and worktop
1 x wall cupboard
1 x floor cupboard
1 x dog bed

Not big at all, we once had one that was amazing in that you had countersiace to fold, room to hang up clothes on a clothes horse and a washing machine and dryer. Our one now you’re up against the door to use the washing machine, have a condenser dryer and two steps and you’re out.!!

It’s small, galley style between the kitchen and the back door, but it’s really useful: dryer, washing machine, sink and boiler on one side, with window over the sink; cupboards and counter on the other side.

Our last house, we had one that was part of a garage conversion and that one had no window or external door, and I much prefer this one.

We have similar to this and it also has a large powerful pull out tap, it's great for soaking large items, hosing off boots and is also used to to wash off mucky boys coming in from the garden😂
My washing machine and dryer are at eye level, no bending which is great and under the washing machine are large, deep pull out drawers for dirty laundry and under the dryer is a pull out shelf which I can put the basket on to empty dry clothes into, beside that is a lge counter top where everyones piles are left to be brought to rooms.
We have a tall double press with hoover/ironing board/mop/cleaning stuff.
A 2nd larder fridge and 2nd larder freezer.
2 heated airers
3 dog beds🙄
Door goes out to a small enclosed area where I also have an outdoor line as it gets sun most of the day.
I spent a long time planning this room out when doing our big extension and love it, I have been known to open the door just to look in at it and smile!!!

I have a big full length double cupboard, where I store duvets, vases, towels, loo roll, spare lightbulbs, a first aid kit and a sewing basket. I have a sink and drainer with another cupboard underneath for laundry essentials. Then I have a washer and tumble dryer.

Ours is a glorified cupboard. Got the washer and drier in it. We had planned to put in a narrow sink but haven't as yet. Boiler in there and some shells for cleaning stuff. Also houses all the recycling bags and boxes, hand held Dyson and brooms etc. it's very cramped but better than having all that stuff in the kitchen.

Mostly wood pellets! Plus a washing machine and old paint.
There's a small sink and a defunct loo.

Mine has washer, dryer, run of 2 double base cupboards, sink and under sink cupboard, all with a long run of worktop. Then on another wall I have two double door one single door full height floor to ceiling cupboards for mops buckets ironing boards shelves cleaning products etc etc. it also has the underfloor heating manifolds, electricity meter, two fuseboards and burglar alarm/fire alarm panels. I have a separate boot / dog room, pantry, and store room with extra fridge freezers

Not huge.. just washing machine, tumble drier, sink, airing cupboard and a washing line that comes down.

Oh and cupboards.

Mine is absolutely tiny. It’s the width of a washing maschine plus a small skinny cupboard next to it. It’s deep enough for a large laundry sorting basket with different compartments in it plus a bit more. Nothing like some of the lovely ones on here.

Ours is pretty small - about 1.6m wide and 2m long - plus an extra alcove which backs into the kitchen and uses up what would otherwise have been an awkward corner in the kitchen.

We have the washing machine and dryer stacked in that alcove. A run of upper and lower units on the long wall, with an extra run of upper cupboards above as the ceiling is high, and a broom cupboard. A sink with a cover so it can double as worktop. An undercounter freezer and tiny wine fridge. Also a sheila maid.

It’s small and windowless but brilliant and uses every inch of space. Mainly used for laundry and all those random household bits and pieces.

We are still renovating so its not finalised as yet. We were slightly restricted because the utility had 3 doors coming from it. Currently we have:
Washing machine, Dryer, butler sink 2nd fridge/freezer, small deep freeze, wall cupboards, storage boxes which have no where else to go.

-I wish the washing machine could have been raised up to stop bending, but the ceiling in there was quite low and would have meant no wall cupboards or worktop in that area.

Mine has a washing machine; a tumble dryer; a deep sink with double cupboard beneath and triple wall cupboard above; a broom cupboard; a boot shelf and a separate, large wall cupboard. It's all fitted furniture, the same as the adjacent kitchen.
Ideally, it would have been nice to have somewhere to hang up coats.

Edited, as I forgot to include the dimensions. It's 7ft 10in x 7ft 6in.

I don't have one here (& it drives me insane!!) but I've had all kinds over the years & all different sizes. My parents had one that was brilliant, it was just one bank of WM/TD/Sink/bug shelving unit that took laundry baskets & a gap for moos etc with a tie if top cupboards & a drip drying rail over the sink. It had big bifold doors that opened into a 'breakfast/sun room off the kitchen.

Massively useful, but took up very little space!

A friends one housed their heating unit (backed into the Aga in the kitchen. They rugged up hanging lines & had rails & shelves in there. It was a HUGE, fantastic house, but akways fecking cold in winter because it was so big to try to heat, so we were either sat in front of the Aga or in there!! & the kids loved building dens in there!!

i don't think it can be 'too big' so it depends what your options are & how it impacts any other room.

Washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, American fridge freezer, coffee machine, boiling tap, all crockery, glasses etc, drinks cupboard, bins, kitchen cleaning products. Opens into the downstairs loo which has boot/shoe/coat storage and back door opens into the utility. Kitchen opens off the utility.

Washer, dryer, boiler, sink & draining board, storage cupboards.
Has external door (and is actually the door we use for coming & going) so we have coat hooks shoe storage and umbrellas.
Also keep all the dog paraphernalia in there (collars, harnesses, leads, balls, walking bag etc).

Ours desperately needs a facelift (think 1980s units and poor layout) but it has boiler, tank, washing machine, tumble dryer (next to each other), sink, drainer, base cupboard, two wall cupboard, and then everything else is on the floor - ironing board, Henry vacuum cleaner, mop and bucket, three airers, wellies holder, sports shoes and who knows what else.

in the cupboards I keep the cleaning and laundry products, first aid kit, medicine cabinet, shoe care stuff, some kids craft stuff and a bag of hangers.

We also have heavy duty hooks on the walls and I keep bags of different sports and swim kits on them, peg bag, wall mounted iron and cordless vacuum cleaner.

I would like to block up the door to the garden and have more cupboards, floor to ceiling.

My utility is my old kitchen. It's the size of a small kitchen so bigger than the average utility. My washer and dryer and a butler sink are in there.

But it doesn't look like a utility - it looks like a pantry with double glass doors from the kitchen. My washer and dryer are integrated so you can't see them. I have 2 big worktop pantry's that hide my air fryer, microwave, toaster and kettle and lots of shelves. I keep all my food in there.

There is also a walk in cupboard in there. My boiler is in it and my iron and ironing board, hoover, mop and other general crap that I want to hide.