Best layout for downstairs toilet and utility in Victorian semi

[LarkspurBlues]

I’ve got a 2/3 bed Victorian semi detached house with an old downstairs bathroom at the back of the kitchen. I’m having this made into a downstairs toilet / utility and trying to decide the configuration— either one big room with loo, sink, washing machine in it, or two smaller rooms, first a room with the washing machine and then a small loo at the end. What is best?

I’d prefer them separate ideally but that does reduce space. If you have one big room you’re more likely to be able to fit a ceiling airer or ironing board, move around more easily when doing laundry etc.

A compromise is to have the loo separated off by a small half height wall, this keeps it feeling spacious but seems more hygienic somehow! That’s probably what i would do.

We had a utility room with a washing machine, sink and downstairs loo in the one room, was fine, I’d definitely do it again, I miss it!

I had mixed and it was fine. Just make sure you have good (extraction) fan if you can

What's best is whatever works for you!

WMs being in the same room as a loo gives me the major ick, but I don't judge people who don't care about this and have their homes set up this way.

Fecal spores, y'see. They get airborne.

I'm not a crazy germaphobe, honest!

How can fecal spores get into a closed washing machine while it's washing away? Most European countries are puzzled and amazed that we tend to have washing machines in the kitchen. They see THAT as unhygienic and rarely have washing machines anywhere other than in a bathroom/utility.

I would put all in the same room.

Decades in UK and still can't get over washing machines in kitchens😂

Do you have a floor plan? If you change the door to open outwards or have a pocket door, you'll save 1m2 inside the room.

IF you have the washing machine in the bathroom, you'll need it within a cupboard due to electrics and zoning.

Not inside the machine, outside, on the top, on the door handle. Although I suppose if you leave the washing machine door open (which is advisable to avoid mould/musty smells anyway), it could actually get inside. In which case, the machine heat would probably remove it anyway.

Idk. I'm just funny about things like that, even if it's not rational.

And yeah, washing machines in kitchens are gross too. But we are a country whose homes are spacially challenged.

Whichever best suits the space available.

We've chosen to have a 'lootility' in several houses, including three that had plenty of space to have them separate (2000, 2500 and 3500 sq ft properties). I like having everything in one place and will most likely be doing it again in our current Georgian cottage which is smaller.

I absolutely hate washing machines in kitchens (the last time we had that setup was our FTB house, years ago and I've gone out of my way to avoid it ever since!). But at our previous house to this which we purchased to renovate in 2018, there wasn't space to have the WM in the d/s cloaks so put it under the stairs which was accessed directly from the kitchen, so a kind of compromise.

Not what you've asked but in my victorian house the upstairs bathroom is big enough to have a washing machine / drier space. We did this and have not looked back. No more washing all over the house. So that's my recommendation. If not feasible then I think a joint loo/utility is fine. If you're bothered about poo in the air then make sure you shut the lid when flushing.

What's the floorpan?
Could you get the washer upstairs instead? Open up the views to the garden instead of having a utility there?