Cloakroom or Utility Room?

AskAsk

in our area, most properties have a downstairs toilet and it is one of the tick list on the purchase.  not many properties have a utitlity room so toilet is more important.

fiwen30

I’d have to go against the grain, and say I’d prefer a utility room! I prefer having my laundry appliances out of the way, and it’s also a good space for drying off dogs and leaving muddy boots.

ProDave

Why choose?

Utility room WITH a WC in the same room.

That's what we have.  When designing our self build I could not find a way to have both without wasting space making more corridor, so chose to fit WM, TD, Sink, WC, clothes drying airer all into one room.  Building control have no issues with this.  Granted some might not like the idea of the WC in the utility room but it works.  You just fit a locking door handle like you do for a WC.

Mnoee

Is there room for utilities upstairs? I have no idea why we put washing machines in kitchens when you usually take off and store your clothes upstairs! In lots of places in Europe, they put them in the bathroom which makes far more sense to me.

If it's an open plan kitchen/living room, then a utility room would be higher on my list as the noise can make the living room unusable. The house layout in general means a lot here, it's not a simple question. 

What size is the house? If its unlikely to be used by a larger family then more bathrooms becomes less of a priority - with just two people it's rare that a second bathroom is actually needed. 

SootySweep1

Hi
A downstairs loo would be my priority.
I think a utility room is useful if your downstairs is open plan.
Jen

davilown

Could you not just a 2 in 1? we had in our first house and it was almost perfect!

lookstraightahead

Utility room with a toilet 

Teapot55

Thank you everyone for your replies. I’ve been looking at houses online for a family member. The ones with utility rooms are quickly snapped up. 

couriervanman

Downstairs loo every time......the older you get the more handy they are

AskAsk

couriervanman said:

Downstairs loo every time......the older you get the more handy they are

for me, i don't like people going upstairs to use the toilet when they visit as i feel upstairs is private space so having a downstairs toilet gives me more privacy.

i don't mind having the washing machine in the kitchen as it is only one appliance, so it does seem a bit excessive to have a whole room just for the washing machine.  we had a utitlity room at our previous home.  it only had a washing machine in it!

there was a downstairs toilet off the utitlity room, but it made the toilet not so inviting, having it in the utility room.  where we live now, the downstairs toilet is a proper room and it makes it more welcoming for guests.