8 Sept 2011

THE UTILITY ROOM

Jenny Matlock
more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday



I love to watch the BBC series Escape to the country a series which helps prospective buyers find their dream home in the country. I don't want to find my dream home, but I like to see these beautiful English landscapes and there is always a historical story or site presented which interests me far more than the houses, but they too are interesting to see. The way of living is completely different than in Belgium.

While virtually visiting mansions, or into houses converted churches, barns, and windmills, I learned something new : they all have a UTILITY ROOM ! I had never heard this word before and found the following definition thanks to my private consultant Wikipedia :

"A utility room is a room within a house where equipment that are not used in day to day activities are kept. Utility refers to an item which is designed for usefulness or practical use, so in turn most of the items kept in this room have functional attributes. A utility room is generally the area where laundry is done".

During my life I have seen the inside of all kind of houses from council houses to castles in different countries, but none had a "Utility room". Either the so said "utilities" were in the kitchen, or in the cellar. I for example have half of my utilities, the dishwasher and the washing machine in the kitchen but the dryer is in the basement.

Family members with dirty shoes are coming through the garage and leave their boots there. My cats too have their cat flap in the garage so they can clean off the worst of their muddy paws walking through the basement before they arrive in the kitchen. Fortunately cat paws are not so big !

In some houses there are laundry rooms, where people also do their ironing. I don't iron anymore, since we are retired and I only buy wrinkle free stuff.

I think a "Utility Room" is very useful when you don't dispose of a basement. I keep all our things which we don't use every day in there and the shoes too they sit on a shelf, so when we arrive in the kitchen we have our slippers on, except the cats of course.



Googled Utility rooms



My utility room

22 comments:

  1. Interesting to know Gattina. I have only heard "utility room" used as a synonym for laundry room. We built one when we remodeled our house (the one we sold). Now, in our small spaces, I have a washer and dryer in a closet. They work just as well. And no ironing board. I don't even remember what that means any more ;>)

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  2. I love to watch those programs too Gattina. I love to watch the in and outsides of the houses and what people do to make it look nice. Great U word.

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  3. Thanks for the review Gattina, I didn't know the series.
    *** Love your utility room! LOL
    Léia

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  4. I have a laundry room, I think building regulations state all homes must have one here but I wish I had a cellar too. Escape to the Country is one of my favourite shows and I always want to buy the houses they don't want.

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  5. came via Sallie (FullTime-Life)'s site, your comment that you don't know about the Wizard of oz. My daughter acted as the good and beautiful witch of the north.

    You will enjoy it.

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  6. LOL! Mine is like the cartoon!!! I need to spend some time cleaning it out!

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  8. Sorry, that was me who deleted above. I was in the wrong blog addy and you wouldn't have know who I was. LOL

    Love this utility room ---the cartoon especially. It looks close to what my computer room looks like about now.

    I've been missing you, and visiting with you here at writer's cramps. Once I get through digging up my ancestors, I'll hopefully get back to blogging on a normal basis again.

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  9. I love utility rooms as well as having a pantry which they do not seem to make anymore in kitchens.
    This is where you put your dry goods on shelves where they within easy reach as well as the broom and vacuum and mop and maybe a toolbox so you do not have to climb stairs all day.

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  10. I'm in the process of starting on a pantry off my kitchen. So many questions, decisions....

    The utility room will be adjacent and it's next on my list!

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  11. Remember this program we watched with you! It is very interesting! Here the utility is called la lingerie! I am tired! Even if the pupils are nice! but 31! I don't tell you! When I am in front of them it looks like a giant caterpillar!!!

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  12. Great U post I love watching remodling shows I wish I had the money to remodel

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  13. I wouldn't mind having a real utility room. I think some people in the states call a utility room their mud room.

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  14. We used to call that room a "utility room" but now it is just a laundry room. The ground in Tucson is very hard--like concrete--and no one has a basement. I always loved having a basement, and an attic with permanent stairs and a high ceiling. It was a great place for storage.

    I am addicted to a program here in the states called Househunters. I love seeing all the different houses, too!!

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  15. Couldn't do without my utility room! Or at least wouldn't want to try to do without it!

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  16. We don't have a utility room but a store room. That's where we keep the vacumn , luggages and other stuff that don't really fit in the cupboards.

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  17. Never could figure out what 'UTILITY' meant, now I know:) Actually, we always just put everything in the closest closet...brooms, mops, buckets, ice scraper, trash bags, neighborhood kids.....Probably a good thing is wasn't a whole room:)

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  18. We had "utility rooms" in Alabama, but they were used like a storage room that opened off of the back porch. You just put your tools and junk in there. Any maybe the water heater?

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  19. I've never had a utility room, but I would love a house which has one! Some of my friends have them and they are so useful!!

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  20. I live in the U.S. We sometimes use the term "utility room" but it's not used very much. Laundry room is used a lot more if there is a separate room set aside just for the washer and dryer. In some parts of the country, the term is call "mud room." This describes houses where you enter the laundry room area directly from outside, allowing a place to put muddy shoes, etc.

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  21. This sounds like a program I would love to watch! My Mom always had a 'utility' room in the house, but I rarely hear that term anymore. My Grandmothers always called them 'mudrooms'.

    Your utility room would look like mine if I actually had one - ha!

    Thanks for the cute link this week.

    A+

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