I have been watching a show fron UK, escape to the country.
My wife asked me, why do so many of these homes have the washing machine/dryer in the kitchen? I have no answer for her. I have never lived in a home like this. Is it only in the UK? Can any one explain a reason.

If they don't have a utilies room then where else would it go?

It's because the houses are small and do not have a laundry/utility room.

Larger houses have these rooms and so the washing machine is not in the kitchen.

Bathrooms are not big enough to put the machines in there and anyway, most of them are upstairs and the thin floors would result in a lot of noise when the machines were on a spin cycle.

In France it's more likely to be in the bathroom than in the kitchen. Definitely kitchen in the UK though.

I can confirm that a washing machine in the kitchen is 100 percent normal in the UK.

In a lot of British homes, the kitchen is more of a functional, working room - unless you're fortunate enough to live in old farmhouse type, cottagey type place, which affords a bigger kitchen, dining, socialising area, in which case an adjacent "utility" room would have the washer/dryer set-up. Other modern, larger houses also use such a room.

From a practical standpoint there needs to be available plumbing, with electricity - lecky in the bathroom is a bit more of a no-no, than here, and often they're not big enough. Most British homes don't have cellars, so in the majority of cases, they end up with the wash m/c in the kitchen.

That program doesn't really reflect "real people" anyway (just a wanabe schedule filler). They all seem to own existing properties, already worth a fortune in the big smoke, and wish for some kind of idyllic country retreat, that may not exist in the real world (hence there is seldom a purchase outcome).

In ye very olden days in Britain, there would probably be no bathroom and a single (cold) tap in the kitchen. The copper, to heat the water to boil the washing would logically be in the kitchen too nearer the source of fuel too. The wife could keep the fire going while slicing the cold meat for lunch. (Monday was cold meat from Sunday's joint). One hung the washing outside anyway, so the kitchen, with the 'back door' to the garden was quite convenient.

With the passing of the years, the copper was replaced by a washing-machine and the 'drying outside' by a tumbler, but the Brits, keen on their traditions, kept everything in its accustomed place.

Only the Swiss, with their passion for mountains, would put the washing machine in the cellar and then fix lines for drying the washing in the attic (in a four storey block of flats).

Grieves me to death to have to move this Thread after writing all that, but non-Swiss is off-topic.

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Longbyt

How is it arranged in Oz? I've never lived anywhere before that didn't have a room specifically designated for doing laundry. I take that back.. when I was in Russia, I had to do my laundry in the bath tub by hand. Oh god that sucked.

Wow you've been spoilt! (except for Russia)

In Oz. Never had my own house, lived in a caravan most of my adult life. But by mums, it was out side the back door in a small washing room.
Were we had alot of sunshine, to hang the washing outside.
Here we hang it in the celler, Takes along time to dry, ( Also the smell of the farmers sh1t tank.. I like my kitchen for cooking.

On a related note:

What I've been wondering, as there aren't any laundry rooms in British apartment blocks, where do people hang up their laundry to dry?

(Hubby said in his student times he distributed the laundry on the radiators.
Which doesn't really work if you have a family with tons of clothes to dry - so how does the British housewife manage to dry all those clothes?)

Probably using an indoor clothes rack if they don't have a tumble dryer.

Otherwise, if it's a lot of clothes or bedding and they don't have adequate facilities at home, people often use launderettes which are pretty cheap to use and are widespread in cities.

By doing what they do in Oz - hang it outside and let the smoke from the Bar-B dry it.


In the old days, it was always hung outside - I still have images of my mum trying to hang it up one-handed, whilst struggling with an umbrella in the wind, with the other.

Now, I s'pose everyone has a tumbler.

Balcony, airing cupboard where the hot water tank is or on a line perhaps over the tub if it's a super small flat.

And yes TiMow 230v outlets in bathroom are illegal in the UK if they are closer than 5m or such from any sink, shower, bath or WC and then they have to be high IP rated RCDs.. thus no washers or dryers...