don't know the exact sales figures, but my suspicion is it's more likely to be just a plain old washing machine, washer drier combos are more expensive to buy and more expensive to run, many many houses will have a washer in the kitchen and dry on airers and clothes lines, or have a tumble drier elsewhere. I don't think there would be anyway to tell easily from just a TV view which it was, but I'll bet that more often than not it's a washer and not a combo.
Anne
Doubtful - I've never heard of one of those at all here.
Remember that many of the houses in the renovation programmes are likely to be the older ones which are usually smaller anyway, and were probably built as utility housing. Remember, in towns we have to pack a large number of people onto a small island, therefore a large number of small houses in a small space, and in rural areas houses were for workers before the days of washing machines. Bathrooms are usually small too, so the only place for a washing machine is the kitchen, and the logical place is next to the sink for ease of plumbing - no room anywhere in the house for a utility cupboard.
When we moved from our larger house which had a utility room to this smaller 1960 built bungalow, there was just space in the kitchen for a washing machine next to the sink(the cooker and fridge/freezer were built in). We had a small utility room extension built to house the washer and dryer so that a dishwasher could go in the kitchen. Our neighbours have their washing machine and dryer in a cupboard in their newly built en suite bathroom, but most people just have them in the only available space - the kitchen.
Perhaps we are used to living in small spaces. A friend had a new, quite expensive touring caravan (the sort you tow with a car, not a motor home)and proudly showed it to a visiting US relative. The relative looked round at their very compact holiday home, and his only comment was "You must love each other very much"!
Our house in the UK is a former council property in a densely populated area, there would definitely have been room for a utility cupboard, it's much more a matter of design. If it was intended for drier and washer one on top of another, it would actually take less room as the extra space required to have it contained is a matter of inches. Lots of houses have understairs cupboards, yet another place a slight design rethink could be made.
However, I'm not that bothered by a washing machine in the kitchen, the cupboard space low down is less useful imo than the high up cupboard space. The only reason it bothers me is that it then means it's not next to the tumble drier - most houses have space intended for a washer in the kitchen, few have space intended for a drier, we were able to put ours in the adjoining dining room, but I know some people end up with them in a shed, or garage etc.
Anne
We lived in an old farm house in Wisconsin for several years. It had a very large kitchen and the washer was in the kitchen. The basement was more of a cellar -- not suitable for a washer. The other alternative was a "mud room" next to the kitchen, but that didn't have a basement under it and got quite cold in winter. We did have a sink out there, but had to turn off the water to it in the winter and drain the pipes so they wouldn't freeze. It wasn't practical to have the washer out there. We did have the dryer out there. I had clotheslines outside and hung much of the laundry out there in the summer. I do miss being able to dry clothes outside, but that's not possible in our condo.
Julia > THanks Val,
work.http://www.slowtrav.com/uk/instructions/appliances.htm>>
Nothing religious about it Jack. A contractor's dream--they charge thousands more for building a house with a laundry room that only took a couple of hundred dollars extra for supplies for walls and plumbing to build. I'm not sure why some Americans would rather pay more for a house with a room for each purpose than have one nice sized multi-purpose utilitarian room. My house is a '50s Ranch style and the original place for the washer/dryer was in the basement. Putting them upstairs made washing clothes less of a chore. We had another room we could have put the washer/dryer into on the ground floor, but I will never regret putting my stacked set in my kitchen.
I rather enjoy my washer and dryer being in my kitchen. It's just plain handy. Having the washer/dryer in the kitchen works out quite well without having to use up much living space. The kitchen sink is close by in case I need to rinse, soak, scrub, or hand wash something before adding it to the washer or dryer. The kitchen table or counter top is a great place to fold and sort the dry laundry. I can easily toss in a load to wash before starting to cook, move the load to the dryer just before eating, and it will be dry and ready to fold by the time the dishes are done. It was the least expensive thing we have done to the house too.
Debra in VA See my quilts at
I'm lucky here in that when we rebuilt the conservatory we made space for the washer and the dryer (not next to each other, but fairly close) as well as the freezer and the fridge/freezer. We have a small fridge in the kitchen, and the dishwasher. I'd much rather have the dishwasher in the kitchen than the washer and dryer. There certainly isn't room for both!
In Denmark, it is normal for houses (not flats/apartments) to have a utility room. Mostly, this would be the entrance hall for the backdoor (not the french door to the garden, but the real backdoor) - this is where the washer (and possibly a dryer) would go, and the big chest freezer, and somewhere to dump muddy footware and hang your jackets etc. Many families use only this backdoor on a day to day basis, keeping the frontdoor for fancy guests :-) Oh, usually there is also a unit with a sink, so that if you want to handwash something or clean your boots or whatever you don't need to do it in the kitchen or bathroom.
Hanne in London
work.http://www.slowtrav.com/uk/instructions/appliances.htm>>
I've just received the following from Mel Rimmer, with the Subject 'Something Ate My Message, So here it is.
I had a friend who had her dishwasher in the Utility Room with the Washer and Dryer. Seemed a very impractical arrangement to me - I have mine next to the sink, and immediately next to the cupboard where the dishes live. I do have to turn round to put the saucepans away!
It has just struck me after reading the Curved Piecing thread, that perhaps you could say which programme these objects appeared in, and we could go in and watch the video and do an easier identification.
(HGTV can now be seen on video on computers)
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