Home Q&A: Should I put my dishwasher in the kitchen or utility room?

Take safety and functionality into account when placing your dishwasher. File picture

Question

My kitchen is just a single galley. Should I put my dishwasher in the utility room?

Answer

This very much depends on the distance of your utility from the kitchen, as it’s unlikely you will want to store all your dishes, glassware and cutlery in the utility. When emptying, this provides a bit of a walk, possibly with a tray to carry your ware. 

That said, I have a very, very open-plan home (bit of small dance-hall really), and I situated my dishwasher in the utility for a variety of reasons. This included its throbbing noise — which even at a low conversational level irritates my tender nerves. It’s not a complete either/or. 

If you have some storage space around the utility, what about situating the dishwasher there and storing some kitchen ballast there too? This could include larger and lesser-used pots and pans. I

’ve started to treat my utility as a scullery as it has a double sink (vital, ladies and gentlemen) and if I have company, that’s a much better place to wash the dishes, and to rinse off plates before putting them in the machine. 

Taking backstage activities to the utility or scullery can gift more calm, quiet and clean counters back to the primary kitchen. This is very much on-trend if you can work it out. Another hidden benefit is smell. Between runs, dishwashers accumulating dirty dishes, huff out a honk every time the door is opened and closed. That’s something I prefer to deal with at a distance. 

Ensure when you drop the door of the machine to empty it, there is at least 600mm to 800mm of passing room, as tripping over an open dishwasher door is actually quite dangerous.

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