Washing machines in the kitchen?!?

I think I prefer the washer in the kitchen! Everywhere else I've lived, the washer and dryer were in the basement, which has always been infinitely dirtier than anywhere in the house, especially in a rental situation where neither tenant nor landlord feel responsible for its upkeep.   

The basement in my parents' house always used to flood in the summer when we'd get downpours, and I can't tell you how many times my mom and I were down there rescuing laundry and inevitably dropping some of it in 3 inches of dirty, dusty basement floor flood water! 

That said, our new house has a utility room off the kitchen.  The only major improvement of it is that now I have extra cupboard space where the washer would have gone.    Otherwise, I'm still hauling stuff through the kitchen and back out.

We have a lovely wicker hamper in the bedroom.  We use a basket to take the laundry to the kitchen.  When it is done, we put it in the basket (nothing gets on the floor) and then take it to another room to hang it up to dry (we don't have a dryer like many others).  It's not a big deal - just different.  I like it better than being the in basement (last few places I lived in the US) where it truly was dirty - my floors in my kitchen are much nicer!

It's the brand name of a range of big, expensive, very heavy cast iron stoves, much beloved of the English upper classes. The ones I have seen burn fuel all the time and tend to be hot all of the time and therefore not cheap to run. Although I think you can get ecological ones these days.

You can get 2,3, or 4-oven models. This is a two-oven model:

I believe the reason why they run all day, is that they serve a dual purpose - cooking & heating. I think once you get the hand of them, theyre actually cheaper to run than boiler with a seperate cooker. At least thats what Kirstie Alsopp tells me.

Theres also models that are just cookers and dont heat the home.

I remember thinking it was odd to have the washing machine in the kitchen when I first started looking at rightmove.  Then I reasoned that utility rooms that I have seen in the US are often right off the kitchen - and if the washer/dryer is just in a "closet" it is also in or by the kitchen.  After that, I figured the part that was really seeming odd to me was that the washers in the UK pictures were taking up precious kitchen cupboard space - or even worse - it was using the space for the dishwasher. 

One nice trend in the US I have seen is to put the washer/dryer space as close to the bedrooms as possible in multi-story homes.  The other thing I haven't seen in the UK is stackables - which would seem to help the "space" issues.  I realize loads of people only use a washer and not a combination machine or a separate dryer, but there are people who do use dryers in the UK (at least sometimes).

Ok, after perusing many housing and rental sites I've noticed a common theme: washing machines in the kitchen! What's up with that?

My first thought is: the clean clothes will get all covered with food as I'm trying to sort and fold them. My SECOND thought is: I have to bring my dirty undies into the kitchen, where we serve food! Gross!

Ok, is it just me? Is anyone else repulsed by the idea of dirty clothes near clean food?

Why would the clean clothes get covered with food? Unless you just leave food out whilst doing the laundry, although in our house the clothes don't touch the counter.
Dirty clothes, unless placed directly in the front loading washing machine, are dumped on the floor in front of the washing machine. I hasten to add that this is when we are doing laundry, not that it's where we dump all our dirty clothes! That would be in the laundry basket which is kept in the bedroom.
Once washed we carry the clothes through to the dryer which is in a small cupboard off the kitchen. And once dried we either take straight upstairs to sort and fold, or do that in the living room.

I am a huge fan of the washer and dryer in the kitchen, I spent my whole life lugging laundry up and down two sets of stairs, and I love the fact that now I only have ONE flight of stairs to go down! I bring dirty laundry downstairs during the weekend, have LOTS of space to sort my laundry out (I have a really big kitchen) and it gets folded in the living room! It doesn't get covered with food at all. And when I had my dream kitchen built about 4 years ago, I have an integrated washer and integrated dryer built into the kitchen, and I love them! love it!

Although I do with I had a utility room with an extra fridge/freezer...

I don't like it at all but obviously deal with it. I would prefer more cabinet space.
Hopefully in the next house I will have the washer/dryer in the family bathroom upstairs as this is my goal.  DH looked at me funny and then thought about it and it made sense to him so this is our goal.  I want w window that opens from the bathroom so I can put laundry on the line like in Italy if it is nice out ;-)

My dryer is in the bathroom since that is the only space as well.  I guess I am used to having it separate and hidden out of the way.  Its just another thing you get "used" too - just like the dorm size fridge ;-)

Prior to moving over we used to come over on vacation to visit my in laws.  I have a few pictures of the girls staring at the washing machine in their kitchen-they were totally transfixed by watching the laundry go round and round!
I've adapted to having the washing machine in the kitchen but still miss an utility room with a stationary tub-wonderful for particularly dirty/nasty stuff like paint brushes. 
Our tumble dryer is in the shed.  I know it sounds petty but I hate having to take the basket of clothes outside when it is raining.  This is coming from a person that lugged laundry to the laundry room of the various apartments that we lived in when I was growing up. 

I never had a washing machine in my home till I moved to the UK, so I'm not used to anything different.

I also don't understand why the clean clothes would get covered with food. Food is in the fridge, in cupboards, in boxes, cans, jars, etc. It's not flying all over the place.

If you are cooking or preparing food while the washing machine is on, the door of the washing machine will be closed.

You can take the clothes somewhere else to sort them or fold them.

We had our hamper in the bath room, so when the kids had their bath at night the dirty stuff went straight in there. The washer was in the kitchen, so the dirty clothes had to be lugged down the stairs but not a problem. Our dryer was in the basement (a rare setup in the UK) so then things had to be lugged down another flight. But mostly I hung things outside whenever possible.
I'm used to having laundry accommodation in the basement in the US. And then just a few steps outside to hang things on the clothes line. You get used to the kitchen setup but can be a nuisance in a tiny kitchen.

I never had a washing machine in my home till I moved to the UK, so I'm not used to anything different.

This goes for me too. It's uncommon to have a washing machine in apartments in New York so it's either down to the laundry room in the basement or to the laundromat.

It's been great having a machine in the flat...I don't care that it's in the kitchen . . . now if I could only get used to having clothes hanging everywhere to dry!

^^ Yep, I lived in older buildings in DC and Boston and almost never had in-unit laundry, so laundry in the kitchen is far better than no laundry at all.  And in my current apartment, I'm just plain thrilled to have the washer and dryer in the kitchen! 

we had ours in the kitchen (have since moved to utility area when we redid kitchen) and never had issues with food on clean clothes.  We have a hamper in the bathroom (next to utility area) and one in each bedroom.  Plus we have a nappy soaking bucket in the bathroom as well.   Folding is done in the lounge on sofas.

with front loading washers/dryers and laundry baskets, you'll find that you don't have clothes in the kitchen much at all. sorting, folding, etc will happen elsewhere - usually the bedroom.

Unless it's a studio apartment--I do Everything in my "Kitchen."  But you're right, all the drying/folding/hanging, happens on/near the drying rack that's conveniently squeezed between the kitchen and living room/bedroom area...

You'll get used to the smaller places and "odd" locations of things.  I'm more annoyed with the positioning of our sink and lack of a dishwasher. So I'll be looking more closely for those things when we get our next place..

I just like having a washing machine in my flat and not having to lug them out to the laundromat. 

And although I have a combi- washer/dryer, I 99.9% of the time hang my clothes up to dry on the drying rack in the kitchen as well, as its where I have space to put it.   

I've never gotten food on my underpants!