What can we do in the utility room?

exactly that is what we are planning too. or when certain foods are on offer, we buy a bit more and store them

The problem is that the other basement room (small room) is used for storing other things (boxes, decorations and so on) it also only has cross ventilation and no window

The other room is where my home office/office will go, where all the documents are also stored, that room has a window but there is no more space for food

Basically, you can do anything. There are opinions (also from the professionals) that claim that laundry, meaning lint and dust, is not good for the heater. And yes, moisture is also not good for some stored goods like flour or rice. Canned goods and jars can handle anything. Short-term storage in the cupboard should not be a problem at all. Just try it out. A chest works of course as well.

Ps: some things prefer it darker

ok thanks

I had read that the optimal temperature for drying laundry is about 20 degrees, of course we would also regularly ventilate in the basement especially when laundry is drying there

20 degrees should still be ok for the food too, right?

so basically that could work like that, right? one would have to try it out exactly again and possibly make small adjustments

We currently have a dehumidifier in a house without a ventilation system in the room where laundry is dried. When we hang up laundry, we turn it on. The advantage is that the laundry dries quickly and the room does not become too humid. Of course, it consumes a lot of electricity, which is the downside. The collected water can be used for watering plants. By the way, from one load of hung laundry, it extracts several liters of water despite a high-speed spin cycle. You shouldn't underestimate how much moisture is released into the room when hanging laundry.

We stored food for several years in the utility room, where the washing machine and heat pump dryer are also located. The air there was too warm and too humid for me, especially the flour did not do well. Meanwhile, I have moved the food except for drinks, cans, and jars to the kitchen. So in my experience, it is unfortunately not ideal. If a drying rack is added, it will probably be too much moisture. I would store the food elsewhere. I would probably try it in the room without windows.

We have almost everything in the utility room: washing machine, dryer, freezer, cans and jars (everything we buy in larger quantities, homemade jam), painting supplies, paper towels, toilet paper, detergent… Only smaller supplies and fresh food are in the pantry.
The utility room is on the ground floor and has the same humidity and temperature as the rest of the house. When I turn on the dryer, I ventilate. I first hang the laundry outside to dry and let it finish drying in the utility room if needed.
We have been doing this for 1.5 years and it works well.