Utility room, scullery, mud room, laundry room: whatever the name, it performs an important role in your home and I’d consider it to be an essential room in any house. Whether you’re at the stages of planning a new build house, building an extension or re-modelling your utility room, I hope you find these tips useful..
If not planned well, the utility can become a messy room as so much is stored there. There’s all the boots, shoes, wellies and trainers as well as coats. There are dirty clothes as well as the clean clothes awaiting ironing and folding. There are the ironing board and iron; the hoover; the brush and dustpan; the floor mop and bucket; floor cleaners and washing powders, a recycling bin perhaps … the list goes on.
Having at least one tall and deep cupboard like this one above to store your vacuum cleaner and ironing board is a good idea as otherwise the hoover will always be plonked on the floor somewhere. Take advantage of the storage available on the inside of the door too by placing some shallow compartments there. Perfect for storing items like washing up liquid, scrubbing brushes, shoe shine buffers and cloths.
If you know you’re going to be doing the ironing in the utility (some people prefer to bring the ironing board to a room that has a television), then storing the ironing board within a drawer so that it pulls out is really handy.
Building cupboards that are floor to ceiling means that seldom-used items can be stored in the high cupboards and every inch of space can be used.
This idea of three baskets within a cupboard is a really good one, especially as they are attached to the door and pull out. Perfect laundry baskets: one basket for coloured clothes, one for whites and if it was my house, one for farm clothes.
Many laundry rooms will have the tumble dryer positioned at a height (limits the risk of a pet or small child crawling in if the door is left open as well as making it easier on your back). Having a pull-out shelf under the dryer is handy as you can position a basket there, ready to take the dry clothes from the dryer, or the wet clothes from the washing machine.
You can never have too many coat hooks. I also like the upper shelf for storing items like hats and gloves, and the lower bench is handy for sitting on when pulling on shoes or boots.
If you’re going to be doing the ironing in the utility, then a hanging rail over the worktop won’t take up any extra space but is really handy.
If you have dogs or cats, positioning their dinner bowls within a drawer is a great idea. It prevents spillages, means they can be tidied up easily when not in use and I really like the storage unit for the dried food too.
And if floor space is limited, the dog or cat bed can be placed instead of a cupboard, the cushioning bedding making it comfortable.
We hope you find these ideas useful for planning changes to your utility room.
