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How to Max the Usefulness of Your Utility Space
Check the dictionary – utility means usefulness. So make your utility room live up to its name with smart ideas for a sorted space
We are not all lucky enough to have a utility room, but if you are blessed with one of these super-practical, ever-so versatile spaces, it’s worth designing it to look as good and work as hard as – or harder than – any other room in your home. This, after all, is a room that can house white goods, storage for everything from shoes to shopping bags, hooks for hanging coats, sinks for washing paintbrushes and heaps more besides. Get it wrong, and a utility room becomes a dumping ground. Get it right, and this could become the most useful space in your home.
Pull-out Ironing Board
Build in an ironing board
Forget wrestling with a wonky board or trying to park it close to a plug socket – a built-in board creates a dedicated ironing space. It’s more compact, too – look, no legs! – and can be stored neatly away.
Forget wrestling with a wonky board or trying to park it close to a plug socket – a built-in board creates a dedicated ironing space. It’s more compact, too – look, no legs! – and can be stored neatly away.
Fit a floor drain
What a great idea! A floor drain makes your utility space a great place to wring out clothes or swimming costumes, and it turns cleaning the floor into a piece of cake, too. It could also prevent damage if your washing machine ever leaks.
What a great idea! A floor drain makes your utility space a great place to wring out clothes or swimming costumes, and it turns cleaning the floor into a piece of cake, too. It could also prevent damage if your washing machine ever leaks.
Hang your bike
Devoted cyclists shudder at the thought of leaving their treasured bicycle out in the rain, but bikes take up space when left to lean against a wall. The solution? Hang them up! A utility room is a great area for this – out of the way, but easily accessible.
Devoted cyclists shudder at the thought of leaving their treasured bicycle out in the rain, but bikes take up space when left to lean against a wall. The solution? Hang them up! A utility room is a great area for this – out of the way, but easily accessible.
Invest in bespoke brilliance
Just one item of clever furniture, designed specifically for your utility space, can make a huge difference to its functionality. This custom-designed laundry basket, made from painted maple, moves on casters, so it can be shifted around to load and unload laundry. When out of use, it slots neatly into an under-counter docking area.
Just one item of clever furniture, designed specifically for your utility space, can make a huge difference to its functionality. This custom-designed laundry basket, made from painted maple, moves on casters, so it can be shifted around to load and unload laundry. When out of use, it slots neatly into an under-counter docking area.
Stick in a sink
A utility room sink is useful for hardcore cleaning tasks that are too much for your kitchen, such as washing paintbrushes or wiping down the dog. Where space is tight, choose a single, freestanding sink – there’s no need for it to be fitted into a worktop.
See a range of farmhouse sinks
A utility room sink is useful for hardcore cleaning tasks that are too much for your kitchen, such as washing paintbrushes or wiping down the dog. Where space is tight, choose a single, freestanding sink – there’s no need for it to be fitted into a worktop.
See a range of farmhouse sinks
Fit modular shelving
Wall cabinets can encroach on a space, which is not good in a compact utility room. Opt for simple shelving that houses boxes, baskets and hanging rails, giving your multiple storage options. This can be sourced online from a trade supplier, making it an economical as well as a flexible option.
Wall cabinets can encroach on a space, which is not good in a compact utility room. Opt for simple shelving that houses boxes, baskets and hanging rails, giving your multiple storage options. This can be sourced online from a trade supplier, making it an economical as well as a flexible option.
Make it a mini kitchen
If you’re stumped for design ideas, you could do worse than treat your utility room as a mini kitchen. Even in a super-skinny space, you can work in a washing machine, then add a run of units with a worktop, and open shelves above for storage, just as you might in a galley kitchen. It will take the pressure off your kitchen storage, as you can use it as a pantry, or simply for storing infrequently used items, as well as utility staples, such as washing powder and pegs.
Check out ideas for galley kitchens
If you’re stumped for design ideas, you could do worse than treat your utility room as a mini kitchen. Even in a super-skinny space, you can work in a washing machine, then add a run of units with a worktop, and open shelves above for storage, just as you might in a galley kitchen. It will take the pressure off your kitchen storage, as you can use it as a pantry, or simply for storing infrequently used items, as well as utility staples, such as washing powder and pegs.
Check out ideas for galley kitchens
Go vertical
Make the most of a room’s ceiling height by installing a washing machine and dryer on top of each other. This is makes great use of space and looks neat, too, so you won’t have to conceal your white goods behind a cupboard door.
TELL US...
Do you have a utility room? Share your best ideas for a hard-working space in the Comments below.
Make the most of a room’s ceiling height by installing a washing machine and dryer on top of each other. This is makes great use of space and looks neat, too, so you won’t have to conceal your white goods behind a cupboard door.
TELL US...
Do you have a utility room? Share your best ideas for a hard-working space in the Comments below.
Baskets are your friend! Great for sorting laundry and storing cleaning products and cloths to hand, baskets work hard and look great, too. Arrange them on the floor, on shelves or hung from hooks.