Project Description

Many people move into houses with utility rooms that are below par. These rooms are often thrown together with leftover kitchen cabinets making them feel disorganised and tatty. My clients access their utility room directly from their kitchen, so updating this space has made a huge difference to daily life. They were keen to bring the outside in, so I designed a dark green utility room with oak accents. The design was focussed on solving their functionality problems with clever storage features.

Space Planning

I planned the room carefully, making a conscious choice about the purpose of each space and selecting cupboards to meet specific needs.

For example, the cupboard to the left of the tumble dryer is a pull out recycling bin (as previously they had stored their recycling in a large cardboard box on top of the worktop). The tall broom cupboard to the right has an integrated plug socket. Therefore the hoover, which used to be propped up against the end wall, now has a home to charge out of sight.

I encouraged my client's to remove the coving in this room when they had the ceiling un-airtexed. As a result of this I could take the top boxes right up to the ceiling. This makes the room feel bigger and gives them out of reach storage for medicines and cleaning supplies. A hanging rail below provides space for clothes to dry.

Dark Green Utility Room Cabinets

I chose dark green utility room cabinets from diy-kitchens for this space. They are the Carrera range with flat fronts and brushed chrome knobs. The cupboards are fantastic quality and a fair and reasonable price too. I would definitely use diy-kitchens again. My excellent carpenter fitted the utility room and also supplied and fitted the oak worktop, window sill and open shelving.

New appliances

An important aspect to this room was the addition of a tumble dryer. My clients chose a Miele which uses a heat pump for better efficiency. This new appliance meant the box room upstairs could be repurposed from drying laundry to a home gym - see the transformation here. They also chose a new washing machine and added a wine fridge. They are very eco-conscious and took the opportunity to re-use the existing Belfast sink and tap as they were in good condition. The sink looks much smarter in its new housing - all set off beautifully with the oak worktop.

More drying solutions

In order to further assist drying clothes and household items, I selected a heated towel radiator with one open side. This allows them to easily slip jeans, sweatshirts or bedding on to the heated rails to complete drying. The pipework for this radiator was an ongoing saga! My clients really needed this sunk and buried in the wall in order for the door to open properly. It took a few tries, but I'm happy to say the pipes are not obstructing the door any longer! This really rounds off a great room for them.

See the before photos in the Before and After Gallery to appreciate this Drab to Fab transformation!