PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Whether you think you have the space or not, a utility room is a really practical addition to the kitchen and it doesn’t need to take up too much room. With a little creative thinking and careful planning, you will soon benefit from all the advantages that utility room storage can offer.

Many homeowners have the dilemma of deciding between a larger kitchen or a kitchen with a utility room extension. Both spaces are the workhorses of the home but it’s the utility room that works hard behind the scenes with the washing machine, tumble dryer, cleaning cupboard for the vacuum cleaner, heated clothes horse and other essentials.

There’s no need to compromise however, as a well-considered utility room design will make life so much simpler, easier to manage and organise. And with laundry and cleaning taking place in this separate area, you’ll free up your kitchen space for cooking, dining and entertaining. The experts at Masterclass Kitchens agree, and with so many stylish and functional utility room ideas to choose from, you’ll soon be able to achieve the perfect practical utility room to complement both your kitchen and your home. Here are their 5 reasons why you need a utility room…

1. More kitchen space

A washing machine takes up little kitchen space on its own. Once you add in a tumble dyer, washing basket, ironing board, clothes airer, a pile of laundry and other laundry-related items, however, the space required soon adds up, making the kitchen feel small and cramped with little room left over to prepare meals, cook and eat.

Once you start to separate non-kitchen clutter into utility room cupboards and onto utility room shelving, you soon realise how big your kitchen actually is. Think about your utility room as a kitchen overflow. It could be used for laundry appliances and equipment as well as lesser-used kitchen appliances or perhaps the dishwasher and freezer.

Once you have this extra storage in place, you’ll benefit from a larger kitchen that makes those daily chores more enjoyable and allows you to close the door on it to keep the rest of the kitchen clutter-free.

2. Less clutter and mess

A utility room acts as the perfect decontamination chamber between outdoor and indoor activities, especially when your family uses the back door after a muddy walk or you have a dog that needs a clean before coming into the rest of the house. As the first port of call for visitors, this room can also serve as a boot room or a combination of utility and boot room called a ‘bootility’. This is the latest trend for busy homes and an ideal area for hanging coats and scarves, as well as taking dirty shoes or boots off and leaving a wet umbrella to dry.

Installing a boot room, such as this design in Hardwick Oxford Blue by Masterclass Kitchens above, allows family and friends to leave dirty shoes and boots behind before they enter your kitchen. Utility room shelving has a similar purpose, perfect for garden tools, outdoor bins and all sorts of dirt and clutter that you don’t want in the main hub of the home.

Also, if your guests enter your home through the front door, you can use your utility room to hide any mess and close the door so it’s out of sight. This wouldn’t be possible if everything was cluttering up the kitchen, so think of the utility room cupboards as the perfect place to store any mess until your guests have gone.

3. Quieter open-plan living

When you have a utility room, you’re free to enjoy an open-plan kitchen even more, as the washing machine and tumble dryer can run without the noise disturbing your enjoyment of the space, whether you’re dining, entertaining, home working or simply relaxing while watching TV.

As an added bonus, you can also stack your washing machine and tumble dryer with compatible appliances and a stacking kit, which you couldn’t do in the kitchen. This helps to free up floorspace in both areas, leaving you more room for other kitchen appliances and luxury items that you may not have had space for otherwise.

4. Increased productivity

There is some housework that we tend to put off to another day but when you have a beautiful utility room that’s a joy to be in complete with a laundry cupboard and open shelving, you’re more likely to get on with those chores, get them done quicker and leave yourself time to do other things.

To create a relaxing space to be in, choose a calming colour palette. Whether you prefer a modern kitchen or Shaker kitchen cabinets, Masterclass Kitchens has a wide choice of kitchen cabinets, freestanding furniture, shelving, utility room cupboard dividers and boot rooms, all providing extra storage where it’s needed.

Consider adding open shelving and remember to include space for a heated clothes horse that’s assembled and ready to use. The nicer and more convenient you make your utility room, the more you’ll enjoy it and stay on top of your chores.

5. Extra storage

The biggest reason for having a utility room is the fact that you can use it as a catch-all space for household storage. The team at Masterclass Kitchens understands this reality and offers practical utility room cupboard dividers to make it easier to access cleaning equipment, brooms, mops, detergents and sprays when you need them.

While utility rooms typically offer space for ironing boards, vacuum cleaners and washing baskets, they can also host multifunctional storage solutions. So, whether you want to store bags for life, dog leads or small and lesser-used kitchen appliances, these cabinets will make organising your home so much simpler.

Utility rooms are traditionally on the small side, so choose storage solutions that make the most of every inch, such as Masterclass Kitchens’ Lansbury Corner Pantry or the MagnaSpace Pull-Out Larder. By combining a few of these options together, you’ll be able to create a multifunctional utility room space that saves you time, makes chores easier and helps to organise your home.

If you need more help to create a utility or boot room that meets all your lifestyle needs, take a look at Masterclass Kitchens’ wide range of solutions to suit.