When planning a brand new kitchen – or rethinking your total floor ground format – it may be straightforward to get swept up within the dream: a showstopping kitchen island, open-plan eating, perhaps even a walk-in pantry. However there’s one behind-the-scenes element that usually sparks debate – the utility room.
Do you carve out a separate zone for laundry, cleansing and on a regular basis chaos? Or do you pour the whole lot into a bigger, extra sociable kitchen? In response to Tom Howley, inventive design director at Tom Howley Kitchens, the reply at all times comes right down to how you plan to reside: “Some folks need their kitchen to be the center of the house, an area that feels open and sociable – wherein case, making the kitchen bigger will be the precedence. However for individuals who like a transparent separation between cooking and extra useful duties, a well-planned utility room could be invaluable.”
That will help you determine which setup makes essentially the most sense to your life-style – and delivers the largest day-to-day payoff – we requested kitchen designers to weigh in on the talk.
Utility room or greater kitchen – which one’s best for you?
Earlier than you commit to at least one format over the opposite, it’s price asking your self few sensible kitchen design questions:
How do you employ your kitchen daily?
Do you want a quiet spot to stash laundry, or is your precedence having room to prepare dinner and entertain?
What does your floorplan enable?
Beneath, we’ll discover the professionals and cons of every choice, spotlight skilled recommendation on making your area work smarter, and assist you determine which design will genuinely make life simpler.
Tom Howley
Tom has spent over 20 years designing bespoke kitchen and utility rooms designed to work in concord with a consumer’s life-style, making him an skilled on realizing simply how you can create a useful however lovely area that meets your wants.
Causes to decide on an even bigger kitchen over a utility room
(Picture credit score: Kitchen Structure)
There’s one thing undeniably tempting a couple of massive, open-plan kitchen extension – in any case, a bigger kitchen means extra room to unfold out, more room for socialising, and larger flexibility with regards to your kitchen format concepts. So if area permits, increasing the kitchen can really feel like the plain alternative.
“For some, the kitchen is the center of the house, and increasing it simply is sensible,” says Gareth Davies, design director at Basic Interiors. “If entertaining or cooking is a precedence, the kitchen can profit from extra room.”
Richard Davenport, managing director at Davonport, factors out that the model and dimension of your house will even play an element within the choice. “In smaller houses or interval properties the place area is at a premium, integrating utility features into the kitchen could be the extra elegant answer.”
The professionals of selecting an even bigger kitchen
Excellent for sociable, open-plan residing.
Permits for beneficiant kitchen islands and eating areas.
Centralises all key family duties into one major area.
Is smart in smaller houses or flats the place you could maximise area.
However earlier than you tear down the partitions to go greater, it pays to consider how your kitchen actually works day-to-day. Do you discover that it is a serene area for cooking and catching up or does it rapidly turn into a battleground of laundry and half-sorted recycling?
“Whereas a bigger kitchen might provide more room for cooking and socialising, a utility room is what retains that area calm and clutter-free,” says Martyn Wigginton, design supervisor at Kitchen Structure. “As an alternative of letting these gadgets take over your residing areas, a utility room presents a spot to tuck them neatly out of sight.”
The cons of prioritising an even bigger kitchen
On a regular basis litter stays in plain sight.
Chances are you’ll battle to search out area for laundry, bins, and cleansing provides.
The kitchen has to work tougher to remain tidy.
There isn’t any buffer zone for footwear, moist coats or noisy home equipment.
So, whereas a giant kitchen may look lovely within the strategy planning stage, should you’re always battling the mess of day by day life, chances are you’ll end up wishing you’d carved out just a bit utility area to close the door on all of it.
Gareth Davies
Gareth Davies is Design Director at Basic Interiors, identified for crafting superbly detailed, handcrafted kitchens and interiors rooted in family-run experience.
Martyn Wigginton
As Design Supervisor for Kitchen Structure, Martyn works with purchasers to design lovely, useful and sociable indoor and outside residing areas.
The advantages of getting a utility room
(Picture credit score: Tom Howley)
It will not be the showstopper – and it would by no means win a design award – however the humble utility room has quietly turn into one of the vital sought-after additions in fashionable houses.
“For busy household houses, pet homeowners, or purchasers who entertain often, a well-designed utility room could be invaluable,” says Richard Davonport. “It removes the noise of on a regular basis residing – laundry, storage, cleansing merchandise – so the kitchen can stay a peaceful, social area.”
However the advantages go far past laundry. Right this moment’s utility rooms are multifunctional by nature. They may retailer coats and muddy boots, double as pet-washing stations, present charging factors for gadgets – and even conceal away a wine fridge.
“These hybrid rooms that serve many features are a helpful manner of getting cumbersome issues out of the kitchen,” explains Helen Parker, inventive director at deVOL.
She notes that these areas typically carry collectively components of a boot room, walk-in pantry and residential bar in a single charming setup – assume shaker peg rails, lift-up bench seats, and deep cabinets for ironing boards and canine leads. It’s this versatility that makes utility rooms so useful, notably in household houses or properties with outside entry.
The professionals of getting a utility room
Retains laundry, cleansing gear and recycling out of the kitchen.
Frees up visible and bodily area in open-plan layouts.
Can double as a boot room, pantry, or bar.
Presents flexibility for rising households or altering wants.
Nonetheless, utility rooms aren’t at all times straightforward to accommodate. They take up sq. footage, and with out cautious planning, they will really feel disconnected from the remainder of your house or turn into a dumping floor for litter.
The cons of selecting a utility room over extra kitchen area
Could shrink the principle kitchen footprint.
Not at all times possible in smaller houses or flats.
Requires a thought-about format and storage to keep away from litter.
For a lot of, these cons are a trade-off price making. As Martyn Wigginton places it, “In case you’ve bought the sq. footage, investing in a utility room can really make your kitchen really feel greater, not smaller.”
Richard Davenport
Richard Davonport is a luxurious cabinetmaker and designer, and the founder and Managing Director of luxurious kitchen specialists, Davonport.
Helen Parker
Helen Parker, Artistic Director at deVOL, has formed the model’s iconic, understated model over 13 years. Her ardour for kitchen design and storytelling has elevated deVOL to a family title.
Can you might have each a utility room and an even bigger kitchen?
(Picture credit score: Tom Howley)
The excellent news is you don’t essentially have to decide on between an even bigger kitchen or utility room. With sensible planning, it’s totally potential to take pleasure in the most effective of each worlds, and this doesn’t at all times imply sacrificing a full room. In response to Helen Parker at deVOL, even small houses can profit from a hidden utility space, cleverly slotted into unused corners or transitional areas.
“It will not be a separate room,” she explains, “however it could be a small hall or a delegated space of a big kitchen that has been allotted for this new little work space. With intelligent design, the rooms can nonetheless be made to look pretty and useful.”
From tall cabinets hiding stacked home equipment to pocket doorways revealing a slimline sink and boot storage, hybrid areas have gotten increasingly more in style. However for them to work, they should really feel intentional – not like an afterthought.
“As designers, we’ll typically echo key particulars from the kitchen – cabinetry profiles, color palettes, worktop supplies – so the transition between areas feels pure,” says Richard Davonport. “We might pare again the end barely to mirror the room’s perform, however by no means on the expense of high quality.”
FAQs
What makes a utility room really feel as well-designed because the kitchen?
One of the best-designed utility areas carry the identical sense of care and craftsmanship because the kitchen (simply with somewhat extra mop storage). Go for matching cabinetry, sensible utility storage concepts and {hardware} that feels simply as thoughtfully chosen.
“{Hardware} performs a central function right here,” says Gareth Hull, Design Lead at Hendel & Hendel. “Strong, superbly made handles, knobs or cup pulls can elevate even essentially the most useful cabinetry. And particulars like wall-mounted coat hooks, boot room-style rails, and shelf brackets should not be an afterthought as they’re typically the very first thing you work together with if you stroll in, so they need to really feel strong, tactile, and properly chosen. Choosing finishes that complement, however don’t precisely mirror, your kitchen {hardware} helps the area really feel related however not carbon copied.”
Gareth Hull
As Product Growth Lead at Fashioned Group and Hendel & Hendel, Gareth is an skilled in all issues associated to high quality kitchen {hardware}.
How will you match a utility room in a small kitchen?
You don’t want a completely separate room to benefit from the perks of a utility area. Actually, with some intelligent planning, even a galley kitchen can conceal away a washer-dryer, cleansing provides, and extra. The trick is to assume vertically and conceal your utility room the place you’ll be able to.
“Washing machines and tumble dryers could be stacked on high of one another to avoid wasting area,” explains Sophie Lane, product coaching supervisor at Miele GB. “This allows them to be situated in compact areas or cabinets.” Tuck home equipment into tall cupboards, grasp cabinets above doorways, or make use of that awkward under-stairs nook.
In search of extra utility room inspiration? Don’t miss our expert-approved utility room format concepts – it covers the whole lot from intelligent alcoves to full-scale designs that make on a regular basis duties simpler.
