Stylish and Practical Utility Room Ideas

You might not realise it, but your utility room is one of the essential rooms in your house, function-wise at least. However, just because it is the place that you sort out your washing, cleaning and organising, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be stylish too.
Want to make the most of your utility room and make sure it is both stylish and practical? Here are some of our top tips for helping to make sure that this all-important space is everything you want and need it to be.

Don’t be afraid to add colour

You may think that you have to opt for dull and neutral shades due to the nature of your utility room. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Even this small space can benefit from a splash of colour. 
Worried about adding colour and it overwhelming the space? If you are, then there are ways that you can carefully add in even the brightest of shades. This includes having a feature wall that is brightly coloured and choosing painted kitchen cabinets over plain ones.
You could even brighten up walls with wall art and prints. This allows you to add subtle touches of colour but not worry about the colour overwhelming the rest of the space.

Be sensible with space.....

Utility rooms are not always the biggest of rooms in your house, which means that to best use them, you need to think carefully about your space and how best to use it. 
Need a space to dry clothes? If you do, then you may want to check out a suspended drying rack. Having one of these racks means that you have the functionality of dry clothes, but you are not going to have to worry about lacking space as it is not on the floor. A bonus to this approach is that you can move the rack out of the way when you are not using it. 

....And clever with storage 

As well as taking a new approach to drying your clothes, you also need to think about how you are going to store all the essential items you need in your utility room. 
Storage takes up quite a lot of space in any room, but it is beneficial to have. To enjoy the best of both worlds, it might be a good idea to use clever ways to get it to work for you. Things such as dual-purpose furniture and thinking about and utilising every inch of space you may have in your room.

Think about lighting

It is usually the case that your utility room is in a part of your home that isn’t flooded with light. Rather than leave it dull and dark, you need to take the time to think about proper lighting.
One great idea is to add downlighters that can help you to illuminate the entire room; however, you also want to have softer light. An alternative when you need this is under-cabinet LED strips. 
These can be turned on when you need to see what you can do, but you don’t want the light to overwhelm the entire space completely. 

Separate the space with partitions

If your utility room is a part of a bigger, open-plan space, or it is longer in its design, then you are going to want to make sure that it is separated into zones rather than left open. One great way to do this is to use partition screens. They allow you to separate the space that you have without having to worry about it being permanent. 
Not only does this help with its look and how it flows in your house, but it can also help to keep the noise that you hear from washing machines and other appliances whilst they are being used. 
Partitions are particularly useful if you share your utility space with your kitchen or your dining room. After all, you want these rooms to be social spaces as well as functional spaces too. 

Embrace classic styles with panelling

Whilst you may think that you always have to stick with modern interior design styles, this doesn’t always have to be the case. Sometimes the classic styles still work perfectly as they are. 
One popular addition to utility rooms is panelling. This painted timber finish is not only great to look at, but it can also help with durability as it allows you to clean up any water splashes easily.
This is particularly true when you compare panelled walls with those that are painted. 

To integrate or not integrate

Appliances are a vital part of your utility room because they allow the space to be used for its primary purpose. Whilst they are helpful, one thing to bear in mind with appliances is that they can take up lots of space and might not look great. 
A solution to this is to have integrated appliances. This approach allows you to hide away those all-important appliances and not have to worry about them being on show. 
That said, integrated appliances might not always be your preferred approach. There is nothing wrong with liking the idea of having your appliances on show. After all, they are the primary purpose of your utility room, and they are something that you will want to use each day. 
Integrated appliances can be trickier to use than non-integrated ones. Think of it this way; if you have to battle with a cabinet door and the washing machine door, just to put the washing on, this will make the chore even more of a headache. 
One of the main things that you need to remember when it comes to creating a utility room in your home is that it needs to be helpful to you. Don’t be swayed by trends or think entirely about style. Make sure that any decisions that you make relate to the functionality too. 
That way, you can make sure that your utility room is the most useful space in your home—a room that you can use day in and day out. 

Talk to Refresh!

Ready to start thinking about your utility room renovation? Why not Get in Touch with Refresh today to book a free, no obligation consultation with one of our Refresh Renovation Specialists!