A Functional & Stylish Utility Room Design
Your utility room may not be the most exciting room in the house, but a well-designed one can certainly make your life easier and more efficient. This was the mindset behind a recent utility room design we completed for a family in Foxborough, Mass. The space was to be a combined mudroom and laundry room -- two independent functions in one fairly small area.
For the mudroom, we actually had about seven linear feet of wall space to work with in order to create a place for coats, shoes, bags, and gear. The solution to the limited area was one that architects have been employing in cramped spaced for ages: build up. We created custom cabinetry at the very top of the area to stash out-of-season accessories and sports equipment, grocery bags, and anything else the family needed to find a hidden home for. Beneath that, a shelf holds baskets of craft and art suppplies, and multiple rows of coat hooks allow every family member to have a spot they can reach (And also allows for maximum storage). Finally, a bench gives children a place to sit to put on their shoes, and then area underneath is shoe storage for when they take them off.
The remainder of the wall was dedicated to the laundry area: a countertop creates an area to fold clothes, and the cupboard beneath stores detergent, fabric softener, and cleaning supplies.
The rest of the area, including the entire wall perpendicular to the coat storage space, was reserved for laundry. A stacked washer and dryer is the ultimate setup for space efficiency, freeing up floor space for built-in, pull-out laundry baskets. Above that, hangers make it easy to immediately hang clothes out of the dryer to prevent wrinkles. A cabinet above the washer/dryer is the perfect place to stash extra detergent and cleaners.
Overall, the space turned out to be exactly what the home needed. Nothing more, nothing less.
Photography for Divine Design Build by Keitaro Yoshioka