Lifestyle and Parenting blog based in Surrey.

Sunday 13 January 2019

Our Utility Room



When we were planning the new layout of our home, a utility room was one of the major ‘must-haves’ a space where we could have the washing machine and tumble dryer out of the way and space to hand up and dry the washing away from food smells and out of the entertaining space. 




I had originally wanted to have a navy kitchen, but when we decided to go for a more neutral look, I thought why not go for this look in the utility space instead. The utility is situated where the kitchen was originally, which is the darker side of the house, so in choosing navy we were embracing the darkness, rather than fighting with high gloss white, which was what we initially had planned. We chose All White by Farrow and Ball for the walls which is a warm off white.

We got quotes from the big highstreet retailers, but opted for local Sanctuary Kitchens for the units. I loved the colour (Hauge Blue) and the smooth finish. On one wall we chose full height cupboards where the boiler is hidden and space for the hoover and mop as well as draws and shelves for extra storage - I may well have 2 draws for just candles... not that my husband thinks this is a waste of space!!



The laundry appliances were to go on the opposite wall, along with the sink and undercounter fridge which was to be for drink storage. Thank goodness we did get an extra fridge, as our main fridge-freezer died and this has been our only fridge since September!



For continuity we kept the same quartz worktop that we had in our kitchen running through into this space too. I wanted to go for brass handles and taps as I think this looks stunning against the navy. The tap is from Franke and the bee-hive handles are from Neptune and I’m so pleased with how they look together.


I wanted some patterned tiles and I have been obsessed with these Mandarin Stone 
Palladio Grey Mix Decorative Porcelain tiles for about 4 years, originally we were going to have them on our boot room floor, but when this turned out to be above budget, having them on this smaller area seemed a good compromise. We added in a few of the plain tiles to stop it looking too busty but in hindsight I think I would have used the patterned tiles throughout.


I had always wanted a matching washing machine and tumble dryer, so when we were approached by Siemens Home Appliances to collaborate with them to try out their new Home Connect appliances I was delighted. Not only do these appliances look stunning side by side (especially when they are on and matching blue lights around the door are gleaming!) they are SO quiet, seriously…. my last washing machine was so noisy on a fast spin and you can hardly hear anything with these appliances.


The Siemens washer and dryer also have Home Connect technology, which is linked up to the Wi-Fi so I can control them with my smart phone. Rather than guessing when to set the timer for, I can put a wash on as I’m about to leave work so it’s ready to unload when I get home (as long as I’ve loaded it already!) and I’ve found the alert on my phone when a cycle has finished really useful - so if I’m upstairs I don’t forget about it.




The touch screen menus are intuitive so we haven’t had to spend ages reading through the manual. I’ve also been impressed with the intelligent cleaning system on the tumble dryer which collects any fluff and stores it with an alert telling you when it needs emptying - far less often than our previous machine which needed de-fluffing after every use.



As we had to replace all the windows in the house, we decided to for obscure glass for the lower sash. As this window looks out onto the driveway we didn’t really want guests to see all our washing... and it’s not this tidy most of the time...! 


We had been indecisive when it can to whether to fork out for underfloor heating in this space, but our builder came up with a nifty solution as all of the pipes from the other UFH areas feed into the boiler, he spread them out over the floor area not covered by cupboards giving us the warmth through the floor. This means not only is it warm under foot, but the washing dries so quickly.

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