As part of a large extension to a 1920’s house in Surrey, we undertook all the joinery requirements for the ground floor refurbishment, designing the kitchen, home bar, boot room and this utility room. We were recommended to the clients by Hampshire-based interior designers, Emily Steen and Danielle Marsh, founders of Wells and Maguire, with whom we have collaborated on numerous previous projects, and who created the overall interior design scheme. This spacious 4530mm x 2400mm utility room leads directly from the open plan kitchen and living space and is accessed via a sliding pocket door with a fluted glass front next to the home bar. It was agreed in advance that the style and colour palette for the utility would reflect and complement the Shaker handmade furniture created for the in frame Classic Bespoke Shaker kitchen, except using oak MFC carcases and 22mm thick lay on doors which were then handpainted in Hage Blue by Farrow & Ball, the same colour used for the kitchen island and home bar. While it needed to look aesthetically pleasing, the functions of this room are manifold being both a laundry room and a utility space. Housed within tall cabinetry is the boiler for the home next to a stacked washing machine and tumble dryer. Due to its proximity to the boiler, it is an airing and ironing room as well, and a hanging rail suspends from overhead cabinets to air clothing. It has a Belfast sink by Shaws, used for cleaning muddy boots and larger domestic items for the home and garden, and it is a herbarium. Potted plants sit alongside cooking and gardening books on open shelving and on the 30mm thick Misty Carrara Satinato quartz worktops, which have matching upstands. In addition, there are cupboards and top boxes for storing household items.

Casual comfortable laundry is this homeowner's dream come true!! She says she wants to stay in here all day! She loves it soooo much! Organization is the name of the game in this fast paced yet loving family! Between school, sports, and work everyone needs to hustle, but this hard working laundry room makes it enjoyable! Photography: Stephen Karlisch

Inaki Caperochipi Photography

Contemporary laundry room with charcoal cabinetry, geometric floor tile, Amagansett backsplash tile, natural wood floating shelf, and stacker washer and dryer.

Emily Herder

The boot room cabinetry is finished in Paper and Paint Library Stone IV, using shaker fronts with 45mm rails and stiles. A built-in bench incorporates open shoe storage below, with a v-groove timber back panel fitted with Corston Mews hooks in Antique Brass. Above, a solid oak shelf finished in Rubio Monocoat White Oak provides practical display and storage, tying in with the oak detailing used throughout the house.

Sophisticated and elegant, this bootility is designed to keep the space organised and stylish to match the rest of the home. Keeping the laundry chores out of view, this space has been delicately hand-painted in School House White by F&B just like the kitchen and built in our classic in-frame shaker style. There’s an abundance of space to store every cleaning product you can think of! Further functions of the room include Bosch appliances at eye level, pull-out laundry basket drawers below, Misterio quartz worktops, a Shaws of Darwen sink and a Perrin & Rowe Ionian Tap with rinse and white porcelain levers. Something we particularly love about this design is the handcrafted bench storage. The closed cabinets keep items neatly out of sight behind our beautifully crafted doors, while the open shelves display the items you want close to hand. Our client has chosen to display their fresh linens here. Keeping the same elegance throughout the three rooms, Armac Martin Merrick and Cotswold handles are seen in this most luxurious bootility room.

This was a third project where as an Architectural practice, we designed and built in house one of our projects. This project we extended our arm of delivery and made all the bespoke joinery in our workshop - staircases, shelving, doors -you name it - we made it. The house was changed over an air source heat pump fed servicing from a boiler - further improving the environmental performance of the building.