Utility Room with Open Cabinets Ideas and Designs

This is an example of a rural single-wall separated utility room in Burlington with open cabinets, green cabinets, green walls, dark hardwood flooring, a side by side washer and dryer, brown floors, black worktops and tongue and groove walls.

Home Renovation, Boston, MA

kelly mcguill home

kyle caldwell
This is an example of a farmhouse single-wall utility room in Boston with a belfast sink, open cabinets, white cabinets, white walls, brick flooring, a side by side washer and dryer and white worktops.

Agoura Project

thea home inc

Tessa Neustadt
Classic separated utility room in Los Angeles with open cabinets, white cabinets, multi-coloured walls, a stacked washer and dryer and multi-coloured floors.

View of Laundry Room with Louvered Doors

Talianko Design Group, LLC

Within the master bedroom was a small entry hallway and extra closet. A perfect spot to carve out a small laundry room. Full sized stacked washer and dryer fit perfectly with left over space for adjustable shelves to hold supplies. New louvered doors offer ventilation and work nicely with the home’s plantation shutters throughout. Photography by Erika Bierman

Beaucatcher Barn Home

Altura Architects

Bright laundry room with a rustic touch. Distressed wood countertop with storage above. Industrial looking pipe was install overhead to hang laundry. We used the timber frame of a century old barn to build this rustic modern house. The barn was dismantled, and reassembled on site. Inside, we designed the home to showcase as much of the original timber frame as possible. Photography by Todd Crawford

Maine Mountain Home

Meldrum Design

A high performance and sustainable mountain home. We fit a lot of function into a relatively small space when renovating the Entry/Mudroom and Laundry area.

Leland Lake House

Maple Hill Builders, LLC

Inspiration for a medium sized traditional single-wall utility room in Other with open cabinets, white cabinets, wood worktops, blue walls, porcelain flooring, a side by side washer and dryer, grey floors and brown worktops.

Mid-Century Modern Meets Traditional | Renovation

Tera Janelle Design

This is an example of a contemporary separated utility room in Other with open cabinets, white cabinets, beige walls, medium hardwood flooring, a side by side washer and dryer and brown floors.

Marietta Modern Farmhouse

Alan Clark Architects, LLC

Jeff Herr Photography
Photo of a country utility room in Atlanta with open cabinets, blue cabinets, grey walls, a side by side washer and dryer, grey floors and grey worktops.

彩暮(あやくら)モデルハウス

株式会社　アイスタイル

World-inspired utility room in Other with open cabinets, white walls, light hardwood flooring, beige floors and medium wood cabinets.

Hudson WI Project

Kariel Staging & Decor

Photo of a classic utility room in Minneapolis with open cabinets, blue cabinets, multi-coloured walls, a side by side washer and dryer and white worktops.

Contemporary Master Suite Addition in El Segundo, CA.

Custom Design & Construction

The homeowners had just purchased this home in El Segundo and they had remodeled the kitchen and one of the bathrooms on their own. However, they had more work to do. They felt that the rest of the project was too big and complex to tackle on their own and so they retained us to take over where they left off. The main focus of the project was to create a master suite and take advantage of the rather large backyard as an extension of their home. They were looking to create a more fluid indoor outdoor space. When adding the new master suite leaving the ceilings vaulted along with French doors give the space a feeling of openness. The window seat was originally designed as an architectural feature for the exterior but turned out to be a benefit to the interior! They wanted a spa feel for their master bathroom utilizing organic finishes. Since the plan is that this will be their forever home a curbless shower was an important feature to them. The glass barn door on the shower makes the space feel larger and allows for the travertine shower tile to show through. Floating shelves and vanity allow the space to feel larger while the natural tones of the porcelain tile floor are calming. The his and hers vessel sinks make the space functional for two people to use it at once. The walk-in closet is open while the master bathroom has a white pocket door for privacy. Since a new master suite was added to the home we converted the existing master bedroom into a family room. Adding French Doors to the family room opened up the floorplan to the outdoors while increasing the amount of natural light in this room. The closet that was previously in the bedroom was converted to built in cabinetry and floating shelves in the family room. The French doors in the master suite and family room now both open to the same deck space. The homes new open floor plan called for a kitchen island to bring the kitchen and dining / great room together. The island is a 3” countertop vs the standard inch and a half. This design feature gives the island a chunky look. It was important that the island look like it was always a part of the kitchen. Lastly, we added a skylight in the corner of the kitchen as it felt dark once we closed off the side door that was there previously. Repurposing rooms and opening the floor plan led to creating a laundry closet out of an old coat closet (and borrowing a small space from the new family room). The floors become an integral part of tying together an open floor plan like this. The home still had original oak floors and the homeowners wanted to maintain that character. We laced in new planks and refinished it all to bring the project together. To add curb appeal we removed the carport which was blocking a lot of natural light from the outside of the house. We also re-stuccoed the home and added exterior trim.

Whole Home Remodel

New England Design & Construction

This second floor laundry area was created out of part of an existing master bathroom. It allowed the client to move their laundry station from the basement to the second floor, greatly improving efficiency.

Markim

Fastighetsbyrån

Design ideas for a scandinavian single-wall separated utility room in Stockholm with a single-bowl sink, open cabinets, white walls, a side by side washer and dryer and grey floors.

Industrial Chic

Amy Storm & Company

We basically squeezed this into a closet, but wow does it deliver! The roll out shelf can expand for folding and ironing and push back in when it's not needed. The wood shelves offer great linen storage and the exposed brick is a great reminder of all the hard work that has been done in this home! Joe Kwon

Santa Monica

Haefele Design

Mark Lohman
This is an example of a beach style utility room in Los Angeles with a side by side washer and dryer, open cabinets and white cabinets.

Traditional Laundry Room

Traditional utility room in Denver with open cabinets.

New York Transformation

Crisp Architects

Photography by Rob Karosis
Design ideas for a traditional utility room in New York with open cabinets, white cabinets, white walls, black floors and white worktops.

Home Inspiration

Insidesign

Inspiration for a medium sized traditional single-wall utility room in Atlanta with a side by side washer and dryer, open cabinets, white cabinets, medium hardwood flooring and green walls.

Modern Farm House

Brett Bulthuis Photography

Nautical utility room in Indianapolis with open cabinets, wood worktops and white walls.

Utility Room with Open Cabinets Ideas and Designs

A well designed utility room can rise to become one of our favourite rooms in the house, boasting the accolade of existing solely to make our lives easier. Few of us are fans of chores such as washing, cleaning and ironing, but with a high-spec, well put together utility design they could be a breeze. For this reason, it makes sense to design an utility room to be as functional as possible, the very model of “everything in its place”, with carefully thought out utility room storage. That, however, doesn’t have to mean it can’t look nice – even super-utilitarian appliances like a washing machine, tumble dryer, laundry basket and recycling bin can be dressed up by their surroundings and made to look great as part of your utility design.

What do I need in my utility room?

Most utility rooms tend to be a small room just off the kitchen or hallway, so you are likely to be working with a compact space. Your main priority will involve planning utility room storage around your white goods. A utility room is usually intended primarily as a laundry room, so it makes sense to first install your plumbed items: the sink, washing machine and, if you have one, tumble dryer. If you run short of space and can’t afford to have a separate washer and dryer, then consider an integrated washer-dryer for your utility design. Built-in storage is a great idea in utility rooms to make best use of the available space, and you might want to also consider built in ironing boards, clothes airers and retractable washing lines. These items tend to be a bit cumbersome and are forever getting in the way, so designing special utility room storage for them or fixing them to a wall so they are easily folded away is an excellent space-saver and well worth the implementation. Free standing items such as laundry baskets and clothes hampers can be tucked neatly under specially designed worktops, and a selection of stacking plastic storage boxes, tins or wicker baskets can be used to help keep the room clutter free.

How do I decorate my utility room?

Decorating an utility room is the ultimate exercise in form meeting functionality. As it’s a room that, alas, invariably people spend a great deal of time in, you will want keep the utility room a calm and clean space. Utility room storage is essential for keeping this area tidy; attractively painted shelves and cupboards can be used to stow away all the bottles and boxes used for laundry and cleaning, as well as appliances such as vacuum cleaners and irons. An attractive country style utility design can be achieved by hanging bright or patterned curtains in front of wall mounted shelves – it will perk up the room and keep clutter hidden away. Floors should be hard-wearing and easy to clean (just think of those dirty boots traipsing in through the back door!) – to this end, stone, tile, laminate or vinyl flooring will be the most low-maintenance and durable. All in all, bear in mind that just because this is primarily a practical space doesn’t mean it needs to be dull – you can inject personality into your utility design in your choices of colour and decorative accessories. Consider quirky signage, blackboards for scribbling down shopping lists, and decorative bottles and boxes for stowing away household bits and bobs.

Do I need a sink in my utility room?

Utility room sinks are designed for those jobs that don’t quite belong in the kitchen – hand washing, dirty boots, watering indoor plants – and typically have a more industrial aesthetic than kitchen sinks. In fact, the iconic butler sink’s originally designated purpose was, as you might imagine, a sink for the butler, who was responsible for washing precious glassware and other items that required special attention and soaking. In case you’ve ever wondered, this is why butler sinks are so deep – for that matter, the only difference between butler sinks and Belfast sinks is the overflow built in to Belfast sinks which don’t feature in butler sinks. If the rustic charm of ceramic sinks appeal to you but your utility room would benefit a less substantial piece, French farmhouse sinks may be the perfect option; cast in French clay to produce a more refined finish, farmhouse sinks can be a thinner, more elegant alternative to their robust counterparts. As well as offering practicality, ceramic sinks make a beautiful statement centrepiece – utility rooms with a country or shabby chic feel will find the perfect complement to rustic wooden units with a butler or farmhouse sink. Smaller sinks are perfectly adequate if your utility room doesn’t demand as much from you, if you do the odd bit of rinsing instead of regularly being elbow-deep in heavy-duty washing. Stainless steel sinks are a practical choice that can withstand the bashing they will get in an utility room set up. Composite sinks are available in granite and quartz variations, both boasting superior durability and damage resistance; to boot, their smooth clean finish lends itself to an ultramodern style utility room. If you’re still unsure on your utility design, take a look through the hundreds of photos for some utility room ideas from professional designers and other homeowners. You might find a design theme or some utility room storage ideas that will inspire you for your utility room makeover.

United Kingdom

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