How to create a beautiful and practical utility room

Laura Jane Clark suggests a new trend – sharing real images of our messy cupboards, coupled with our fantasy storage solutions

I’m one of those people who loves something new. A new pen, a new jumper, and especially a brand-spanking-new notebook to start the new year. My year starts around January, coinciding with when I’ve finished off the final segment of my Chocolate Orange stash. On my mind during these first few weeks of the year is how I can streamline my home, tackle my eternal battle with staying tidy and get a workable laundry system going. Less of a spring clean, more a radical overhaul of my very existence. I rarely think about new decor ideas or what room I might like to decorate next; my entire focus is practicality.

​​Instead of all the colour forecasts and pattern predictions that abound, I’d like to see the usual trend rule-book ripped up and replaced by a focus on real living. I know that might sound quite harsh, but let me explain. I think practicality and functionality are often left way behind when designing your home. They certainly don’t get the attention that the more glamorous design decisions attract. But like I always say, without adequate storage and utility space, no matter how gorgeous your home looks when freshly tidied and picture ready, it won’t be long before you’re drying your washing next to the radiator and clutter is starting to encroach on your tranquil setting.

Even though each and every one of my remodelling, extension and home design projects start off as pen-and-­ink hand sketches, I see the layout in three dimensions as I work. When I work on Your Home Made Perfect, our architectural designs are shown to the homeowners in virtual reality. This means that the style, materiality, colour palette and decoration all need to be envisioned as part of the design at the very first stage. This is the opposite of how most architects work, with the initial concept usually focused on layout and flow, volume and massing and, of course, light. At first, l struggled a little with this way of designing, but l quickly found that thinking in colour and pattern right from the start of the architectural scheme became second nature.

Even when I’m imagining what scatter cushions go where in my new designs, the core concept behind my layouts remains the same: practicality. So often I’m shown newly designed kitchen extension plans with a tiny utility space barely big enough to fit a washing machine, let alone a washing basket or clothes airer. It’s often squeezed in just by the back door, so the area has to house piles of shoes and coats, cat and dog bowls, and overspill kitchen storage.

I’d like it all to be about the reality of living in our homes and spaces. I’d love to see a viral trend of peeking inside overfilled cupboards and utility spaces bursting at the seams across the land, highlighting the day-to-day struggles and issues created by badly thought-out, cramped layouts. It would be amazing to see clever storage ideas and innovative laundry solutions taking centre stage for once. So who will be the first to tag me into a post of their most embarrassing cupboard and what your fantasy storage would look like? I will, if you will!