All hail the utility room. That saviour of a space that not just connects to your kitchen but supports it with all those tasks that you’d rather keep out of the way. It might play more of a backing singer role but that doesn’t mean your utility room doesn’t deserve to dazzle. If yours is looking a bit on the tired side or if you’re about to embark on a new kitchen and don’t want your utility room to be left out of the action, feast your eyes on our Head of Creative, Grazzie Wilson’s five go-to tile tips when laying the foundations of yours…
1. It Goes Form First, Then Function
Those two terms don’t have to be mutually exclusive; with tiles, you really can have it all. But, when it comes to those parts of your home that are going to have a bit of rough and tumble thrown their way, it pays dividends to think about function first.
Your utility room might not be the heart of your home like the kitchen probably is, but it’s still a busy place, and it’s likely that you’ll throw its way laundry washing and airing, mountains of washing up, and possibly a bunch of boot room tasks like kicking off wellies and drying the dog, post walk.
That means, you’ll want tiles that don’t bat an eyelid with damp conditions. Go for a hardy porcelain or tactile terracotta, because they look all the better for a little (or a lot) of love and use.
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2. Texture Covers a Multitude of Sins
Tough tiles covered, also think about what sort of tile won’t show up every speck of life’s hurly-burliness. Even for those with a home as neat as a pin, the constant spotting of crumbs or mud brought in from the great outdoors can be a frustrating way to live. If that rings true for you, consider picking a floor tile that’s textured in some way be that a tumbled edge, a rugged finish or even through dappled, natural stone tones or a characterful wood-effect grain – visual texture counts too.
3. Find a Tile That Matches Your Lifestyle
We’re still sort of on the function point here but it’s important in any room to consider how you live your life, who’s under your roof, and what tile then speaks to your setup.
For example, if home is for you and you alone, and you’re a spick and span sort, then a luxe, marble-clad utility room could work out just fine. It’d be the most sublime spot that’s for sure. But if your home story is three sports-loving children, a shaggy dog, a cat that malts like no other, and a still-being-toilet-trained house rabbit, then the marble dream might have to stay just that for now. A tile that makes life that bit easier is as important as one that looks the part after all.
That means, you’ll want tiles that don’t bat an eyelid with damp conditions. Go for a hardy porcelain or tactile terracotta, because they look all the better for a little (or a lot) of love and use.
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4. Connect it To Your Kitchen, Visually
Some utility rooms are separated by nothing more than an arch or a partition wall and so are in theory still part of your kitchen. Even those that have a fully-fledged door between them are still, in essence, an extension of your kitchen, typically sharing the same cabinetry. To create a seamless flow, be sure to think about whether your tiles can act as a steppingstone. Ask yourself, do you want the same flooring to flood through to really bond the two spaces? Or would you rather change the pace, keeping the cabinetry and work surfaces the same but switching up your flooring to effectively draw a dividing line. If the latter, it’s still important to choose complementary floor tiles. Perhaps you have a sandy limestone in the kitchen but you want to switch up to a much darker slate-coloured one in the utility. Don’t overlook wall tiles either. Again, ponder if you want to repeat the same as your kitchen tiles or could you choose the same style of tile but switch up the colourway?
5. Be a Little Brave, If You Dare
Often hallmarked as the room to be a bit bold, the downstairs loo isn’t the only place to have some fun. Utility rooms are smaller pocket rooms, and not somewhere you’ll be spending all of your time, so you can afford to push the boundaries a little in here – if you want. You can do that through paint colour – maybe you have neutral paint in your kitchen with a burst of colour on your island. In your utility, you could take that accent colour across all of your cabinetry to do the aforementioned visually linking but with a bold difference. Or is there a tile that drew you in but you felt would be too lively in your kitchen but could live quite happily in your utility room? Let your imagination run wild – it’s a safe space after all…
For press enquiries please email Ca’ Pietra Head of Creative: Grazzie Wilson E: grazzie@sarsenstonegroup.com
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