If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then the boot room is certainly the liver!
“The bootility room” A combination of mudroom, boot room, laundry room, pet room…a really useful room! What we used to call at elementary school, “the multipurpose room” A humble space that is often overlooked, it is a room that deserves a considerable amount of design focus to maximise its potential. If given that, the knock-on effect to the occupants, not to mention, to the rest of the house interior, is massive.
A well designed bootility can house the laundry facilities, pantry items, storage for outdoor gear; boots, coats, hats, scarves, sport accoutrements...you name it and let’s not forget our furry friends. How about a shower designed to wash muddy dogs before they bound into the rest of the home? This is a room that bridges the gap between the outdoors and the indoors.
Let’s first consider the family that will be using this room every day. What are their daily routines like? We must consider all aspects of their lifestyle and come up with exciting, yet practical solutions within this space. The key focus is organisation, efficiency, and practicality. These design challenges when surmounted well, add hugely to the overall pleasure of a home. These humble rooms are now becoming as much of a priority as the kitchen.
Let’s first consider the family that will be using this room every day. What are their daily routines like? We must consider all aspects of their lifestyle and come up with exciting, yet practical solutions within this space. The key focus is organisation, efficiency, and practicality. These design challenges when surmounted well, add hugely to the overall pleasure of a home. These humble rooms are now becoming as much of a priority as the kitchen.
It is not meant to be a gem of interior design…but, we say, why not? There is so much beauty in joinery, flooring, hardware… the challenge of taking the requirements of a family and solving our mantra “a place for everything and everything in its place”
It is not meant to be a gem of interior design…but, we say, why not? There is so much beauty in joinery, flooring, hardware… the challenge of taking the requirements of a family and solving our mantra “a place for everything and everything in its place”.
The important areas to explore in our design of the perfect design of your new bootility:
Flooring & Finishes
Storage
Seating
Laundry
Pets
Flooring & Finishes
Most importantly, they must be hard wearing, durable and easy to clean. This space will be bombarded by muck, water and general abuse on a daily basis. Think washable paints, stone or wood work surfaces, ceramic or stone floor tiles. Underfloor heating is also fantastic with drying out wet items if caught in the rain. Who doesn’t want to strip that off and just drop it on the floor? Now, one doesn’t have to feel guilty about being messy as the floor is performing a function!
2. Storage
Custom designed storage is ideal to maximise all the wall space and make it easy to find exactly the item that is being searched for. Plenty of closed cupboards – tall and short drawers, open shelving, cubby holes, hooks and rails are all brilliant ways to add to the organisation.
3. Seating
An area to perch while removing shoes and wellies and also a fab way to include more hidden storage. By using specialist fabrics, you can repel damp and dirt. We have used horsehair in this example which is practical and low maintenance.
4. Laundry
Since some boot rooms perform double duty as laundry rooms, a deep sink with pull-down tap, a wall-mounted laundry rack, and plenty of storage for cleaning products. A pulley operated drying dolly is not only charming & vintage, but gets that damp laundry up and away without crowding up the floor with a freestanding dryer.
Moving a bulky washing machine and tumble dryer to a dedicated full-height cupboard stores them out of sight when not in use. Stacking them vertically will free up valuable floor space and make it easier to load washing. We have also hidden specialist drying cabinets within joinery for items like bulky coats or blankets.
5. Pets
A bootility is the ideal space to keep pet’s food and water dishes…no need to worry about Fido splashing his supper about! Having a dog shower can also be used to wash wellies and water plants, not to mention fill the bucket to mop up the floor after Fido’s been at it.
Dedicated space for your pet’s needs (food, leads, coats, treats, toys) can be incorporated into this area too.
Although a luxury to have an entire room dedicated to a bootility in the average home, there are always ways to maximise space. As interior designers, we are comfortable with squeezing the most out of the area. One simple way to do this on your own is to look for multifunctional furniture that can perform well to support busy lifestyles, such as storage benches. With some considered choices, you can ensure a calm and well-ordered environment as soon as you step through your door.
Contact MIDA Interiors to help you create the beautiful, perfectly planned and tailor-made functional home interior you deserve and start living your best life at studio@midainteriors.com.
