Decoration & Inspiration: Room Rescue - Kitchen

After years of chaos I am finally organised!

Fiona Dunlop, 48, moved to her 18th century cottage in Hertfordshire ten years ago where she lives with her children, Jamie, 20, Diana, 19, Gina, 16, and Harry the dog.

A tiny utility room led from the kitchen to the garden, housing her washing machine, freezer, DIY and gardening tools, coats and even dog food. It was constantly filled with junk, so Fiona used to go through the room ignoring the mess. ‘It was so depressing as it looked awful,’ Fiona says. ‘As I use the back door as my main entrance, there was no escaping it.’

Not wanting to face any more time with such an untidy, unwelcoming room in her home, Fiona decided to get rid of the ill-fitting, broken furniture and invest time and money to get everything in order. Having lived in chaos for so long she didn’t know where to start, so called the Your Home team to spend her budget wisely and straighten the room once and for all.

What was wrong with the old room?

No storage
Old junk shop units had lost their doors years ago, so tools, gardening utensils and washing powders were permanently on view. The space wasn’t being used to its best, and things were left in piles. We had to maximise storage in a small space to keep it tidy.

Heavy décor
When she moved in, Fiona painted everything blue, but the colour is far too heavy for a compact room like this. We needed to lift the scheme and make the most of the light through the window overlooking the garden.

No style
With such a lovely period home, Fiona wanted the utility room to not only be practical, but look good too. We knew we could transform it with country style and charm, in keeping with the the cottage.

Your Home solutions

Have a place for coats and shoes
A cream metal rack fits neatly between the doors for hanging coats. We altered Fiona’s wooden shoe tidy so both doors would open without hindrance – something that used to drive her crazy.





Organise your drawers
Five spacious drawers mean tools, garden implements, hats, gloves and pet goods all have their own storage area so everything’s neat, tidy, and easy to find.





Add a worktop
A piece of 30mm thick MDF with a softly curved corner was given three coats of eggshell paint to protect it, then used to create a useful work surface on top of the appliances.




Hang shelving
A painted wooden shelf with hanging pegs adds useful storage for laundry items. Hung on the wall above the washing machine, it means everything’s right at hand – another solution to help Fiona keep organised.




Dress a pretty window
The original leaded window is a lovely feature in this room. A Roman blind gives it definition without blocking any light, or restricting the view to the garden. The soft colours complement the pale green walls and cream furniture, and the floral print has a pretty country look.





Be organised with style
To stop papers piling up, we found an attractive memo holder to help Fiona be organised. This floral heart has elastic straps making it easy to tuck things neatly in place.




Disguise an ugly view
An internal window to the kitchen is blocked on the other side by books and a TV – so a view we need to hide not save. We chose frosted window film with a pretty flower motif to make an attractive feature.





Space shelves for your needs
The shelves inside Fiona’s dresser cupboard were designed to be able to store everything from tall washing liquid bottles, to dog biscuits and storage jars.



What does Fiona think?
‘Having spent a decade with this room in a complete shambles I realised I had to invest money and time to make it practical and pretty – but I never thought it could be this good! I love having somewhere to put everything away rather than just dump it and it all looks so streamlined too. I didn’t realise I could get this type of furniture made and it is so solid it’ll last years. The room is finally a lovely place to come into, and is more organised than I dreamed possible – worth waiting a decade for!‘

What Your Home says...
‘We spent most of Fiona’s budget on the wonderful storage unit, as that addressed the biggest problem in the room – she now has a place for everything with room to spare. We changed the deep blue décor that felt dark and dingy, for a fresh scheme of pale green and cream with some brighter accents giving a country feel. Every inch of space has been thought about and carefully put to use so this room is now a hall, laundry, tool depot and garden store – all in one tiny space.’

Top tip
In a small room light colours are best to keep a spacious, airy feel. Any colour will work as long as it’s only one or two shades away from white.