For most people renovating a kitchen, the utility room is an afterthought. The kitchen gets the mood boards and the endless decisions about hardware finishes, while the utility gets whatever is left over – usually a cheaper version of the same thing, on the basis that matching feels like the safe, considered choice.
But is matching your utility and kitchen actually the right call? Increasingly, designers think not. The best utility room ideas are those that treat the space on its own terms, designed around what it actually needs to do, rather than what the room next door looks like.
Below, we ask the experts how to strike the right balance between connection and individuality, so you can get both rooms right.
The case for matching a kitchen and utility
In an open-plan kitchen, or anywhere the utility door is left open as often as it is closed, the two rooms will be read as one whether you design for it or not. In these layouts, the case for matching is hard to argue with.
"A fully matched kitchen and utility creates seamless 'visual flow', which is especially valuable when the utility door is often left open," explains Julie Gokce, senior kitchen expert at MoreKitchens. When the two rooms share the same cabinetry, finishes and colour palette, the eye moves between them without interruption. "In smaller homes, this can also make the whole ground floor feel larger by removing the visual stops," she adds.
The benefits are not purely spatial either. "From a styling perspective, a cohesive look feels calmer and more luxurious, even if the utility is a messy zone," says Julie. "Buyers and estate agents also tend to read matching joinery as a sign of a well-planned kitchen renovation, which can add perceived value to a property."
The project shown above is a good example of how this works in practice. Sam Harris, senior design consultant at Ashford Kitchens and Interiors, describes how his team carried the same tone and feel across key surfaces in both rooms, while specifying finishes in the utility that were better suited to daily wear.
"The result is a design that feels cohesive overall, while allowing the utility to work harder as a separate, functional zone," he says. Matching the overall impression or aesthetic, rather than the materials, allows each room do its own job more effectively.
Julie Gokce has more than three decades of kitchen and interior design experience, shaping beautiful, functional spaces and offering accessible design insight for real homes.
Sam is passionate about designing dream kitchens, bedrooms, and home living spaces that reflect each client’s unique lifestyle. His creativity and meticulous attention to detail ensure every design is both beautiful and practical – a space clients will love living in for years to come.
The case against matching a kitchen and utility
Many kitchen designers argue that the utility room's separation from the kitchen is not a problem to solve, but an opportunity to take.
"At deVOL, we find people tend to want their utility room to be slightly different to their kitchen, to give it its own personality," explains Helen Parker, creative director of deVOL Kitchens. "I think if a kitchen completely matches a utility, it is a missed opportunity to have a bit of fun with colour and design."
In practice, that might mean a change in cabinet colour, more open shelving in place of wall cupboards, or tongue and groove cladding on the walls – details that give the room a humbler, more workmanlike feel that suits what it is actually used for. "I don't think matching the rooms would make them any more functional," she adds.
There is a practical argument too, and it is a persuasive one. "A utility room gets genuine wear and tear – wet boots, detergent spills, hot tumble dryers," says Julie Gokce. "Specifying cheaper, tougher materials makes far more sense than duplicating expensive kitchen finishes. Budget goes further when you splurge in the kitchen and save in the utility."
And there's also a longer view to consider: "If you ever change your kitchen in five years, an unmatched utility is cheaper and less disruptive to update," she notes.
Charlotte Butler, kitchen design manager at BK Eleven, frames it most plainly. "The utility room has a different job to do. It might need more tall storage, more robust surfaces, space for laundry appliances, cleaning products, pet bowls or household overflow – and those practical needs should lead the design."
Helen was promoted to the position of Creative Director at DeVOL in 2011 after showing an innate ability to forecast trends and give deVOL a style direction. She is also responsible for styling, sourcing and buying all the antiques and gifts on display at the DeVOL showroom.
Charlotte is Kitchen Design Manager at BK Eleven, with a background in hotel interiors and a degree in Interior Design. Since moving into bespoke handmade kitchens in 2014, she has built over 14 years of experience shaping kitchens that resolve day-to-day use as carefully as their visual character.
How to get the middle ground right
For most designers, the answer sits somewhere between a perfect match and a complete contrast. "There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer," says Sam Harris. "In many cases, the most successful approach is a balance between the two: keeping a consistent palette or key design details, while adjusting cabinetry, handles or worktops to better suit everyday use."
The key, says Holly Lamont, founder and creative director of Holla Design, is to treat the utility room as a continuation of the kitchen's design 'language' rather than a repetition of it. "Pull a colour from within the kitchen's palette – a grout tone, a hardware finish, a tile colour – and amplify it in the utility. By doing this, the contrast feels curated, not accidental."
And Jenna Forsdyke, senior interior designer at Pfeiffer Design, takes a similar view. "Rather than creating two identical spaces, allow each room to have its own personal touches, but combine them by carrying through a few key elements from the overall kitchen design. This will create a soft sense of continuation between the two rooms, allowing them to feel connected and considered."
Holly Lamont is the founder and creative director of Holla Design, a Cheshire-based interior design studio specialising in residential interiors that combine colour, pattern and texture to reflect each client's personality.
Jenna Forsdyke is Senior Interior Designer at Pfeiffer Design, specialising in timeless, client-focused interiors that blend practicality with personality across residential and commercial projects throughout the UK.
Ways to get the balance right
The trick, according to designers, is to choose two or three visual threads to carry through both rooms rather than trying to match everything. Here are the approaches that work best:
- Match the colour but change the materials: Use the same paint colour or finish in both spaces, but specify more durable, moisture-resistant doors in the utility. This way, you keep the visual link without duplicating the kitchen costs or worrying about warping in a damp environment.
- Match the handles and taps, but nothing else: Keeping hardware identical across both spaces ties the rooms together even when the doors, finishes and floors are completely different. Handles can visually connect rooms even when everything else diverges.
- Try matching only the worktops: Running the same worktop surface through both rooms is surprisingly effective, because worktops are what the eye lands on at standing height. This lets you simplify the cabinetry in the utility without the two rooms feeling disconnected
- Avoid the near-match on flooring: If you cannot run the same flooring through both rooms, do not try to approximate it. "Unless you have exactly the same flooring product, a near-match will always draw unwanted attention for looking slightly off," warns Graeme Shelley, managing director at Factory Direct Flooring. If continuity is not possible, lean into contrast instead – a stone-effect floor in the utility that picks up on the tones of a wood-effect kitchen floor, for example, will always read better than an almost-identical version of the same thing.
Use this hardware to create continuity
These brushed brass knobs will bring warmth and consistency across both rooms
Simple cup pulls work as hard in a utility as they do in a kitchen
If you're wondering where to spend and where to save on your new kitchen and utility, it's worth getting to grips with utility room costs before making any decisions about finishes or cabinetry. Knowing your budget will shape how far you can take the matching question in either direction.
