Boot rooms are becoming ever more popular as our lifestyles adapt and we repurpose our kitchens. For many, we want to get some of the stuff from the kitchen out in to a separate space. Often thought of as the in between area where you enter the home when coming in from outside, generally the boot room is a practical area but that doesn’t mean it can’t be both pleasing on the eye and functional.
Traditionally known as cloak rooms in the UK these areas are generally used to house all manner of stuff including coats, shoes brollies and more. Basically also those items you may need when you leave the home to venture outdoors.
What to store in your boot room
Where space is in abundance, the boot room sometimes incorporates a utility area including washing & drying machines and sometimes some seating for use when removing muddy wellies. If you plan your boot room right you should be able to keep the rest of your space clean and tidy.
Boot rooms come in all shapes & sizes and can range from a simple shoe tidy and coat rack through to a more elaborate area with bundles of bespoke of storage. A bit of careful thought and planning can help you create a space that allows the rest of the home to function more smoothly. The key to achieving this is to take care of all items that are involved in your outdoor life and give them some suitable indoor storage.
So, how do you plan a boot room ? Start with a wish list of all the things that you want to store and cater for all members of the home including your feline and canine counterparts. Once you have a comprehensive list of all these items you can start to plan the boot room.
Here at Barnes we are a big believer in bespoke cabinets or made to order cupboards to house your chattels. Bespoke cabinetry allows you to best use every inch of space avaialble and converts it in to usable storage. Our in house design team work with our skilled cabinet makers to create built-in and free standing furniture.
Boot room furniture
Boot room furniture can include shelving, cabinets & drawers in all shapes and sizes and hanging space for frequently used items like coats and scarves. Add to this some seating which can also combine under seat shoe storage and your boot room is already taking shape. One useful piece of boot room furniture is a boot drawer. As some boots are worn seasonally, it makes sense to hide them away for the rest of the year when they are not needed. A double height drawer is a good way of doing just that. Tall enough inside to accept the biggest of boots, it can appear as two vertically stacked drawers from the outside or left with an open front for easy access. This also has the benefit of keeping your floor space free, reducing things to trip over and making floor cleaning easier.
Floor cleaning takes us on to the next consideration and for us they key here is make sure it can be mopped down with ease. This makes stone flooring an obvious contender but is not always possible if your floor is not solid. Add a heavy natural fibre doormat such as sisal which will help to reduce the amount of much that gets on to the floor.
While thinking of the flooring, heating the boot room in the winter months maybe a good plan. When you come in from the cold and invariably the wet, it is good to hang your coat knowing that it will be warmer and dryer when you need it again. Sometimes under floor heating can be used which helps to free up wall space that wall radiators require.
Boot room decoration
When it comes to decor for the boot room you may want it to provide a continuation of the colours and textures used in neighboring rooms. Or you may decide to make a striking difference. Either way there are no restrictions and just one word of advice and that is use a hard wearing paint finish. Eggshell and gloss paints provide a surface that can be easily wiped down. Emulsion paints can be used higher up the walls and on the ceilings where things are less likely to get splashed and smudged.
If you are considering adding a boot room to your home or converting some space to create a boot room then why not let us help. Our talented team will come up with inspiring design ideas and expert craftsmanship to ensure that you are happy with the end result
