Creating a Pet Friendly Utility

Since Covid, the kitchen industry has seen a dramatic shift in new pet-owners wanting to create a space in their home that’s comfortable for everyone, including their furry friends!

According to reports, the first year of the pandemic from 2020-2021 was labelled “The Year of The Pet” across the industry, so in this blog we address the question: “How do we create a pet-friendly utility?”

Utility rooms and boot rooms have always been known as the extended kitchen space within our homes where we store our washing machines, tumble dryers, cleaning supplies and other miscellaneous items that we’d rather keep hidden from the rest of our kitchen! As many of us adopted a pet during lockdown without considering extra implications such as giving them the best place to eat, sleep and chill, when creating a pet-friendly utility in our homes it’s essential to balance their needs along with the everyday needs of the homeowner.

Whether it’s a new build where you’re starting from a blank canvas or adjustments you wish to make to an existing home, this blog aims to offer advice on some areas that you might not have yet considered.

Winslow – Pantry Blue

Functional Boot Rooms

Installing a boot room within your home is a clever way to keep mess to a minimum. It’s a great space where you can neatly store your muddy walking shoes, wet coats, chewed dog leads and umbrellas, without causing any unsightly impact to the rest of your home. A well-equipped boot room is also ideal for giving your pet its own dedicated space that it can call home.

At STORI, we have noted an uptake in customers who searched our Inspiration Gallery for boot room related content, so it is becoming more and more apparent that pet-owners want to invest in a dedicated pet-friendly space.

Nifty Nooks

When considering a pet friendly utility for your home, an indispensable asset is a nook. Dog caves, cat houses or whatever you want to call them are built-in mini rooms that have become very popular for our cuddly pals. By purposely designing a nook for your pet’s bed or basket, this is a fantastic way to give your pet a dedicated space it can call home, while also reducing clutter in other areas within the home.

We’ve noticed an influx of pet-friendly nooks recently online, ranging from homeowners who simply want to utilise an unused space below bench seating or adjacent to cabinetry, to those who have installed a custom-built shower for their pet! Whatever your budget, nooks are a must-have when creating a pet friendly utility room.

Dawson – Graphite

Easy to Clean Materials

From muddy paw prints to shedding enough hairs that you could make a wig out of, our cozy comrades love leaving their mark on our doors, floors, and upholstery.

At STORI, we recognise that no one has a perfect home, and it can often be a tiresome process trying to constantly clean up after your pets, so opting for easy to clean materials at the very outset can help to minimise some of the upkeep in the long run.

Pictured below are our foil ranges which are durable, sustainably sourced and well-crafted to stand the test of time. The ranges feature a humidity resistant, FIRA tested, MDF Plus core that won’t warp, twist or crack over time, meaning you and your pet can enjoy quality time together, while having furniture that’s built to withstand the wear and tear of everyday life. As an added bonus, our smooth matte foil door ranges such as Zola Soft-Matte and Dawson or our woodgrain effect foil ranges such as Pembridge and Kensington come backed by a 5-year warranty to give you additional peace of mind in your investment.

Dawson – Indigo | Kensington – Light Grey

Style it Dark

We know that dark colours aren’t for everyone, but trends are showing that some of our most popular selling furniture colours have been from darker tonal groups. Blues, greys and blacks have unsurprisingly become a trend, and when executed effectively using a balance of lighter tones in terms of styling can work well. Complete the look by accessorising your space with brass hardware in terms of handle finishes and complement with matching tap fittings to bring the room together.

As this blog is focusing on pet friendly utilities, you might want to consider giving your utility a make-over with some darker paint colours that won’t show up the chaos created by your fluffy companion. By opting for colours such as Slate Blue, Graphite or even Cannon Black, you can help to create an area that’s lower maintenance, while still giving your pet’s living space a terrific upgrade.

Clever Storage Solutions

Pet owners will be all too aware of the extra baggage that comes with their beloved animals. Treats, toys, leads and towels are all essential items, but they also take up valuable space in our homes. By investing in clever storage solutions, we can maximise our utility space more efficiently and keep things better organised.

Our comprehensive storage collection from leading German brand, Vauth-Sagel, offers 94 product options across 4 main solutions, all of which have been designed to cater for kitchens, utility rooms, pantries, and laundry rooms where practical and flexible storage is required to make everyday living easier. Whether it’s a month’s worth supply of dog food, shampoo or skin care for your cat, or a growing collection of soft toys, internal storage will bring organisation to your space in whatever capacity you need.

VS SUB Larder | VS TAL Larder | VS ENVI Space XX Pro

From base pull-outs designed to maximise even the narrowest of spaces, corner pull-outs to optimise dark, awkward corners, Tall larder pull-outs to store everyday items or pull-out waste bins for household waste, we have the ideal solution to help make your space pet-friendly whilst looking fabulous!

Each product has been carefully considered to ensure every inch of space is utilised with a choice of sizes, innovative shelf designs and on-trend finishes to suit a range of kitchen, utility and boot room styles and to cater for a variety of budgets.

If you’re interested in choosing STORI to make your space more pet-friendly, we would love to meet you in person at one of our independent showrooms across the UK and Ireland. To find your nearest STORI retailer, please click here.