But luxury laundry and storage areas, without arachnids, have become incredibly new status symbols. Celeb magazines and proprietary supplements show the big butler sinks with bated breath. closet from floor to ceiling. “Skirts” (strange decorative rods to hide your shelves). personalized, individual laundry baskets for each family member. and built-in dryer rails. A survey with friends reveals a craving for a wish list: “a huge freezer”, “hidden appliances”, “somewhere for the blood-stained mop bucket” – some even say it ‘s one of the few things I would change my house to have ». The ancillary room of Jamie and Jools Oliver. Photo: Style Sisters There is plenty out there to fill your Pinterest tables. The Jools Oliver utility room is two sage and pink rooms with floor-to-ceiling cabinets, a floral paper wall and a sliding ironing board that refreshes even my indifferent heart. The 80’s pop power couple Martin and Shirlie Kemp have a spotless cream utility room with a spray for washing dogs. Stacey Solomon’s is mint green and Mrs. Hinch, a priestess of pure things, is tearing down walls to create a huge one for her new home. Then there are Hollywood utilities (usually “laundries”): Khloé Kardashian’s specially labeled shelves contain enough cleaning products to keep a small cottage fresh. Jessica Alba’s “washing machine”, which appeared in an Architectural Digest video, is bigger than many washing machines. Interior designer Irene Gunter of Gunter & Co says she “always was excited about the utility rooms; it’s a great addition to the home, freeing up space in the kitchen.” Some of the features it incorporates for customers include ergonomic eye-level devices, folding trays for laundry baskets, built-in pet feeding and washing stations, and ultimate luxury: “a drying cabinet. They use a gentle drying process that protects your objects, even sensitive materials such as silk and wool. Sounds great, but why do we care where the laundry is done? Most people feel less intense than Kirstie Allsopp, who, in 2017, declared washing machines in kitchens “disgusting.” However, utility rooms have always been ambitious: they mean you can afford to have enough space for your washer-dryer to have its own room. This is already “a middle class dream come true”, as my friend Arianna says, who created her own from YouTube tutorials. A scullery maid, circa 1844. Photo: Heritage Images / Getty Images For home history historian Philippa Lewis, author of Stories from Architecture, the opposite was true of the earring, the rainy great aunt of the utility room: “She must have some sort of servant for it.” The transition to “utility” reflects the arrival of work-saving devices and the disappearance of domestic workers. “The utility room is perfect for changing the situation of the person doing something in the kitchen.” The arrival of open living was another impetus: “You want more and more a room where you stick to the washing machine because it makes a dirty racket. “All these gray underwear are hanging.” Jennifer Garner’s video with her laundry had a 6.8 meter view. Photo: @ jennifer.garner / Instagram But new factors fuel our craving for laundry. The first lockdown for Covid left celebrities trapped at home, giving us tempting, jealous looks at more secular aspects of their lives. Jennifer Garner’s video in May 2020, in her huge, albeit relatively messy, laundry room has over 6.8 million views on Instagram. Their eyes widen and they say: My God, we never imagined there were such rooms Ben Priden, real estate agent The pandemic also started an outbreak in the country. Ben Priden, of luxury real estate agent Hewetson & Johnson, has helped many London-heeled people move north: when showing customers in farmhouses, the utility room is very interesting. “They open their eyes wide and say, ‘My God, we never imagined there were such rooms.’ “This is an addition to their previous lives beyond their wildest dreams.” Longtime residents of the county take their utility rooms for granted, Pridden says, but new arrivals are excited, fueling the trend of refurbishing luxury utilities. “People say: patience, this is a wonderful room worth loving. “They will push the boat out.” (They also post photos to torture city friends-mice.) The auxiliary room of the “crystal clear cream” of Martin and Shirlie Kemp. Photo: Howdens Most of all, though, I think we’re desperate for order in a world that feels chaotic, scary and out of control: just ask the millionaire Marie Kondo. It is vaguely retrograde to care for a tidy space to fold pants, but the urge is real. The Netflix show Organize with Home Editing fuels our desire to look at celebrity lockers and game rooms that become completely redundant, adapted to the colors: even the celebrities themselves crave it. “Scrolling through the beautifully coordinated images of what [Home Edit gurus] “Clea and Joanna do it, it ‘s literally how I tease myself sometimes,” says Jordana Brewster, who stars in one episode. But if the envy of the butler-sink-and-drying-closet starts to eat you, take it to heart: this impression of order and control is ultimately an illusion. As one room owner reminds me, “It’s just another room to mess around with, no matter how nice it looks when you take your first Insta photo.”
