Utility rooms: humidity, mud and no time for delicate

The practical shortlist

Cheap and appropriate, rather than cheap and wrong.

• PVC roller — wipes clean, ignores humidity, the lowest-cost sensible option
• Aluminium Venetian — thin slats, completely moisture-proof, dust off in seconds
• Faux-wood Venetian — if the utility is open to the kitchen and needs to match
• Perfect-fit — for UPVC back doors and windows you keep opening

Privacy at the back of the house

Utility windows are often at the side or rear where a passageway runs past. A bottom-up blind or a permanently tilted Venetian handles this without you thinking about it daily.

In semi-detached Kent houses with a shared side passage this is one of the most common requests we get for the room.

Matching the kitchen without matching the price

Where the utility opens off the kitchen, running the same faux-wood slat colour through both rooms makes the space read as one. Because utility windows are usually small, that consistency costs very little.

If the two rooms are visually separate, there is no reason to pay for a match nobody will see.