Get More Use Out of Your Service Yard with These Updates

Revolutionise your service yard with a few quick updates!

Despite its all-round usefulness as a general utility area and laundry room, the service yard is rarely a top priority for homeowners when home makeovers are concerned.

Still, while many overlook the space, these inspired service yards prove that there’s so much more potential that has yet to be unlocked.

1. Build in more prep space

Considering how small service yards are (in general), installing a counter seems to be rather… counterproductive. However, the inclusion of a work surface in your service yard is likely to make it more versatile and useful.

For instance, the addition of the countertop in this Jurong West apartment provides a large enough nook to house a front loader washing machine and the worktop offers more space for other paraphernalia.

You can even squeeze in a storage trolley for your laundry products if space allows!

If you’ve ever entertained the idea of a second sink in your kitchen but gave up because of space constraints, here’s a thought: why not have one in the service yard instead?

You can save yourself the trouble of walking over to the bathroom whenever you need to hand wash some clothes – or when someone else is hogging the only other sink in the kitchen.

You can even install an elevated slab below the sink to store some laundry essentials or other utilities that you want to have within reach.

2. Optimise your space vertically

When space is at a premium, it always pays to look up! You can consider a stackable washer-dryer unit like so. But wait, before you go ahead, do double-check the measurements of your allocated space as these appliances are fairly bulky.

You can put a multifunctional built-in to good use with a clothes rail and substantial space for hanging a couple of clothes above the washer – now that’s one way to organise and temporarily store or air-dry your clothes.

Another perk is that you get to keep your hangers organised when not in use.

3. Creative ways to expand the space visually

Literally extending your kitchen to your service yard isn’t always an option, especially if you’re worried about cooking fumes in your service yard where you hang your clothes.

You can, however, use floor tiling that extends from the kitchen into the adjacent service yard. This consistent visual motif will make the two spaces look one and the same.

And while you might not be able to actually make your service yard bigger… you sure can trick the eye with a couple of design tricks like the home below.

The combination of natural light coming through wide glass windows and the neutral colour scheme ‘opens’ up the space visually, but that’s not all – the way the counters at the end ‘protrude’ from the rest of the kitchen counters makes it seem like it’s got its own corner!

4. Introduce a splash of green

Although there are plenty of ways to doll up your service yard, the simplest method is use… that’s right, houseplants!

For all you avid plant parents out there, you can even consider shelving your plants in the intersection between the kitchen and the service yard if that’s the room that gets more sunlight than any other parts of the house.

5. Go all-out with built-in storage

We’ve all heard of built-in wardrobes, but this home takes it a step further with one in the service yard! It’s a brilliant idea for making more room to store your clothes if you don’t have enough in other rooms, besides the fact that it’s easy to store clothes immediately after doing the laundry and ironing.

Speaking of ironing, you can immediately get to ironing on a flat countertop like this once your clothes have dried.

Here’s another way built-in storage can come in handy: to conceal your washer and other knick-knacks that might be an eyesore.

Space tip: use ‘invisible’ pocket doors like this cupboard below, so that they’ll slide out of view instead of taking up space as a regular cupboard door would.

6. Build a luxurious nook for your furbabies

To round these ideas off, here’s a fun one: if you’re blessed with a larger service yard, shower your pet in luxury (pun intended) with a shower station just for them. It makes the clean-up easier too, since you don’t have to deal with muddy paws or fur dirtying up your own bathroom.

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