As we’re hoping to complete the contracts for the croft in the next few weeks, we’re starting to think about the design of the croft house that we need to build in readiness for the submission of planning permission.
Interestingly, many of the designs that we’ve looked at here bring the main entrance into the house through the back, preferably on the leeward side of the prevailing wind, and through a boot room and/or a utility room before decanting into the kitchen or living area. This seems eminently practical to us and we will incorporate this into any house that we build along with a wind break.
One of the blogs that I saw recently on house build contained an interview with a couple who built their own home, but who failed to include a utility room area, and it’s the one thing that they called out as an essential miss. I guess for veg preparation, dogs, storage, drying washing, homebrew or whatever we all do that takes up space or is wet and mucky it’s something we mustn’t miss!
Ravencroft Skye 
I wish our “boot room” was as elegant and tidy as the one the your illustration! You will be surprised how many pairs of boots/wellies and waterproofs/working jackets and hats are essential for croft life.
It is also essential that the door is sheltered from the prevailing wind, otherwise you may find yourself pinned to the wall by the wind and unable to open the door. Don’t laugh too much, it happened to me on a stormy afternoon when it was my turn to fill the log basket. Second tip – a wood buring stove will keep you warm when the power goes off (as it often does in this part of the world) and keep at least one spare basket of logs indoors.
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We are indeed planning both a wood burner and a wind break entrance . Good advice! Thank you! ☺️
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And I am sure that ours won’t look anything like this, sadly. This is a pic from a magazine… our reality will be rather less glorious I suspect. Wet coats, old boots, mud…
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J & D > A boot room is essential. In our case, it is also the tool-shed/potting-shed/pantry building, which is just a few strides (very sheltered) from the back porch of the house. Not ideal, but it works fine. Some folk have home cinema rooms, folk like us have boot rooms. ;~)
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Yup, that sounds like what we’ll likely end up with! Good to know that real people don’t exist in a homes and gardens sort of way….
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We call it a mud room here, and yes it is essential. Having a sink in there is a good idea too (for washing vegetables etc). In my house design, the mudroom is actually the bathroom/laundry and has an outside entrance.
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Yes, that’s sensible, and what they often do here too. It’s common that the entrance to houses here is through the utility room if there is one. That usually houses the washing nachibe, and the garden clutter and coats
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Washing machine! This new pbone/keyboard is a liability 😒
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My house is always full of garden clutter and animals… I live in a mud room.
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Ha ha! How very practical. I confess I had no idea what a humpy was until I read your blog. I had to Google it 😊
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🤣🤣🤣 it’s a particularly Australian dwelling.
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