Upstairs, downstairs: the art of naming rooms

SIR – We live in a bungalow, but ever since we moved in some years ago, the coat cupboard has been known as Under the Stairs. Anna Johnston

Carlisle

SIR – My parents built a linear extension to their house. The utility room at the end was known as the Far West. In 1980 they moved, but the new utility room, at the southern end of the house, is still known as the Far West. Tim Devlin

Cowes, Isle of Wight

SIR – I imagine that the owner of an extension starts calling it the orangery (Letters, 20 July) by about the start of the second series of the country-house period drama they are watching. Tim Barnsley

London SW16 SIR – Our conservatory was known as the Dog House after our Peke produced puppies there. Jean Macdonald

Hayling Island, Hampshire

SIR – Some years ago, we moved to a house with a small wooden extension with plumbing, which I referred to as the Laundry Room.

My mother came to stay, and brought me down to earth by referring to it as “that lean-to thing”. Margaret Bowman

Shrewsbury

SIR – Edward Cartner (Letters, July 19) says that he used to have a garden composter named Gertrude.

My less than reliable toaster is called Ethelred. Rob Adam

Stevenage, Hertfordshire