Creekside Keeper: Laundry Room Reveal

Since it has been 7 months since my last post, I thought it seemed like a good time to pop in here and share some pictures of our laundry/mud room!

Here she is:

During the design of this home, I spent more time designing the cabinetry for this room than I did the kitchen. And we have a big kitchen! Since laundry/mudrooms are not as big as kitchens, it is critical to think through the way you will use the space to maximize the functionality.

I knew I wanted a large window in here, because – well, I am obsessed with large windows! This window also faces the street so it provides good people watching while folding laundry😜. We built “lockers” around the window that have hanging rods for coats/bags, and shelving for socks and other random items that are best stuffed in a closet.

Another MUST was shoe storage as we are a shoe-free house, so we added 4 shoe drawers under the window seat/lockers. To prevent shoes from getting stinky, the shoe drawer fronts are metal mesh which allows for air flow. Pretty and functional – my absolute favorite combo!

There were actually lots of “musts” in this room… Another was having 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. Since we have an Airbnb above our semi-detached garage and we manage it ourselves, we needed to be able to keep up with the laundry. This has been super helpful with regards to the Airbnb, but also for our everyday lives. Washing all the bedding for our family used to be an all day event, but it is now a breeze with the extra set of machines! I thought that the stacked configuration would be a problem since I am slightly vertically challenged, but everything is super functional and I don’t even need a stool 🎉!

Annnnnnnother must was a pull out folding table! This is the first home that we were able to do custom cabinetry in, so I took full advantage of the situation and added all the things that I have been unable to with IKEA cabinetry.

The only issue with custom cabinetry is that the possibilities are endless – IF you put in the time. We used an amazing cabinet maker, but that is what he is. He is not a cabinet designer. You tell him what you want and he makes it – end of story. Though it was a lot of trouble to think through all the small details (making sure the upper cabinetry was deep enough to hold my specific laundry detergent bottle, the hanging rod was tall enough for Trent’s longer shirts to not interfere with the sink faucet, but low enough for me to be able to use, that the lockers were deep enough to hold clothing hangers, etc., etc., etc.!!!!), the work paid off! If you are building a custom home, my advice is DON’T GET LAZY, no matter how tempted you are! You will be happy and proud and POOPED at the end of it!

Our last two laundry rooms had white IKEA cabinets, so I wanted to do something a little bolder in this home for a change. I stumbled upon this beautiful deep green paint and was sold! It provided the drama that I was looking for while not being black. I already had my mind set on a black built in china cabinet (kitchen/dining reveal coming soon (you know, in the next year or so)) and didn’t want to repeat colors.

The floors in this room are off-white limestone that we had laid in a herringbone pattern. I was on the fence about white flooring in a mudroom, but they have held up nicely and I honestly prefer to know when the floors are dirty, rather than being hidden 😉. Cause remember, I am a CLEAN FREAK!

I originally designed the open space below the folding table for Steele brand basket trucks (laundry bins on wheels), but they are super pricey. I ended up finding these Royal Basket Trucks for a fraction of the cost, and the measurements ended up working out better than the ones that I planned for! They also happened to have chrome and brass hardware accents that I didn’t know about when I ordered them, but was so stoked to be surprised with!