Mudroom with a Secret

If you haven’t heard, Laliberte Interiors was recently featured in Design NJ magazine for a gorgeous mudroom we did. Yay! In honor of this, we wanted to share the story of this project.

We were hired by a Wyckoff family to redo their mud room. While it was a large home, only this joint space was available to be the laundry room. It was quite a small space, so it isn’t super typical to hire an interior designer for a project of this size. However, this room was visible from their formal living room and in its original state, it was unattractive. The family needed assistance to get this room on par with the rest of the floor.

We were tasked with finding a way to make the two worlds of the room not only coexist but work together to create harmony. The clients still needed the laundry appliances and essentials to be there, but they wanted them tucked away. We also had to create a beautiful and functional mudroom for this busy family. With all that in mind, we got to work.

Since we didn’t have a lot of space to design with, we had to utilize what there was for all it was worth. Custom cabinetry and paneling were installed and painted in a marvelous burgundy color, specifically “Alaea” 7579 by Sherwin-Williams. On one half of the room, we had the paneling, which was adorned by brass hooks from Rejuvenation, perfect for hanging up coats and scarves. There was also a bench seat built into it with easy-access storage underneath it for shoes. Next to it was magnificent cabinetry with brass accents that seemed to be a coat closet. However, when opened, it revealed a laundry oasis. The washer and dryer were sleekly tucked inside. To their side was a nook to hang up some laundry and two pull-out shelves, perfect for storing all the laundry essentials. There was even a small pull-out table that could be used for folding laundry. All of this was a secret to any unassuming person who walked through the mud room, not knowing what lay behind the doors. Who knew laundry could be so majestic?

To give the room the grand and functional aesthetic that the clients craved, some additional changes needed to be made. We got rid of the simple recess lighting and added some drama: a brass and opal glass light fixture from Hudson Valley. This gave the tie-in to the formal living room that we needed. We replaced the flooring with a special, porcelain, large-scale tile from Ann Sacks. Not only was it clean and soothing, but it had a matte finish, which made it non-slippery and safe for their family, especially come that New Jersey winter snow. 

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From the floor to the ceiling, the clients were thrilled with the results and love their new, stunning, and practical mudroom. The space now suits everything they need, the laundry neatly hidden away and tons of storage for the mudroom. Now, the floor flows together seamlessly, from the regal living space to this amazing laundry/mud room.

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