My Farmhouse Laundry & Mudroom

When we were designing our farmhouse, it was important for me to create a spacious and functional laundry / mudroom that accommodated our needs and was pretty at the same time. I spend a lot of time in this room and I think it’s really nice for the space to be cheery.

I’m a big believer in wallpaper in the laundry room. I think it adds a happiness to the room and makes me want to be in there. Good thing, because we go through a lot of laundry each week!

Because I’m short, I needed to keep the counters as low as possible. Rather than build a countertop over the washer and dryer, I opted to simply use the tops of the washer and dryer as counter space. It works great.

The shelf on the left (shown above) doubles as a hanging rack for freshly ironed clothing. I can iron and hang each piece as I go along. When I’m done, I take the clothing off the hanging bar and into the closets where they belong. It also works really well for hanging items I need to air dry. The shelf is really high, so it’s not practical to store things on top. I’m on the lookout for just the right decorative piece to place there at some point.

The shelves on the right began with a mistake. When the cabinet installers hung what was supposed to be the only shelf on that wall, they hung it too high, as I’d be unable to reach any laundry products up there. Rather than have the shelf removed, and have wallpaper damage, I had them hang another shelf, just below. I had originally planned on hanging artwork above the lower shelf, but now just use the higher shelf to hold rotating art.

The room doubles as a mudroom, as it’s the entryway from the garage.

I made the bench out of an old wooden box I found at the Funky Junk antiques show. I use a standard pillow and pillowcase as the cushion.

Just to the left of the bench is a big closet which holds coats, shoes, hats, gloves, and the ironing board.

And to the left of that is the entryway cabinet, perfect for setting down armloads when we walk in the door.

It’s also home to one of my favorite finds, this great old key rack I found at the Hunt & Gather vintage shop in Minnesota.