I’m so excited to announce that for the second year in a row, I’ve designed a space in the Living By Design Showhouse, a one-of-a-kind showhouse that’s entirely virtual! (Translation, anyone in the world can tour it from the comfort of their couch!) In fact, this year I got to design not one but two rooms: A modern laundry room and the coolest mudroom ever!
This incredibly cool journey began last winter when the showhouse production team at Embello invited me to be one of 12 highly respected designers to create a space in a stunning virtual home. I was excited to be on board, but I also have to be honest: When I was assigned the laundry room, I felt a little deflated. Laundry is my least favorite chore, and designing a laundry room didn’t sound interesting at all. But then, I realized that was actually the perfect perspective to be starting from. After all, this was my chance to create a space so cool that even my most odious task would feel fun!
In terms of design direction and budget, with a virtual showhouse the sky is the limit! All we were told was that the house is located in California. So of course I ran with my signature Organic Modern style, since it’s most fun to be your own client and I have hopes of needing modern laundry room design ideas of my own someday soon!
The best place to work when you have a blank slate is from the ground up, and flooring sponsor AHF had tons of beautiful choices to get me going. I quickly landed on their Regal Travertine Engineered Tile in Sandstone. Like natural stone, it provides a gorgeous, neutral foundation with tons of texture. And even better, it’s softer under foot than stone and boasts easy care features. So it’s ideal for high traffic, hardworking spaces like a laundry room and mudroom.
Next up, it was time to tackle the walls. The moment I saw these tiles from tile sponsor Ann Sacks, I knew a backsplash alone wouldn’t do. Only a floor to ceiling install could make my modern laundry room dreams come true. These beauties are the “Ginger” colorway in Ann Sacks’ Scout by Kelly Wearstler collection.
They’re inspired by handmade ceramics and bring an earthy, artisinal feel to the space. There are 8 different tiles in the collection and I combined 6 of them to get a fully custom look—including carving out a special dog washing station!
In any laundry room, plumbing fixtures are going to play a major role, so I was thrilled to learn that Kohler was the plumbing sponsor because they really are the creme de la creme! In a space with so many shades of cream, tan, and bone, fixtures represented a perfect opportunity to add some drama and contrast.
Kohler’s Crue Faucet in Matte Black features a high arched spout and single lever handle for streamlined function, and their Statement Iconic handshower is probably the most sophisticated shower experience a dog could hope for!
Proper organization is another hallmark of a successful modern laundry room. And when it comes to keeping things tidy, no one does it like organization sponsor California Closets! For this space, I used their Everyday System, which is designed in collaboration with Martha Stewart.
It’s an adaptable, modular storage system that can be configured in infinite ways to suit your needs (and can also go with you if you move!). The Perry St. White Woodgrain and Graphite Metal colorways slipped seamlessly into my existing palette.
Speaking of color palettes, I needed the perfect ceiling color to complement my tile walls—and also to segue into the adjacent mudroom that I was also designing. Paint sponsor Dunn Edwards DURA has the most elegant curation of colors, and their shade Crisp Muslin was exactly the warm, delicate greige that I was looking for.
It sets the tone for a smooth transition throughout the space, and flatters both the walnut wood cabinetry in the laundry room as well as the oak wood cabinetry in the mudroom. To offset the bench seating in the mudroom, I opted for a feature wall in the color Adobe: an earthy, warm desert neutral that’s the ultimate in California chic!
When it came to layering in decor accents, choosing items from art and decor sponsor Minted was like being a kid in a candy store! Minted is a frequent go-to for framed art in my real life client projects, so I was already familiar with their selection of fine art prints.
In the laundry room I hung a piece from their new block printed textile collection and placed a cheeky Sisyphus drawing on the shelf (perfect analogy for doing the laundry, yes?). Then in the mudroom, a large scale fine art photograph adds dynamic movement to a space where a sense of flow is paramount.
Finally, we can’t forget lighting! The lighting sponsor for the showhouse was Lamps Plus, and I really went to town with some of their lovely finds in the mudroom. On the ceiling, a pair of these white fabric ceiling lights soften an otherwise hard and angular area.
Then, on the console, a textured bronze lamp provides the same type of dark contrast as the fixtures in the laundry room. The irregular shaped brass mirror over the console is a quirky finishing touch for a bit of whimsy!
I’m so pleased with how these spaces turned out. But the best part of all? You can “walk through” them yourselves in interactive 3-D! Click here to tour the laundry room, and click here to tour the mudroom. And of course, while you’re there be sure to view all the other rooms in this incredible showhouse too. What a tour de force it is!
A huge thanks to the Living By Design Showhouse for including me in the roster of designers, and to YouSee for their vivid and captivating 3D renderings. And a big thanks as well to all the showhouse sponsors: Ann Sacks, California Closets, Dunn-Edwards DURA, Kohler, Lamps Plus, Minted, Summer Classics, and AHF Brands.
Head to www.livingbydesignshowhouse.com to see every room yourself and to enter to win $5000 to upgrade your home!