THE LAUNDRY & MUDROOM

CitrineLiving_laundry1 — This is the first thing we see when we come through our garage door – which we use daily instead of the front door. We bought these stock cabinets for less than $200 from Home Depot and built the cubbies and bench around them. The total cost was under $500.

It’s been forever. I know…summer has totally gotten in the way of my blogging. The kids have had so many activities and we’ve been spending lots of family time just hanging. This is the first year they haven’t gone to camp and honestly, we’ve all been loving it! I finally had the chance to take some decent pictures of our laundry/mudroom. Listen – it’s not the fanciest or most glamorous. These days, these spaces are becoming as decked out as kitchens. If I could do it I would! It’s pretty utilitarian and clean. It gets messy fast because this is one very active room! I’m thinking of a light makeover though. When we built our house grey was THE color. I still love my greys but I’m craving some color in here, which you’re starting to see pop up everywhere in a major way. I could see a bright cobalt blue on these walls with yellow accents. Or maybe wallpaper with a graphic pattern. We’ll see. For now, it remains quiet and calm, which is good I supposed, because it’s always chaotic in here!

CitrineLiving_laundry4 — This doorway leads to inside the living space. We still need to install the pocket door. I think that should be part of the makeover.

Since we haven’t installed the door yet, I am often challenged when it comes to keeping this room neat. Between backpacks and outerwear and books and dance shoes, it’s tough to get the kids to keep their things in order! We have a small home and everything is visible from everywhere – this room is no exception!

CitrineLiving_laundry5 — All these baskets are from the dollar store, I love when things cost so little, especially since I know they’ll change eventually! Depending on the direction I go in, I’d love to do something colourful with a pretty pattern.

I’d like to do some panelling on this wall, with lots of extra hooks. I think painted out white, it will look more uniform and if I go bright on the wall color, it will provide the right amount of visual balance.

CitrineLiving_laundry6 — I’d really like a counter and also a built-in look around the washer and dryer. I can’t tell you how many pieces of clothing fall behind there!

I like to hang a few pieces of the kids’ artwork in here. Having an open concept home keeps me from hanging a lot of art on the walls. I love to hang the kids’ pieces in here. It adds a pop of color and I get to look at them and appreciate them while I spend time in here.

CitrineLiving_laundry8 — This bench faces the basement door. It’s small but functions perfectly for us.

I used some leftover fabric I had form our dining room drapes on here, which I love. It will end up changing eventually once I decide what I’m doing in here! Baskets under the bench and the ones overhead house all of our seasonal items, flip-flops and baseball hats for summer and scarves, mittens, gloves and toques for winter! The floor baskets are from Ikea.

CitrineLiving_laundry9 — This door leads to the side of the house…we’re sill in the middle of finishing off the driveway and side walkway too.

My message center bulletin board faces the dryer. I opted to not show you a close up – no time to make it look pretty for a picture, sorry!

The original floorpan had the washer and dryer on the wall where this exterior door is, facing inside. I really wanted a door here, so we turned them 90 degrees – I couldn’t be happier that we made that decision. It’s fantastic to have a door here, and it lets in tons of natural light that we wouldn’t have had otherwise! The sun comes through here in the morning and its always so nice to wake up to.

CitrineLiving_laundry7 — My row of dollar store beauties!

The ironing board is stashed away at the end – there was just enough space to create a cubby for it and the broom as well.

The next time I photograph this space, I hope it will have a fun and bright makeover! I think I can pull it off pretty quickly…now just to decide what to do. I hope enjoyed this mini tour of our laundry and mudroom! The kids go back to school soon, so I hope to be back here more often! xo