Ask A Designer: Multiuse Mudroom & laundry room

Q. I’d like to turn our mudroom into a mudroom-laundry room. We use the entrance quite often, so the room also has to look great and have storage for coats, shoes, the central vacuum hose and laundry soaps. The room is about 10′ x 10′ and has a 2′ x 6′ closet.

— P.M., Ottawa (To submit your own question, see our Ask A Designer™ page.)

A. Your space is a good size and ought to incorporate all of your requirements! First, consider going even darker on the walls, as in our inspiration room. Benjamin Moore’s Kendall Charcoal (HC-166) is a dark grey that’s a bit much more dramatic than your current blue.

Remove your upper and lower cabinets. install a stackable washer and dryer to the left of where your counter and sink are now. Then, install a new 24″-wide cabinet, an 18″-long bank of drawers and a single-bowl sink (move the sink so it sits best beside the appliances, which may entail reconfiguring your plumbing). look for cabinets with a clean, Shaker style in a white-painted finish to stand apart nicely against the charcoal grey walls. (Buy panels to enclose the side of the washer and dryer.) instead of uppers, consider salvaged wood shelves that are deep enough to hold small canisters of soaps, clothes pins and other laundry items.

A great faucet is always welcome in a laundry room. I like the classic chrome finish of the Arbor faucet from Moen, and its pull-down spout will be useful in a mudroom.

Include a drying space and a table for folding clothes on the wall opposite the appliances. The cottagey beadboard drying rack from Ballard designs will coordinate with Shaker-style cabinets and neatly folds against the wall when not in use.

For mudroom efficiency, have the closet professionally outfitted with shelves and hanging rods to maximize storage. Also, add a few Mason hooks in chrome from Restoration Hardware on the open wall to hang bags, coats and items you need to keep in easy reach.

Finally, for a bit of decorative interest have a roman shade made from Robert Allen’s Freja in Amethyst.

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1. Fabric, Robert Allen. 2. Faucet, Moen. 3. drying rack, Ballard Designs. 4. Hook, Restoration Hardware. 5. Paint, Kendall Charcoal (HC 166), Benjamin Moore.