Moody-Magical Mudroom
One Room Challenge Week Eight | Reveal•ish
THE REVEAL•ISH
Being in the home stretch vs. the finish line for me is more than just being almost complete. It also comes with having final decisions made (or changed in some instances). The reveal•ish part of this is sharing it now when normally I would not. Now that I've shared two key components of my design concept on an insta reel, let's recap here on the blog with a deeper dive on the why.
PAINT COLOR PIVOT
Since the beginning I knew I wanted green paint involved and was 99.9% certain it would be SW Basil.
The paint pivot happened almost instantly after testing two other colors I had in mind. I tested SW Privilege against SW Gallery, and Privilege won hands down. It's just one shade lighter than Basil, still within the neutrals, and gives a warm creamy look very similar to Basil. Gallery green is nice. It's part of the Timeless color palette. It is just that, a good quality true green. It didn't make the cut, because it was almost identical to the overall main background color of the wallpaper in paint form. Too much continuity!
Rewinding it back; I wasn't sure initially if the walls or the cabinets were getting the painted green. Once I decided on the walls getting the paint and the cabinets would be white, that left the wallpaper to be considered. Green and white already establishes good contrast. Therefore, the paint and wallpaper needed to play nicely to give a sense of continuity within the shades of green in the wallpaper. This meant I needed to wait for the actual wallpaper to be delivered before paint testing. Using online images doesn't work well mainly knowing wallpaper prints in runs, and the ink can vary. In person the wallpaper has speckles of darker green running through the main green, and I absolutely LOVE that about this selection. Below is a real life photo for context.
WALLPAPER PLOT TWIST
I wanted to use a selection by a different vendor that had a crane design, but the background was black and began to feel a little too heavy on the moody vibe. The crane design also began to be questioned within, knowing I've used a crane selection in a previous home project at my previous house in fall 2020. The powder room shared in participation of the fall ORC. This literary started about a week of overthinking and almost a complete design change. Then I decided to go with my instincts and what makes me happy, not what anyone may think about it. Also remember, I'm my own worse client right?!lol
Ok, the scale. It's oversized. And I love that most wallpaper companies will allow you to scale the design to fit the wall and/ or to accommodate windows, etc. For this project the wallpaper is planned for the ceiling. If design has taught me nothing it has taught me well to go big or go home in most cases. I wanted drama added to the moody green walls. Cranes not only bring a little drama, they also give whimsical, magical vibes. Hence, the aesthetic changed to moody-magical. Now that this is all finalized and in motion, let's get into what was decided for the layout changes.
FLOOR PLAN PIVOT
I believe I mentioned at some point this mudroom sharing laundry space posed a challenge for me. Configuring a 'drop zone' that would not invite clutter was the goal. My husband and daughter both love to have their own space for their things in our common spaces where in my mind, they impede on design visuals and the perfect vignettes I love to see at home. Well, the mud room is clearly not in existence for just aesthetics. Like most designers I tend to want every sqare inch of space to be aesthetically pleasing. However, we all know the sole purpose of a mudroom with or without laundry space included is ultimately for functionality. The challenge has been me trying to accomplish both in a way that's practical. I believe I will accomplish the best of both worlds for all of us.
The layout of the room appears almost square, but it's rectangular measuring 9ft wide and 13.5ft long. I had to design around 3 doors and one window, a soffit above the window and entry/exit door, and initially a laundry shoot that is now eliminated. The light is off center by a few inches, which seems to be a common theme in older homes. This is one of two rooms in our home where correction is needed. Knowing better make this hard to overlook even when I can get away with it. Time hasn't allowed me to illustrate beyond sketches, so I will have to leave this part for the final reveal. If you witnessed my process with space planning for my wardrobe room project, you know maximizing space for organization is my jam. That said, I'll leave you with one pro tip; if everything in a space has a place for it to be stored, this is one of the best ways to avoid clutter. Using baskets, being specific about shelves and cabinet sizes all matters.
About the term drop zone... For entryways or mudrooms it seems unavoidable whether there is a console table, shoe shelves, or in some cases just empty space; it doesn't mean it can't be well designed, well organized, and stylish.
Stay tuned to see the final reveal that will be shared on Instagram, my blog, and sent to the ORC team to hopefully be added the main blog with the others final reveals for this season.
Be sure to check out all the amazing reveals posted on Instagram by my fellow participants and on the main One Room Challenge blog. Special thanks to Linda Weinstein, the ORC host and media partners Apartment Therapy. It is really nice to have a community platform for creatives to support each other in completing home projects.
xx,
Kelly
"She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future". -Living Word
