My New Beautiful Utility Laundry Mud Room is WOW!

Guests, family, and friends enter my home through the Laundry Mud Room. It is the first place they see and the first hint of my decor. It is anything but beautiful and sure does not show my artful and whimsical style. But that all changed this weekend. When Wayfair challenged their Homemakers to spruce up the utilitarian spaces in their homes, I was all in. It would be a chance to create a Beautiful Utility Laundry Mud Room ‘entryway’ before the holidays.

Creating a Beautiful Utility Space

For me, decorating is about finding that WOW inspiration piece. You know the one that catches your imagination and launches a creativity spurt of day dreaming and drawing layouts in your mind. I drag out the magazines, like Elle Decor–the epitome of high-end, high fashion home decor for ideas. Inspiring this makeover is the colorful Elle Decor Brush Strokes Floral Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug by Home Dynamix. Taking inspiration from the elegance and timeless beauty of Elle Decor’s Parisian style, these area rugs work well in both traditional and contemporary decor.

Elle Decor’s versatile Brush Strokes collection of indoor/outdoor rugs by Home Dynamix are stylish and ultra-durable. They are weather, water, stain, and UV resistant making them the perfect addition to any high traffic space–kitchen, patio, or entryway. They thought of everything as the textured PVC backing helps to prevent slipping and sliding for safety.

The rugs are not wool or fabric. They are textured mats, woven of machine made material. (see close up photos above) Mine reminds me of a yoga mat, yet more substantial. Soft to bare feet, I find it ideal for sandy shoes that often come through my back door here on the island. It is easy to wipe clean and vacuum. It can even be can be machine-washed. I am impressed by the quality and may need to order a few more for the lanai, foyer, bathrooms, and even under the breakfast table.

The beautiful prints actually look like pieces of art on the floor. You can see the artist even signs the work! Pretty nifty bonus.

The Beautiful Utility Makeover Details

As we were beginning the makeover, HIMself kept saying, “It’s a utility room. Why does it need to be pretty?” Yes, our Laundry Mud Room serves a functional purpose. Yet I was determined to show him that the utility room can be an aesthetically pleasing part of our home while still being multi-functional.

The Before photos below show that the room had become a dumping place for misfits, jackets (how many jackets do two people need?), water jugs, and shoes.

We started by removing everything from the space except the washer and dryer. During the process, I discovered that this room tends to be a drop everything and run area for jackets, shoes, and a lot of the miscellaneous stuff that no longer serves a purpose in the other parts of our home.

We cleaned it thoroughly and then rolled out the rug. BOOM! POPW! WOW! The Brush Strokes rug really makes a statement and almost single-handedly changes the space into a beautiful utility room, while echoing my eclectic spirit. We still had a way to go. The mish-mash of baskets and wall decor had to go. I wanted to create a peaceful Zen feel to the room turning it into a beautiful utility area that makes me smile. I brought in plants and natural accents to give the dark, windowless room some life.

Next, I added white accents to the dark storage bench. I place a quilted cover to cushion the top and some metal baskets with white fabric inserts. It gave it some character while adding functionality as the baskets will store dog stuff, shoes, and hats.

I then turned the top of the washer and dryer into beautiful storage with the beautiful utility bin and a small wire basket to hold stain removal potions, etc. Just a few containers can make a big difference and keep everything tidy and organized.

I believe we did a good job with the Beautiful Utility Laundry Mud Room Makeover. It it now a place to pause and feel a moment of peace when entering or leaving our home. And that makes all the effort worth it. Even the pink sink looks better! WINK WINK