The Smoothest Laundry Room of All Time

Last week, I shared some images of laundry/craft room combinations that really got my creative juices going. But, I left one of my inspiration spaces out of the post. It's my favorite, so I wanted it to have a post all its own.

It's from the home of Sarah Hartill, editor of Canadian House & Home (which is fast becoming one of my favorite shelter publications). I love nearly everything about this room. It's just relaxed enough, yet just put together enough. It's punchy but still serene. Orderly, but not in a hyper-managed way. It's a fanstastic example of how a room can begin solely neutral, but still wind up with plenty of color. And that rug makes me smile every time I see it.

The room still looks good with a different rug, too, though :) I thought it was interesting to find two images of this room, differing only in the floor covering.



Something about all of the pattern Hartill used, maybe. Or the cheery colors. Or both. I wonder if she knew ahead of time that the washer and dryer were going to reflect the rug like that. Almost like a mirror. I suspect that was a happy accident.

Here's another view of the room with the striped rug - which is my preference between the two choices.



It's pretty safe to say that I'm sold on a bold rug for the laundry room now. And I believe I must have pegboard.

Now, back to the brown graphic rug one more time...

It's funny, I posted the image above (from Apartment Therapy) back in April, when I first started thinking about adding a desk in the laundry room. I hadn't seen the rest of the room at that point. When I stumbled upon the photos that show the sink area, I didn't realize at first that the opposite side of the room was the room I'd already locked away in my little brain. The rug tipped me off, though, and once I realized they were photos of the same room, I was giddy.

A few things to notice:

Hartill painted the far wall in light blue as an accent wall to balance the blue of the map across from it. It seems from the photos that the painted wall is a shade or two lighter than the map, but definitely taking a cue from it's color.

That same blue only appears a few other times in the room, and in seemingly insignificant ways. But, because so much of the room is white, stainless, or otherwise neutral, those blues really pop out.

There is no earthly reason why that sink fabric would work with the blue - or a map, for that matter. But it all works so beautifully. More so, I think, than it would have had Hartill chosen a color from the floral for the accent wall or had she chosen a vintagey map with the creams, taupes, and roses found in the fabric. The mismatch is the key to this room's personality.

The rugs, both of them, are strong both in pattern and color and are immediately a grounding focal point to a rather full, small room.

I think one of the biggest things to note from this room is Hartill's restraint. Had the ironing board cover been patterned or brightly colored, or had she used the reds or pinks or golds instead of white, glass, and stainless for the many containers and bins, the room would've had a much busier feel. All of the white, glass, and stainless really work to set the stage to let the sink fabric, map, rug, and accent wall star. There isn't too much visual competition.

Let me just take a minute here to beat this into my head.

Restraint.

REstraint.

ReSTRAINT.

Gotta remember that.

I love this room.

Love it.

A few quick links to black and white striped rugs -

CB2 flor tiles (no kidding?!)

Ballard Designs indoor/outdoor rug

Or a more traditional, less modern version from Dash & Albert