Refresh Your Home with More than Just Spring Cleaning
Spring is here. Flowers are in bloom. Summer vacations are being planned. Besides the typical spring cleaning, it’s time to refresh your home’s laundry room and mudroom. Now is the perfect time to start on renovating your home with all of the updates that make your life easier, better, and more enjoyable.
Laundry Room
The laundry room has generally been considered a more utilitarian space where work is done. You go in, do what you need to do, and you get out. However, laundry rooms today are seeing major renovations and remodels. No longer shoved in dark and dingy basement corners, laundry rooms are becoming revitalized places of envy.
The pandemic years were great for laundry rooms, as they gave people more reasons to update them. Some of the top choices for renovations in laundry rooms include extra storage for cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, irons, and more.
Why lug your freshly laundered clothes to another room to fold them? Many homeowners are requesting countertops for folding laundry right in their laundry rooms. These countertops are often on cabinets that provide the extra storage people want, while generally also including a sink for soaking laundry, prerinsing, and more. For those clothes that can’t go or that you don’t want to go in the dryer, add drying racks, rods, or shelves.
If their laundry room is large enough, especially if they added a new laundry room in a home addition, homeowners are adding an extra washer or dryer. Having an extra appliance speeds up the chore of laundry, particularly if you have a large family. You could use an extra washing machine to wash whites and darks separately then dry them together to be more efficient.
Another helpful feature being added to laundry rooms is a built-in ironing board. Rather than have to pull out your ironing board and finding the right spot for it, you can simply fold out a built-in one and immediately press and iron your clothes after they’re clean. Ironing can be boring though, so why not add a tv or laptop station so that you can watch your favorite streaming shows or catchup on the news?
We’ve been adding laundry rooms into master closets lately, and even combing them with guest bathrooms. Laundry rooms don’t have to be a place you dread, they can become a private escape from all of the activity in the rest of the house.
Mudroom
Besides the laundry room, most mudrooms were once considered places of utility and function only. That’s if a house even included a mudroom. Today, mudrooms often fall near the top of most homeowners must-do renovation lists. These rooms now contain beautiful storage solutions, rinse areas, pet showers, and much more.
Mudrooms are the place to transition between outdoor adventures and indoor living. Storage solutions that include separate lockers or cubbies for everyone in the family help keep things neat and organized. Including plenty of hooks for coats, backpacks, purses, and more allow hanging items to be tidy, while shelves or drawers at the bottom of these cubbies give spots for shoes, boots, skates, and more. Baskets or cubes overhead provide additional storage for other items such as gloves, scarves, hats, etc.
Many people want a spot for getting cleaned up from outside fun for both themselves, and their pets. Today’s mudrooms often include a laundry tub (even if it isn’t also a laundry room) or “slop sink” so that you can wash muddy items, paint brushes, dirty clothes, or other items that you don’t want to ruin your beautiful new sink from your recent kitchen remodel.
Some mudrooms now even a walk-in mini shower or pet-washing station. These options allow you to wash off dirty feet or dirty paws. Why let mud and dirt be tracked throughout your house when you can get clean right when you come in? Like a full-size shower in your bathroom remodel, a pet station offers up a low-height shower solution complete with shower wand, tile surround, drain, and shelves for pet shampoos. These pet stations can be as exciting as a full shower, especially if your dog has a sophisticated side.
Mudrooms can offer seasonal storage as well. In the summer months, store skateboards, rollerblades, baseball gear, and other items. During the winter, store skis, ski poles, sleds, and other items that you may not want left out in the garage or shed.
Don’t forget about seating! Standing to put on your shoes is so last century, sit down in comfort one last time before tackling the world outside. Mudrooms need a bench or even just a seat for sitting and putting on or removing shoes and boots.
For many homeowners, having a separate laundry room and mudroom isn’t an option. So, that’s when you combine them! Turn a spacious laundry or mudroom into a multifunctional space that pulls double-duty to clean humans, pets, and laundry, while also providing storage space for laundry and cleaning supplies as well as shoes, coats, and other outdoor gear. You can even throw your muddy and dirty clothes and sports uniforms right into the washer and start getting them clean right when you get home.
Transform your home with the perfect laundry room and mudroom today. Call K. Fedewa Builders now to schedule your design consultation at 517-388-6123. You can also see more examples of our work by visiting our website at https://kfedewabuilders.com/.