A Fresh Start

From the laundry room to the coat closet, January is the perfect time to come clean.

Runny detergent. Lint. That one lost sock. If your laundry room has turned into the junk room, it’s time to make a clean sweep.

Fortunately, there are plenty of companies and products ready to help you achieve a fresh start.

Once relegated to a dark corner of the basement, washers and dryers are now handsome and high-tech enough to occupy more accessible and visible areas of the home. Recently, during a major renovation in a French Normandy-style home in Haddonfield, a laundry room was added directly off the kitchen. While its improved accessibility is a plus, the room has become a high-traffic area, serving as a pass-through to the garage.

Laurie Wolfson, a designer with Wolfson Custom Homes in Woodbury, designed the laundry room to take advantage of its convenient location. And since the South Jersey home­owner is a passionate year-round gardener, Wolfson chose the theme of a French potting shed to make the work room more appealing.

“You see that room constantly,” Wolfson says. “So we wanted it to have a whimsical feel. Laundry is such drudgery. It’s usually just a utilitarian, I’ve-got-to-do-this-darn-job space. With a more pleasant surrounding, you have a better attitude.”

Chiseled limestone floors, rough cabinetry made of lumber reclaimed from the original house, a faux painted closet, stone island and backsplash, and concrete countertops create a rough, older look. Wolfson also added rustic baskets and metal tins to store laundry and supplies.

A stackable, front-loading washer and dryer unit frees up more space. The walls, painted in a neutral, cool shade—Benjamin Moore’s French Canvas—make the 11-by-12-foot space seem much larger.

Adding to the whimsical style is a metal chandelier from Golden Oldies in Gibbstown featuring hand-painted flowers, including hydrangea, a favorite of the homeowner. Since the room has no windows, Wolfson hung an acrylic painting she made herself over the sink to create a fresh focal point.

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