Before & After-Laundry & Mudroom

When I was a kid, our laundry room wasn't a "room", per se, but a corner of the unfinished basement where a utility sink and washer/ dryer resided. It was always clean, but dimly-lit, raw, and certainly not likely to have wowed my mom as she dutifully trekked down there to deal with our daily messes.

From what I remember, all of my friends' houses had the same laundry setup--a small, dark corner of an unfinished basement, or some variation thereof. Oh, you poor, neglected, unsexy 70s/80s laundries.

Times have certainly changed and we've seen a marked shift towards incorporating laundry rooms into the main areas of our homes vs whatever scrap of subterranean space is left over once all other rooms have been accounted for. This makes so much sense, given how much time we spend in there.

Our new laundry is actually a laundry/ mudroom combo, converted from a main floor bedroom. It will serve as our new back entrance and is a big improvement over the sad-looking side-by-side that existed in the old basement.

Our priorities in planning this room: nice-looking but budget-friendly cabinetry; large work/ folding surface; a small sink; storage--both open and closed; a place to sit; a litter box nook (hmm, now that's sexy!)