I’ve always had a soft spot for utilitarian spaces—laundry rooms, pantries, linen closets, mudrooms—that have been given just as much care in their design as a living room or dining room. After all, these are the places in a home where the nitty-gritty of life happens. I asked three of the South’s interior tastemakers to share their favorite projects that do just that, and one thing is clear: Bring on the wallpaper.
Blue-Green Dream
Jacksonville, Florida
“We spend a lot of time in our laundry rooms, and about ten years ago, I got tired of neglecting them,” says Andrew Howard, who owns a design firm in Jacksonville. “Doing laundry is not fun for anyone, and so we should at least get to do it in a place that makes us happy. The wallpaper here is by Wayne Pate, and the floor of this project is a faux slate that looks real and never needs to be sealed or maintained in any way (dogs can’t scratch it, either). This room should look as good in twenty years as it does now.”
Of a Different Stripe
Greenville, South Carolina
“This [laundry] space is how you access the courtyard in the back where my clients entertain frequently,” explains Whitney McGregor, who makes her home in Greenville but works on projects across the South. “They asked if there was a way the space could also lend itself to entertaining when needed, so I decided to hide the washer and dryer and create a surface for serving drinks. Moving [the appliances] to the back wall opened up so much more floor space. It also created a great moment that can be seen from adjacent spaces. The stripe came about because I really wanted a pattern that could be carried onto the cabinet fronts and then onto the ceiling seamlessly. Also, since the room is basically the back entryway and not tucked away in the house, as some laundry rooms are, I wanted something that was bold but still smart and handsome.”
In the Pink
Charleston, South Carolina
“For this project in Florida, we wanted to create as much storage as possible to include beach gear and beach towels,” says the Charleston-based designer Angie Hranwosky. “And since it had a set of sliding glass doors that open onto the back porch, I gave it a fun vibe with Cole & Son’s Deco Palm wallpaper, which echoed the tropical foliage outside.”
