Sarah Walker’s Laundry Room Refresh
Tags: news and events | 6 years ago | Written by: Cosentino
Sarah Walker, Toronto designer and blogger for The Curated House, recently took on a personal project – her own laundry room. Sarah transformed her typical basement dungeon of a laundry room into a warm, inviting and airy space full of bright patterns and colours. During the renovation process, Sarah was on the quest to find a surface that would not only look great, but would also be durable enough when dealing with the family of four’s laundry needs. Her search was over when she found her Silestone countertops in Lagoon. We sat down with Sarah to talk about her laundry room refresh and how doing laundry doesn’t feel like such a chore in her beautiful new space.
Tell us a bit about your vision behind the décor for your laundry room.
I wanted it to feel elegant – like a destination within the house rather than just a utilitarian space. I had several challenges to overcome, including a small space, a poor layout and the furnace and water heater creating an eyesore on one side of the room, making it feel very imbalanced. In the end, the new layout, elevated finishes and a clever system for hiding the furnace and water heater transformed this ugly duckling into a swan.
Why did you choose Silestone by Cosentino in Lagoon for the countertops?
With two boys in the house, my laundry room works hard. I needed to know that any stain removal or muddy shoe triage that would be happening in the space wouldn’t damage the finishes, and Silestone is virtually indestructible. Better yet, it’s beautiful. I got to meet my need for elegance and my family’s need for rugged performance all in one product. The best of both worlds.
Where did you seek your design inspiration for this project?
Honestly? A casual Parisian cafe! Not your typical laundry room inspo, but I never aim for typical.
What are some of your favourite elements of this room?
I love the interplay between the boldly patterned encaustic cement tiles, the softness of the Silestone counters and the organic warmth of the white oak shelf and sliding doors. The black cabinets ground the space, and the hits of brass with the Delta faucet and the cabinet pulls add an elegant refinement that is classic.
What challenges, if any, did you have working on this space?
The aforementioned furnace/water heater eyesore was by far the greatest problem to solve. Beyond that, it was a DIY project, so things like dozens of broken tapcon drill bits due to the ridiculously hard old concrete subfloor and finding a flat venting system to fit between the studs to vent the relocated dryer were the challenges at hand. Gratefully, nothing insurmountable.
Do you enjoy doing your laundry more now that you have a beautiful space to do it in?
Honestly, it went from Dungeon to Destination! I love my laundry room and will sometimes use the elevated portion of the countertop above the appliances as a standing desk for calligraphy. People still ask to see it when they come over. This is truly a room with no regrets, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
