English Countryside Inspired Laundry Mud Room with Dark Wallpaper

I decided to redo our daily entrance which is the mudroom laundry room, trading out the floor to ceiling painted sky blue walls for something dramatic, a black botanical print wallpaper with metallic gold details. The transformation is definitely an unexpected surprise.

See product links at end of blog post

h, it’s a MOOD. I call this my English countryside inspired dark and moody mudroom/laundry room! Suddenly the cabinetry we had made almost 10 years ago looks like it was made for this space, flowing into the dark Hawthorne wallpaper by Rifle Paper Co. and the light flagstone flooring pops against the contrast. I left the ceiling the light blue when it was painted to match my already blue walls I painted when we moved in, allowing the wallpaper pick up the blues.

This laundry room mudroom wallpaper project was an accident. I mean I didn’t just bump into it and suddenly wallpaper appeared – although that would have been REAL nice. What I mean is that I had absolutely no intention while browsing the Internet and requesting samples that this would be the space I’d be redoing! I was looking for a different room but when I stumbled upon this wallpaper on Anthro’s site, I knew it was perfect for our mudroom/laundry room/VIP friends entrance. I immediately purchased the wallpaper without even looking at a sample because our Easter celebration was my deadline. I don’t know if I’d be able to go so dark if it weren’t for the VELUX Sun Tunnels we had installed a few years ago and the fact that the room faces south and we have a new door that has a lot of windows (this took convincing you know how Benjamin feels about privacy).

English Countryside Dark Moody Wallpaper

This was not the cheapest wallpaper with needing 6 rolls – and thank goodness I threw in the extra roll just in case!

Big thanks to my long distance friend Kate who is an interior stylist and professional organizer, for suggesting black linen Hawthorne wallpaper variation when I showed her the other colorways I stumbled upon. She has amazing elevated style with a little something unpredictable. Her eye is just what I need to confirm those, I’m not quire sure, what do you think, questions. If you don’t have that friend in your life, you can hire her for consulting for your next project.

I figured out how to wallpaper with lots of YouTube videos and went for it. I knew I could hire someone but this was a task I was excited to do, I knew I could do a great job and I knew that if I hired someone else I’d be overly inspecting every flaw so I’d rather any flaws be mine. Ha! The removable wallpaper I have installed over the years have helped strengthen my skills, and though this is a traditional paste the wall method, it was worth it! It took me about 3 days of prep work and 3 more days of wallpapering. I never got annoyed because it was so rewarding to see every step completed and kept my eyes on the prize.

1940s Vintage iron floral mirror

This mirror was a huge splurge and when I saw it on Chairish I went crazy over it and then saw the shipping was nearly as much as the item, $550! But then I found the listing on eBay for cheaper shipping so I bought it. It really blends into the wallpaper and I like that. It’s subtle but it matches perfectly. It’s from the 1940s.

English Country Style Rustic Cabinets

Our cabinets have been here for almost 10 years, it was the first thing we had our handyman Dennis build for us and purposefully make rustic looking with some staining. The rope handles are from Anthropologie. I was into the rustic farmhouse look at the time and I’m glad that it still works in this space. I thought about completely redoing this space with a butlers pantry but I think this still works with my love for a bit of character that’s not 100% new.

Scalloped Jute Rug

You may recognize this rug because I have an identical one a 5×7 size on our patio I refreshed to a contemporary English garden patio. yYes, English is the word around here. I had bought the wrong size, way too big and thankfully I moved it to outside and reordered a 4×6 you see here. The shipping was so incredibly fast, about a week and a half or less! Handmade Jute 100% Natural Rug Indian Braided style: eBay (similar plain scalloped, single line, pink, navy, yellow scalloped outline).

Gold switch plates

There’s also gold reflective metallic in wallpaper which makes it even more class, so I found gold switch plates from Rejuvenation that has clean lines and no beveled edges. Instead of it standing out, it disappears into the wall. They come in several finishes and configurations.

Black Collapsible Hampers

We had the white and black plastic hampers mixed with another natural fiber hamper to sort lights, darks and towels. It worked for years for practicality but once this wallpaper was it they were an eye sore! I did a quick Google search and found these black Laundress collapsible hampers from The Container Store and awaited pickup! They fit the space perfectly hold more laundry than it looks!

Removal

I decided to remove the shelves by the front door, because they seemed to continually collect unnecessary items. I removed the ironing board cabinet – because I iron once a quarter if at all. I say send it to the dry cleaners *wink* I also didn’t want anything to break up the gorgeous wallpaper.

We also removed the three shelving (see before photos further down this blog post) because I realized a few things – they were too bulky for the space now, and I was just storing unnecessary stuff on there! So I let it all go and donated baskets and found places like storage or the garbage for the rest. I would be open to open shelving again if I found the right ones and they are needed.

Additions

I want to hang the cuckoo clock I bought from Switzerland somewhere but I can’t decide where yet.

I also finally added bead board to hide the side of the washing machine and dryer. I don’t know what took long – lack of desire or care. I finally had enough and thought I needed to really elevate the space and it deserved paneling! I thought I’d paint it black or then sage green, but I realized leaving it white was a good idea because if I painted it, you would see how the dryer sticks out past it significantly! We had the countertops made by the handyman too at the same time we did the cabinets.

There are a few more changes or additions I hope to make to this space of course, but that will take some time and planning. This is as close as done for right now and I had to show you what it looks like! I can’t explain how wonderful I feel every time I walk in and out of this space, this really is our entrance for ourselves over a dozen times a day and our guests when we do indoor/outdoor parties.

I hope you enjoyed this transformation as much as I enjoyed working on it and sharing it with you! xx

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BEFORE PHOTOS

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Product links

• Wallpaper: Hawthorne print, by York Wallcoverings (available in 5 colorways)
• Vintage 1940s Hollywood Regency Round Tole Wall Mirror: eBay
• Handmade Jute 100% Natural Rug Indian Braided style: eBay (similar plain scalloped, single line, pink, navy, yellow scalloped outline)
• Sun tunnels: VELUX skylights
• Beadboard: The Home Depot
• Cabinets: Custom
• Cabinet stain: Ace Hardware
• Brass switch plates (come in various finishes): Rejuvenation (plug, switch)
• Wood Terrarium: Pottery Barn (on clearance)
• Bird table lamp: OKA
• Scalloped lamp shade: Home Goods
• Laundress collapsible hamper: The Container Store

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Diana Elizabeth says something is always English inspired. She enjoys the relaxed feel of English gardens, homes, and the charm of older homes. She can’t wait to be back on a plane and traveling again as the world opens back up. Open, open, open (anyone remember Mervyn’s commercials?)

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