Our laundry room is the touch point between old and new, past and present, yesterday and today. It is the connection between the original house and the addition. Rather than fully erase the past, we embraced some of these older features as opportunities to add not only visual but also functional connections to the past.

At this point it is almost complete, still awaiting the butcher block counters, pendant lights, deep soaking sink, and faucets, oh, and the washer and dryer.

The original(ish) laundry room was housed in the small addition attached to the back of the kitchen. Due to the physical reality that this laundry room sat directly in the middle of our den and kitchen addition, and that I very much wanted a second floor laundry room along with all of the bedrooms, we decided to relocate our new laundry room to a light filled upstairs bedroom.

Our new laundry room was originally one of the back bedrooms with built in cabinetry in the corner concealing the fallen in chimney. The access point to the attic staircase is also in this room. This was the best location for our laundry room/creative space because it is right in the heart of our upstairs, features bright cheery windows, and we knew it wouldn’t be an ideal bedroom due to the attic access. This will be our room for laundry, ironing, sewing, painting, crafting, homeworking, chatting, wrapping, holiday prepping, and any other rather messy activity!

Here is the bedroom upon purchase.

This is the entrance to the attic staircase.

Below: Here we have begun the renovation and addition. The old North facing window opening now looks into the new master closet.

Below: Looking from the new master closet back into the future laundry room. You can see the original exterior (underneath the already removed brick). You can also see the original window.

Below: Larger exterior view of the master addition looking back towards the original house. Here you can see our future closet/laundry room passageway window on the far right.

This gave us an idea. Why not make a laundry passageway between the master closet and laundry room through the old window opening? What a fun way to always remember this old window and the exact meeting point of old and new house!

Below you can see the passageway in place contained within new laundry room cabinetry.

Looking from the laundry room into the master closet.

Below: Here we are in the master closet looking back towards the laundry room through the passageway.

Another feature that connects old to new are the original windows. The West facing windows gently filter the heavily glimmering late afternoon light; suffusing the room with a deep sense of belonging.

And now for my favorite connecting point from past to present. On the other side of this wall is the staircase up to the attic (entrance on the right) and a small closet tucked underneath the staircase (on the left). The entrance to the room from the main hallway is to the far left.

This wall was plastered on both the bedroom wall side and the attic staircase side. There was quite a bit of damage to this wall and we therefore removed the plaster. We immediately fell in love with the textural essence of this wall. There is something deeply emotionally and physically stable about these exposed structural bones of the house and the slender wooden laths with the plaster from the other side oozing through, like icing between an unfinished layered cake. And in the middle of it all runs a newly installed multicolored mass of electrical cables and wires, allowing this 100 year old house function like a brand new home. Old and new side by side, supportive and connected. An uncovered treasure. My parents actually came up with the idea to leave this exposed, and we agreed immediately!

A slightly more curated format, also, a bit easier to cover with glass panels.

Side view of the exposed wall. This is the view as you walk into the room from the hallway.

Below: Looking from the main upstairs hallway and on into the small under attic stair laundry room closet during early renovation.

And now…pretty much the same but with a fresh coat of paint and adorable babies!

And to end, these beautiful depression era green glass knobs, newly made to hearken back to ages past. A pleasant reminder that we are always connected to the past even as we move so quickly into the future.

Love and hugs,

Suzie