The Laundry, Considered

In a four-story New York townhouse, the location of a laundry room can make a remarkable difference. The old arrangement meant carrying clothes and linens four flights between the children's bedrooms and the basement. We decided there was a better use for an existing bathroom on the top floor.

In its place, we created a dedicated laundry room near the children's bedrooms: practical enough for the daily routine, but with as much color and architectural character as the more formal rooms of the house.

A little utility, a lot of color

Bold cement floor tile from Popham Design introduces graphic pattern and shades of blue. We paired it with a purple marble countertop, whose richer color balances the blues underfoot. Benjamin Moore's Boothbay Gray continues across the cabinetry, walls and ceiling, enveloping the space in a single, softly saturated palette.

Rather than make the small room feel purely utilitarian, we gave it a distinctive point of view. The purple stone, lively tile and continuous paint color make it a vibrant working space.

Storage designed around real life

Every part of the custom cabinetry was planned around a specific household need. A pull-out hamper keeps dirty clothes contained. An oversized cabinet, fitted with an electrical outlet, provides a place to store and charge the vacuum cleaner. Deep, generous shelves accommodate large baskets for spare sheets and towels.

Glass apothecary jars keep laundry soap and dryer balls orderly and close to hand. These aren't decorative substitutes for storage; they're part of making the room work beautifully day after day.

Architectural continuity, with personality

We brought moldings by Arkada into the laundry, carrying the architectural language of the rest of the townhouse into a newly created room. Against the Boothbay Gray walls and ceiling, the detailing feels cohesive without becoming formal.

Brass cabinet knobs from Charleston Hardware add warmth and a tactile finishing detail. Together with the expressive floor and purple marble countertop, they make a case for giving a hardworking room the same attention as any other space in the house.

Four flights closer to everyday life

The largest improvement isn't any single finish. It's that the laundry now lives near the children's rooms, rather than four flights away in the basement. The layout makes clothes, bedding and towels easier to manage, while the custom storage gives everything a place.

We wanted a laundry room that makes daily life easier and still feels unmistakably part of this colorful, historic townhouse. Function and personality were never competing priorities.