Hidden Laundry Room

This home's long hallway becomes a functional area with practical design and streamlined style.

Trinity Edwards and his wife, Bridget Kennedy-Edwards, fell in love with the character of their older Shreveport home, but not with its lack of modern amenities. How could a house without a laundry room keep up with the demands of a busy family?

Fortunately, the young couple could see the home's potential and had the skills to make the most of a small space. Trinity, a lead carpenter with a remodeling company, did most of the work himself and turned a long, wide hallway into a laundry area.

The transformation began with the closet that holds a stackable washer/dryer. In its previous life, the closet was the kitchen pantry. "We turned the door around so it faced the hall," Bridget explains. A pull-out shelf in the center of the appliance makes fast work of folding clothes. Then, Trinity installed a custom cabinet, painted a glossy white, next to the closet. It features three pullout hampers and ample storage space for linens and detergent.

In the end, it's a convenient, light-filled space where function is disguised with style. AMY BICKERS MERCER

DRESSING UP A DOOR

To add interest to the space, the couple chose a French door for the closet. Instead of buying a more expensive door with frosted panes, Trinity spent less on one with clear panes and sandblasted them himself. For visual interest, he created a rose stencil using painter's tape and a utility knife on a center pane. Trinity made the design freehand, but it's also easy to use a stencil to draw a design on tape, and then cut it out. After sandblasting, he removed the tape to reveal the design.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jul 2004
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