In this post, we’re sharing all of the details and before and after photos of our Winterset kitchen, laundry, and mudroom renovation. Their home is 30 minutes southwest of the Des Moines metro area in a rural area of Winterset (Madison County). It sits on a beautiful piece of property with expansive views of tree covered hills and open fields.
The Clients
Our clients are warm, engaging, and passionate about their property and associated hobbies like beekeeping and gardening. They have two little girls and two lovable dogs. They spend quite a bit of time at home being together and hosting their friends and family. When we first met, their kitchen did not reflect their dynamic personalities or style, nor did it meet their needs for both cooking and entertaining. Their mudroom and laundry room were shoehorned into their very tight back entry from the garage, like so many homes built in the late 80’s and 90’s.
The clients wanted to create a more open kitchen that incorporated their love of color and natural materials as well as a functioning laundry room and mudroom. They liked a mix of styles and leaned towards classic forms with a mix of vintage inspired and more modern elements.
Before Layout & Photos
The ranch style home featured a very typical floor plan, but its construction made it unique. Engineered with scissor trusses, none of the interior walls were load bearing. This structure gave us free rein to reconfigure the kitchen and adjacent hallway to create a more functional layout. Our client used an unfinished garage space as a workshop and storage area, and he was open to capturing that space for a new laundry room and mudroom.
The Kitchen
The U-shaped kitchen did not have a bad overall space plan, but it lacked room for the island and other design features that our clients desired. A work triangle was definitely present with the range on the center, the sink looking out a double casement window to the deck, and the fridge on the opposite side. The living room ceiling was vaulted with two areas in the entry dropped down, one of which included space the adjacent office. A hallway, visible the photo below, led back to the garage entry and laundry room.
The Laundry Room
The laundry room and mudroom shared the same space directly off the garage. The “mudroom” consisted of a small closet, and the laundry area didn’t have any countertop for folding although it did have some storage via the wall cabinets. It didn’t get any natural light and felt very cramped from the closet jutting into the space. The last photo shows the unfinished utility space off the garage that ran behind the existing laundry and kitchen.
Creating a New Layout
Our clients love cooking and entertaining, so they wanted a more open plan kitchen with an island and a dining table. By capturing the space from the adjacent hallway and existing mudroom / laundry room, we were able to create enough room in the kitchen for a 5′ x 5′ island. With the hallway gone, the office opened directly into the dining area. We proposed adding glass French doors to the office so that the house would get light from both sides of the house.
We split the Utility space in the garage into a laundry room and a mudroom with lockers and a drop zone. Whenever possible, we try to maximize windows, and the number of directions from which a space receives natural light. We added windows in both spaces to keep them feeling light and airy. The mudroom window faces South, and even that small bit of light through the pocket door, can benefit the kitchen throughout the day.
We kept the basic U-shaped kitchen layout the same with the sink centered under the window and the range as the primary focal point. A larger window over the sink with a fixed center pane provides an unobstructed view of their backyard. We kept the sliding door in place to avoid more siding work, which preserved room for an eat-in dining table and chairs.
We completely designed all of the new cabinetry and built-in lockers from scratch and commissioned them from a local cabinetmaker. By designing the cabinetry ourselves and using a custom cabinet shop, we were able to avoid costly delays during the height of the pandemic. Designing the custom cabinetry ourselves also allows us to thoughtfully consider every dimension and feature of the kitchen to give our clients exactly what they need both functionally and aesthetically. These 3D renderings help both us and our clients visualize the space before anything is ever built.
The Kitchen Renovation After Photos
Our clients are not afraid of color and gravitate towards a palette of blues and greens for their home. We incorporated their love of color by proposing a rich moody green for the kitchen perimeter cabinetry – Sherwin-Williams Mountain Pass. To offset the dark cabinetry, we paired it with marble look quartz and crackle finish subway tile in a creamy off white.
The floors are a wide plank, white oak, engineered wood. We ran them throughout the kitchen and into the living room, entry and adjacent bedroom hallway. They instantly brightened up the entire home. The new baseboards and trim received a fresh coat of creamy white paint, and the walls are just a shade deeper for a tone on tone look that lets the cabinetry take center stage.
We selected GE Café appliances in matte white with bronze handles to contrast the dark cabinets and coordinate with the white tops and trim. The plumbing fixtures and wall sconces are antiqued brass. For the cabinet hardware, we chose matte black for contrast and a slight industrial edge.
The square island incorporates plenty of good storage, including a mixer cabinet, and seating for three. It was crafted from natural white oak with a matte finish to accentuate the lovely grain and character of the wood. We used the same white oak on the bench top in the mudroom and on the shelves in the glass front cabinet.
A pull-out waste and recycling center flanks the workstation sink by Krause on the left and the Café dishwasher on the right. In the corner, we designed an appliance garage with a door to keep the blender and toaster tucked away and out of sight. Vintage style brass sconces with glass shades from Rejuvenation provide task lighting at the sink.
This side of the island features large deep drawers for storing cookware, dishes, cutlery, and tupperware. The clients selected a low profile induction cooktop which allows for deep drawers underneath where they store their pots and pans.
Along the far wall of the kitchen, we created a tall wall of storage that is fully accessible and convenient to the main work areas but also out of the way. The oven and microwave and kitchen all live on this wall with a tall pantry cabinet, deep uppers cabinetry, and a custom coffee bar cabinet. The bottom of the coffee bar features fully functional drawers for even more storage. The coffee maker, teapot and other accessories sit on a pull-out shelf for easy access and cleaning behind pocket doors. Inside the coffee book, the cabinet maker added a shallow white oak shelf for cups and other items. The brass pot filler makes filling the kettle a breeze, eliminating a trip to the sink. This cabinet is right next to the office, making it incredibly easy to pop out for a fresh cup while working from home.
The Brand New Laundry & Mudroom
With two little girls, two dogs and a cat plus a variety of hobbies including houseplants, beekeeping, and baking (among others), the mudroom and laundry room needed to be high functioning, incorporate a ton of storage, and provide surface area for various activities.
When the family enters from the garage, a view straight through the pocket door out the window to their property beyond welcomes them. New windows in both the laundry and mudroom helps those spaces feel larger and pleasant to be in. In the mudroom, the drop zone on the left includes a cabinet for the cat’s litter box, accessible through a custom door on the side. The cabinet on the right is a pull-out waste cabinet converted to hold dog food. Not pictured, we added a little pot filler near the floor in the corner by the door to fill the dogs’ water bowl.
This custom locker bench perfectly suits the family of four with taller cubbies for mom and dad and shorter cubbies for the girls. We were able to add the window by lowering the center section and adding a shelf for extra storage (or house plants that crave a southern exposure). Durable ceramic flooring covers the floor. We chose a tile with worn edges in a limestone look to mask dust and paw prints and laid it in a Versailles pattern to add a sense of movement and variety.
We designed the laundry with a U-shaped layout so we could max out our countertop space and storage. The large sink looks out over the back yard. On the right, another window brings in more sunlight throughout the day. Not pictured, we included a wide full-height utility cabinet for storing the vacuum, mops, and brooms.
We hope you enjoyed this deep dive into the kitchen, laundry, and mudroom renovation of our Winterset project. The combination of colors, materials, textures, and vintage modern elements infuses this house with character and charm. We hope our clients enjoy it for many years to come.
For additional photos and information, please visit this project’s portfolio page.
2 Responses
Gorgeous job, Jillian! Your clients must be thrilled with their new space!
Thank you, Janet! They do love it. It’s such a huge change.