Are you dreaming of making some major changes in your home? Do you want to add a mudroom, a laundry room, or update the powder room? Do you have space between your garage and back door? A great way to keep your house cleaner and tidier is to add a mudroom and half bath connecting the two areas. Below are some mudroom and powder room remodeling trends for you to think about for 2021.
Mudroom and Powder Room Beginnings
Most homeowners consider the back or side door (depending on the location) to be their home’s secondary entrance. While the front door is often more formal and used for guests and visitors, the back door is generally a more practical and convenient area used as the “family entrance.” This doorway is often near or in the garage or on the house’s side. Generally, the door isn’t seen from the street.
Once the residents walk in “their” door, many also have a mudroom. The mudroom is used for various things, like leaving school backpacks and storing sports equipment, sorting mail and dropping keys, removing shoes and jackets, hanging up wet, snowy clothes, storing cleaning supplies, and much more.
Near the mudroom, there is also often a convenient half-bath or powder room. This location is ideal for hand washing, rinsing off muddy shoes, and quick bathroom visits after a long day at school or work.
These two rooms work together, sometimes in conjunction with a laundry room, to welcome the family home and help them get comfortable as they step into their house. But how did mudrooms and powder rooms get their start? You may be surprised.
Mudroom and Powder Room Maintain Early 20th Century Designs
More than one hundred years ago, as Americans faced the Spanish flu pandemic, people asked the same questions as today regarding our health and safety with COVID-19. How can we avoid getting sick? How do we keep our homes germ-free? What is the best way to keep everything clean?
Interestingly, the 1918 health crisis significantly changed how we used our bathrooms, kitchens, closets, and bedrooms. Many of the surfaces and elements now found in our modern homes can be traced back to the earlier pandemic. Here are a few examples:
Wash All Surfaces and Hands
Today, we understand that washing our hands several times a day is a normal part of hygiene to reduce germs. However, during the early 20th century, frequent hand washing was a novelty.
Powder rooms or half-baths were first installed on the ground floor in the 1920s to encourage more hand washing by the family. Before that time, bathrooms were usually built near the bedrooms on the second floor or at the house’s back. These conveniently located half-baths were also used to protect the family from germs introduced by guests.
Delivery people stopped at homes every day to bring the mail, ice, milk, food, and coal. Visitors came by to chat. These “outsiders” could potentially infect the residents. Having a mudroom to keep them quarantined from the main house helped stop the spread of germs.
Plus, before installing powder rooms, visitors and delivery people would have been invited into the home to use the family bathroom. This caused guests to track dirt and germs across the house. Having a sink and toilet on the ground floor made it easier for everyone, the family members included, to keep their hands – and the entire house – much cleaner.
Cleaning all the surfaces in the kitchen and bathrooms was also not done very often in 1918. Wood surfaces on countertops, toilet seats, mixing bowls, and walls absorbed and spread disease and germs. People quickly learned how to sanitize their homes to stop the spread.
White Ceramic Tiles Become Popular
Even today, one of the most popular color choices for kitchens and bathrooms is white, and the most common surface is ceramic tile. One reason is that white tiles make any dirt more visible and are easier to keep clean. Before 1918, bathroom and kitchen walls were often made of bare, painted, or wallpapered wood. These surfaces could be challenging to clean and would absorb dirt, grime, and germs.
In the early 1920s, bright white subway tiles with very thin grout lines were installed at least four feet high in bathrooms and kitchens. Accent tiles, most often in black, were added along the top of the tiled area. This made the room easier to clean, look larger, and more modern. It’s a popular style today, too, for the same reasons.
Pedestal Porcelain Sinks and Lacquered Toilets
Homeowners with powder rooms in the 1920s did not install wooden sink cabinets but preferred pedestal sinks with a turned-down porcelain edge on all four sides. They even installed the sink several inches away from the tiled wall to clean both the sink’s back and the wall. As with other wooden accessories, they feared a wooden cabinet would absorb germs and be too difficult to clean effectively.
The discussion of a bathroom would not be complete unless we mention the changes in toilet design. Although the toilet was beginning to transform already, the Spanish flu pandemic completely altered the installation’s old-style way. Before the pandemic, a wooden water tank was placed high on the wall near the ceiling. The design was changed to the two-piece format we still use today. Unfinished wooden toilet seats were also quickly discarded and replaced with white lacquered toilet seats for ease of cleaning and sanitizing.
Pandemic Home Remodeling Surges
Today, because of COVID-19, we’re spending more time in our homes and using them in new ways as offices, schools, family entertainment spaces, etc. What we want from our homes is changing because of this new lifestyle. And that is affecting the design of our homes, too.
Remodeling kitchens, bathrooms, and basements have hit a new high. Homeowners want a more open floor plan, a larger and more convenient kitchen, an additional powder room, a spacious mudroom, a finished basement, etc.
Below are some interesting mudroom and powder room remodeling trends to spark great ideas for your home projects.
Remodeling Ideas for Your MudRoom
When you walk into your back door, the first thing you may see – or want to see – is a mudroom. It’s the command center for your family’s comings and goings, but it can also be an instant mood enhancer every time you come home. Why not make it fun, stylish, and inviting? However, you also need it to be functional and organized – but how do you get both?
This new kitchen remodel project included adding a powder room and a drop station cabinet for keys and gloves.
A mudroom is an essential barrier between the outdoors and the inside of your house. You need to consider your home’s overall look and make a smooth transition from one space to another.
Read on to learn more about mudroom and powder room remodeling trends and ideas to keep in mind.
Floor Tiles
Choose tile for your mudroom for a more resilient, durable, and easy-to-clean floor. Many floor tile designs look like wood and will beautifully blend with the other flooring in your home. If you’d like something more traditional, try tile that looks like brick. Have it installed in a chevron, herringbone, or standard pattern for an elegant touch.
Combine the Mudroom With the Laundry Room
Create a larger space by combining a laundry room and a mudroom as the ideal pairing. It allows smelly sports uniforms to be thrown right into the washing machine as soon as your budding superstar athlete gets home. Add an extra deep sink to fill dog bowls, rinse off muddy shoes, etc. A big sink and roomy countertop will also create the perfect plant potting area.
Add a Sink
You don’t have to combine the mudroom with the laundry room – add a sink. Adding a sink will stop the entire family from trekking dirt throughout the house. Wash off dirty or messy hands, shoes, boots, and pets to contain the mess to the mudroom where it belongs.
Blend the Indoors with the Outdoors
Sometimes, when remodeling your home, the only place to add a mudroom is in the open space between the garage and the main house. Add a skylight, windows, and glass doors to blend the inside and out. Add some plants along with convenient storage, and it will feel like a beautiful conservatory or nursery.
Customize Your Mudroom for Your Pets
Here is another one of the best mudroom and powder room remodeling trends:
When planning your mudroom, remember your furry family members, too. Some of the latest mudroom remodeling ideas include creating built-in feeding bowls, clearing some space for a dog bath or shower, and creating special place to store their toys. Your cat’s litter box can be located here as well. If you don’t have enough room, consider combining the mudroom with your laundry room and use a stackable washer and dryer. Those are easier on your back, too.
Have Fun with Color and Patterns
If you love bold colors and patterns but don’t want to use them in other areas of your home, here’s the perfect place to have some fun. Try a graphic wallpaper or a vibrant throw rug. Paint the walls a welcoming yellow or use bright storage containers.
Don’t think of the mudroom as just the dumping grounds for stuff you don’t know where else to put. Take a day to organize everything and donate whatever you don’t need, want, or use. You’ll be glad you did.
Be Sure to Add Seating
A bench or a couple of plain chairs is important to have in a mudroom. Taking shoes and boots on and off is a lot easier if you can do it while seated.
Mudroom and Powder Room Remodeling Trends for Your Half-Bath
Whether by family members or guests, the powder room is probably the most often used bathroom in the house. Make it stand out with special touches like elegant wallpaper, marble tile, and chic light fixtures. Since this bathroom is small, you can choose high-end items, and it won’t break the bank.
Additionally, powder rooms often have no windows, so take the opportunity to create an intimate space. Too many collectibles or wall art will make the room feel cluttered, so remember, less is more. Small touches can offer more impact.
Experiment with Color
Try painting just one wall a bold contrasting color. Consider adding shelves and some decorative accents for an artistic touch. A funky, chic, or rustic mirror will reflect the wall color for a bigger impact. Instead of on the walls, consider adding graphic wallpaper or paint color on the ceiling.
Another mudroom and powder room remodeling trend is adding a mural around one corner.
Flooring and Countertop Choices
The floor of your powder room won’t get as wet as your other bathrooms because there is no shower or bathtub. Therefore, this floor can be more unique and decorative. A patterned tile, marble, wood planks, or just about anything you want will work in this small space.
As for countertops, go for something elegant or exotic. Granite, marble, cement, or quartz can be beautiful and match whatever style you’re going for. It will be a smaller slab of whatever you choose, so the cost is nominal.
Light Fixtures
Have you been dreaming of a particular light fixture? As long as it’s not too large for the room, go for it! This can be the focal point with everything else decorated around it. Turn your half bath into a chic pit stop for your guests when you entertain. Another of the mudroom and powder room remodeling trends is adding something unexpected to your powder room. Whether it’s a chandelier, a 50s reproduction fixture, or something sleek, it’ll be the talk of the party.
Design Tech Remodeling
The award-winning Design Tech Remodeling professionals specialize in residential remodeling and know all the latest mudroom and powder room remodeling trends. They will walk you through the entire process and create the ideal home for your lifestyle.
COVID-19 has caused the need for significant changes in our lives. Now it’s time to remodel your home to reflect how you need it to work. Design Tech Remodeling is highly successful because of its ability to develop close relationships with its customers. They will take your vision, consider how you live, relax, and use your home, and exceed your expectations by providing innovative and creative solutions. The designer’s goal is to offer clients a final product that works with their lifestyle, provides enjoyment, and adds value.
Design Tech Remodeling can deliver more storage, increased functionality, and the high-end look their clients dream of with all the best mudroom and powder room remodeling trends.
Complimentary In-Home Consultations
Contact Design Tech Remodeling today to schedule your complimentary in-home consultation with one of their professionals. Discuss your project and exchange ideas, review your space, discuss goals and priorities, and just as importantly, establish a budget.
