Reader Design Dilemma – Mudroom Built-In

It’s been a minute since I’ve covered a Reader Design Dilemma here on the blog, but I’m diving back in to this series today.  Jessica, a friend of mine from Lexington, Kentucky, reached out asking for advice on what to do with her mudroom built-in.

In her words…..“We’ve been in our house for two years and our mud room/drop zone is getting scuffed up quite a bit. I don’t dislike the white, but I do dislike how quickly it looks dirty/beat-up. I was thinking of painting it navy, thoughts? The paint on the rest of the house is SW Passive, with grey/teal/white accents throughout. The mud room is a small room right off of the garage, so I don’t want to go too dark and shrink the room. Any recommendations on colors or other ideas?”

I can totally relate to this particular dilemma as this was the main reason I ended up painting my mudroom built-in a light grey a couple of years ago.  I just got so tired of how dirty and banged up the white paint looked.  In a space that sees heavy use it can be so tough to keep white looking fresh and clean.

To jog your memories, here’s how my mudroom looked before. This photo makes the white look much better than it actually looked in real life.

And here’s how it looked right after I painted the built-in and all the molding Sherwin Williams Amazing Grey.  (I also switched out the overhead fluorescent lighting.)

There’s no doubt that painting the built-in in my mudroom this grey color was the best decision I could have made for this space.  Years later the paint job still looks perfect with no scuff marks at all!  And we use this space every. single. day.

Team Paint It

So to answer Jessica’s design dilemma, I think painting her mudroom built-in is a great idea!  White is lovely, but in a high traffic area it can be such a huge task to keep cubbies and shelves scuff mark free.  At some point you get tired of having to bust out the magic eraser.  😉

That being said, I think navy may be too bold.  It will also create another issue in that it will show so much dust.

Option #1 – Tone on Tone Grey

So I would recommend either a tone-on-tone situation, taking this built-in just one or two shades darker than the wall color.  Sherwin Williams Argos is just one shade darker than Passive (which is on the walls).  This would give this built-in some dimension from the wall color, but will also create the illusion of more space as the built-in would then almost disappear into the wall.  And this shade of grey would be just dark enough to hide scuffs, dust and dirt without being too dark and heavy in this space.

I’d switch the dark grey canvas bins out for natural rattan baskets to contrast the cool tones with something a bit warmer and textural.

Option #2 – A Bold Teal

Obviously the grey on grey will look great and classic and will totally solve the issue.  But a mudroom is also a really great place to play with design in the form of bold colors!  It’s a pass through space not a living space, making it a great contender to have some design fun.  So, the second option is a much bolder choice, but it would also solve the dilemma of hiding scuff marks, dust and dirt.

Sherwin Williams Freshwater is a beautiful shade of teal that looks great with grey walls as evidenced by this gorgeous entry below.

(source)

And if you’re going to have this much fun with color, you may as well go all in right?!  😉

(pineapple tote, pillow, welcome plaque, yellow basket, striped basket, rug)

Which Would You Choose?

Would you keep this space neutral or would you go bold with color?  I’d go wild with color in here because why not?!  But You could also keep this built-in grey and paint the walls or possibly the door leading out to the attached garage this fun shade of teal.  So many options here.  What are your thoughts?

Thank you Jessica for submitting this design dilemma!  Whatever you choose please be sure to share some after pictures!

If you’ve got a design dilemma you’d like to see me cover here on the blog, send me an email with “Design Dilemma” in the subject line to Carmel@OurFifthHouse.com.