Some designer show house rooms are flights of fancy — big on good looks but short on practical ideas for day-to-day living.
Not so with the butler’s pantry/laundry room that designers Margie Huggard and Jeanne Upton created in last summer’s Cape Designer ShowHouse in Osterville, Massachusetts. Huggard and Upton, who were cochairs of the ShowHouse to benefit WE CAN, a Cape Cod–based organization that supports women facing challenging transitions, collaborated to transform an overlooked pass-through between the kitchen and dining room where an ancient washer and dryer resided.
“There were so many different ways we could have gone with the space,” says Upton. “But we wanted to create a functional area the owners could use when they moved back.”
The owners are Peggy and Pat Patalino, clients of Huggard’s who agreed to turn their 1910 rambling Cape Cod–style vacation house over to the roster of ShowHouse designers for several months for a top-to-bottom overhaul.
Huggard, who owns Osterville home furnishings shop Margo’s, and Upton, whose firm, Jeanne Upton Interiors, is also in the village center, revitalized the space with a bright palette and a touch of bling. Huggard and Upton brought an elegant, cheerful feel to the room, which now serves as both a butler’s pantry and a laundry room. The washer and dryer were replaced with new front-loading machines and relocated from the left side of the space to the back wall, where they are tucked under the counter and hidden behind bi-fold doors. With the laundry out of sight when not in use, the room becomes a hardworking storage and serving station with a sink, making it an ideal wet bar. Chartreuse acts as the central hue. An eye-catching green-and-white trellis-pattern wall covering by Thibaut gives the space an inviting vibe. The existing cabinetry was repainted high-gloss white, and new square jeweled knobs add sparkle. A white Silestone countertop with gray veining was placed above a new wine cooler and under-counter refrigerator. An alluring trompe l’oeil fabric designed by Manuel Canovas makes the Roman shade seem like artwork.
The old pass-through is now an attractive nook that promotes lingering, whether it’s party time or laundry day.
Design New England, the magazine of splendid homes and gardens, celebrates the region’s best interior design, architecture, and landscape design.
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