ROOM WE LOVE: A Supersized Mudroom
Crystal Nagel designs a “workhorse of a room” for an active family of six
After living in a series of rental homes, Liz Farrar and her husband, Daniel, fell in love with a 3.6-acre lot off Carmel Road in south Charlotte. They planned to renovate the house and make it work for their four children, now 13, 10, 7, and 4. But their architect and contractor said it would be nearly impossible to salvage. So they tore down the existing house and worked with the team at Benham Builders and designer Crystal Nagel to configure their new 7,600-square-foot home. Their wish list included a pool, a kitchen built for entertaining, and a supersized mudroom that Crystal calls “the command center of the house.”
BUILT TO LAST
The two-story home has two laundry rooms, but this one doubles as a catch-all for backpacks, shoes, and other kid gear. Liz chose a porcelain brick floor tile because it reminded her of her mother’s house growing up, but it also disguises any dirt the kids bring in. “It’s actually a really durable porcelain,” Crystal says, “and we mimicked the look of brick with the grout.”
A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING
It was important to the homeowners to have a huge island for folding laundry, and all six family members got their own locker with a slot for a hamper underneath. “The lockers are a natural, stained wood for durability,” Crystal says. “These are some of the most accessed cabinets in the house, and this stain wears better over time than paint.”
COMMAND CENTRAL
Crystal chose polished nickel hardware to break up the warm metal tones in the rest of the house and installed pendant lights from Hudson Valley over the island. “It’s a workhorse of a room,” she says, “so these gave it an industrial vibe.” Behind the mudroom is a full bathroom the kids can access from the backyard. “If kids come in covered in mud,” Liz says, “we can tell them to just go take a shower before they track it through the house.”
