ROOM WE LOVE: Dirt Stops Here

Danielle Steiner’s clients loved their two-story colonial in historic Dilworth, but with two young children and frequent guests, they were running out of space. “They have a lot of family from outside the U.S. come to visit and stay for months at a time,” Steiner says. “They wanted to preserve the house but double the size, which can be hard to do in the historic district.” As construction curator for Hopedale Builders, she oversaw the renovation of this 1925 home—which included an updated kitchen, a rear addition with a primary suite, and a new mudroom with its own entrance—and made it work for a family in 2024. “We need an interim space now for the bags, purses, sports equipment, and shoes,” Steiner says. “All that clutter needs its own room.” —Taylor Bowler

MAKE IT WORK

Steiner extended the covered porch off the kitchen to create a 75-square-foot mudroom. “There are two doors and a window, so there was no way to put a sink in—this is more of a drop zone,” she says. “We installed a pocket door so they can close it off from the rest of the house if it gets too messy.” For storage, she added floor-to-ceiling cabinetry with closet rods to hang coats and backpacks and cubbies to tuck shoes away.

JUST ADD COLOR

Steiner painted the cabinets, trim, ceiling, and side door a moody blue and anchored the built-in unit with a white oak bench for some contrast. To keep the space from feeling too monochromatic, she covered the other three walls in a chinoiserie wallpaper from Schumacher. “We wanted a fun pattern here,” she says. “(The homeowner) didn’t want to paint the walls because it would show more scuffs if the kids threw something on it. Wallpaper is more durable and has a distracting pattern that disguises blemishes.”

EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE

The indoor/outdoor patterned rug provides durability and another layer of blue. The brass hardware “pops better than polished chrome or nickel,” and complements the brass accents on the globe chandelier from Visual Comfort. “We did brass throughout the house, so this gave it continuity,” Steiner says. “The play of color pulls everything together…it’s their favorite room of the house now—and it’s their main entrance for family and friends.”