Many areas of a home are often left undecorated, as if they don’t belong to the house. Services areas for instance are treated like the “Maid Quarters” as if only second-class people live there and guests are prohibited access to.
Saving money on these areas is one reason for using low quality material and no design thoughts whatsoever. Most people settle for shelves and good appliances, the rest is non-descriptive.
Sure there is no attraction in the laundry rooms, closets, pantries, storage rooms, but what if these areas open into the beautiful parts of the home? Let’s say the laundry room’s door opens in a well-designed kitchen, wouldn’t it look better if the façade of that door was designed to disguise the laundry room entry?
I take any opportunity to change even a simple door into a painting canvas, like the mural I painted on a linen closet made of two doors and six drawers. This mural breaks the monotony of a long corridor and adds the element of surprise. If guests go to the bathroom near by, I hear a big “WOW, what is it?” all the time. The façade of this closet represents an Italianate style building.
Here I’ve put together a roundup of examples to help creativity flow and personalize your home.
Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living.
She offers design consultations on-line through Skype and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge any where in the world. She is the author of three books. ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors. All Valentina’s books are available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Valentina Expressions 
Oct 29, 2013 @ 15:02:29
You give me great ideas for when I buy my place. Right now I’m too scared to go near by closet doors–they are so packed I fear I may be injured opening or painting them.
LikeLike
Oct 29, 2013 @ 15:34:53
TBM, if your closets are so packed, it’s a good time to attack them to get rid of the things you might not need or want anymore, instead of them attacking you. End of the year purge!
LikeLike
Oct 19, 2013 @ 08:06:28
I even like to decorate the inside of a closet, and certainly the laundry room. Now I just have to align with my abundance so I can. 😀
LikeLike
Oct 19, 2013 @ 13:49:48
Good thinking Sindy. Thanks for the comment.
LikeLike
Oct 18, 2013 @ 19:03:25
So very true! And yet those are the areas that I get the most excited about giving a make over to! I love painting our pantry and making it look inviting and a place that I wanted to be since with all the cooking I do, it is an area that I visit very frequently. Next two projects are the laundry room and the walk in closet and I can’t wait! 🙂 These are some wonderful examples that you have shown on elevating the service areas!
Kenley
LikeLike
Oct 18, 2013 @ 21:40:13
Kenley, I believe service areas are just as good as the rest of the home, especially where we spend hours doing chores, like the laundry room, or cleaning up closets. Why not adding some fun to those doors? Thanks for your comment.
LikeLike