Vintage Laundry

I've recently designed a room for the 2007 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, which is being held in the spectacular house at 2901 Broadway, a 1927 neoclassical mansion in its original state.
A wonderful example of passive preservation, the house's original laundry room had never been painted, or really cleaned, as far as I could tell. The walls are raw plaster and the giant double enamel sinks are in near perfect condition.

So I designed the room as a sort of a valentine, to what this house used to be, and to the era in which it was built. It could almost be 19th century Europe, except with reliable electricity, and prohibition.

My assistants and I hand-washed 80 years worth of filth off of the walls and ceiling, exposing a lovely patina. We stripped the old wax off the concrete floor, acid etched it, and painted a matte faux marbre finish; we also restored the dark painted finish of the 12 foot long solid redwood work table.
The opaque window glass was changed out to clear, revealing an amazing view of the bay. An ugly water heater heater was disguised with a folding screen, custom built by Chris Yerke, and painted with neoclassical motifs and singerie painted by Lynne Rutter with help from Adrian Card.

The fun part of course is the laundry itself- lots of vintage 20's lingerie, all in ivory silk and lace, borrowed from Torso Vintages with the styling help of Erika Bellas von Petrin, and a collection of period linens, many of which belonged to my grandmother, Jane Coley Kittredge, whose bright coral wedding ensemble is also peeking out of the mending basket.

The showcase is open to the public through May 28, 2007.

mentions:
sfgate.com
7x7
Erling Wold: The Laundry Room
SF Chronicle "Swells"
Yelp
LuxLife
7x7 Home and Design

photo by David Papas.