Arterberry Cooke reimagines the laundry room as the most considered space in the house.

Barrett Cooke of Arterberry Cooke transformed a laundry room at the 2025 Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts into a multifunctional creative retreat — with custom cabinetry in Dunn-Edwards Rose Mauve, window frames in Midnight Garden, hand-painted Fireclay tile, Sherle Wagner rose quartz hardware, and Kelly Wearstler lighting. This is how the space was designed — and why every room deserves this level of attention.

Every home has a room hierarchy. You know it without having been told: the living room gets the good sofa, the primary bedroom gets the linen duvet, the kitchen gets the unlacquered brass hardware. And the laundry room — if it gets anything at all — gets whatever is leftover. Utility-grade cabinets. Whatever tile was on sale. A light fixture chosen for its ceiling clearance, not its presence.

Barrett Cooke, principal of Los Angeles-based architecture and design studio Arterberry Cooke, is not interested in what is leftover. When given a laundry room at the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts — a grand early-California property steeped in the legacy of original owner Clara Baldwin, the so-called “Diamond Princess” of Arcadia — Cooke did not reach for the functional minimum. She and her team reached for rose quartz. For stained glass. For Kelly Wearstler. For the full weight of design attention that a space so frequently overlooked has almost never received.

The result is a room that stops you.

The Hidden Room

Showcase houses exist precisely so designers can stop negotiating and start deciding. For Cooke and her team, the laundry room at the Pasadena property presented an unusual gift: north-facing light, unobstructed views of the San Gabriel Mountains, and — perhaps most importantly — a certain social invisibility.

“No one wants to find you there and be forced to help with work,” Cooke says. “Tucked away, what opportunities can you pursue in your hidden time?”

The question shaped everything that followed. Rather than design against the room’s utilitarian nature, the team leaned into what that nature quietly permits: privacy. Autonomy. A place to disappear to. Cabinetry by Heather O’Donnell, a designer on the Arterberry Cooke team, was engineered to maximize concealed storage and working surfaces at multiple heights, with the machines reoriented to free up floor space. A dedicated desk was positioned to capture the mountain view directly — an invitation for painters, crafters, or anyone who simply wants an hour to themselves.

The room is, as Cooke describes it, “a mix between a room of one’s own, a Clara Baldwin party space, and a very well considered and functional chore-space.”

The Spirit of Clara Baldwin

Clara Baldwin was Lucky Baldwin’s daughter, heir to the Arcadia estate and a figure of early California legend. She was known for playing by her own rules — a woman who “imbued her life with as much elegance as possible,” as Cooke puts it. The Arterberry Cooke team made her a quiet presence throughout the design.

The custom millwork, painted in a dusty Rose Mauve, was detailed with decorative cutouts and stained glass inlay intended to evoke the spirit of what Clara might have wanted had indoor laundry existed in her day. “We imagine,” Cooke says, “she would have spared nothing.”

The stained glass was designed by Molly Miller, one of several female Los Angeles artists whose work was woven deliberately into the space. A still-life and portrait by Lareina Holsopple, ceramic tumblers from Jen King, floating pears by Susanna Spears Ali, and an abstract work from Justina Blakeney all occupy the room with the ease of objects that belong. The decision to work exclusively with female LA artists gave the room a coherence that goes beyond aesthetics — it feels like a space with a point of view.

The Craft Decisions

The palette alone is worth a closer look. Rose Mauve cabinetry against window frames painted in Dunn-Edwards’ Midnight Garden — the brand’s 2026 Color of the Year — reads as a pairing that should not work and absolutely does. Color selection was led by Emily Carlin, a designer on the team, who carried both hues through the tile, stained glass, and decorative elements with precision. “While bold,” Cooke notes, “the colors are infinitely playful while also being calm — almost neutral.” The Midnight Garden on the windows does something specific: it makes the frames disappear, pushing the eye toward the mountains beyond rather than the millwork in front of them.

The handcraft thread running through the space is deliberate. Plumbing fixtures, cabinet hardware, and window hardware all come from Sherle Wagner International’s Dorian series, made to order out of Fall River, Massachusetts. The cabinet hardware and sink faucet feature rose quartz inlay — singular pieces that function like jewelry. The platinum-coated sink anchors the counter with quiet, opulent weight.

The Fireclay Tile, based on the brand’s Harvest Series, was customized by the team to match the room’s specific colorway — the result of a close collaboration between studio and manufacturer. Every tile is hand-painted. Nothing here arrived as a default.

The Finishing Note

The Kelly Wearstler light fixtures were, as Cooke describes them, “the final jewel.” They blur the line between lighting and sculpture, adding presence to a room that already has no shortage of it.

But the real revelation of the Arterberry Cooke laundry room is not any single element — it is the act of deciding that this room deserved them. That utility is a choice, not a destiny. That the spaces we most often hide can, with the right intention, become the spaces we most want to be found in.

Source Notes

What paint colors were used in the Arterberry Cooke laundry room?

The cabinetry is painted in Rose Mauve (DET403) by Dunn-Edwards. The window frames are painted in Midnight Garden (DE5657), Dunn-Edwards’ 2026 Color of the Year. The Midnight Garden was chosen specifically to make the window frames recede, drawing the eye to the San Gabriel Mountain views beyond.

What tile was used in the Pasadena Showcase House laundry room?

The floor tile is from Fireclay Tile’s Harvest Series, customized in a colorway matched to the room’s palette. All Fireclay Harvest tiles are hand-painted, and the team worked directly with the manufacturer to develop the custom color specification.

Where is the hardware and plumbing from in the Arterberry Cooke laundry room?

All plumbing fixtures, cabinet hardware, and window hardware are from Sherle Wagner International’s Dorian series, made to order in Fall River, Massachusetts. The cabinet hardware and sink faucet both feature rose quartz inlay. The sink itself is platinum-coated.

How do you design a laundry room as a creative retreat?

Barrett Cooke’s approach at the Pasadena Showcase House focused on four principles: maximizing natural light and views, designing storage that fully conceals utility items, incorporating a dedicated work surface at a comfortable height, and applying the same material quality — tile, hardware, lighting, art — that you would bring to any other room in the house. The goal was a space that no longer needed to be hidden away.

Who are the artists featured in the Arterberry Cooke laundry room?

The room features work by five female Los Angeles artists: stained glass by Molly Miller, paintings by Lareina Holsopple, ceramic tumblers by Jen King, a floating pears print by Susanna Spears Ali, and an abstract work by Justina Blakeney. The all-female, all-LA curation was a deliberate design decision by the Arterberry Cooke team.

Sourcebook:

Architecture & Design: Arterberry Cooke
Cabinetry Design: Heather O’Donnell, Arterberry Cooke
Color Direction: Emily Carlin, Arterberry Cooke
Cabinet Paint: Rose Mauve DET403, Dunn-Edwards
Window Paint: Midnight Garden DE5657, Dunn-Edwards (2026 Color of the Year)
Tile: Fireclay Tile Harvest Series, custom colorway
Plumbing Fixtures & Hardware: Sherle Wagner International, Dorian Series with rose quartz inlay
Lighting: Kelly Wearstler
Stained Glass: Molly Miller
Art: Lareina Holsopple (still-life and portrait), Jen King (ceramic tumblers), Susanna Spears Ali (floating pears), Justina Blakeney (abstract)
Venue: Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, Baldwin Oaks Estate, Arcadia

Credits:

Photography by Third Wall Photography

Written by Kacey Perez