fbpx

The Junk Parlor

Wait Until You See This Mudroom Transformation

Do you believe in the power of paint?  I mean wow!  What a difference it makes!  And, it’s such an inexpensive way to make changes to your home!  Wait until you see this mudroom transformation!

I must warn you, that this is not the mudroom’s first transformation! I WISH I had photos from it’s first look, but until they pop up on my Facebook memories, you will have to just imagine it! (By the way, don’t you just love Facebook memories!)

And you may be saying well Brooke, I HATE to paint!  Well, you have a couple options…1. Do it anyway, which is the thrifty girl way!  OR, 2. Pay someone to do it for you!

I did find one photo!  But, this was when we were already in the middle of mudroom transformation NUMBER 2.

So we live in a 1920’s craftsman bungalow.  You know, one from the old Sears and Roebuck Catalog.  But, it’s even more unique because we MOVED the house! That’s right, we picked it up, put it on a semi and carried it down the road!  In 2006 we moved to Iowa and could not find a home we wanted to buy.  Ideally we wanted to have a home in the country by my parents. As a 20 something, I had no desire to build a home.  I know, what was I thinking!

So, the next logical thing seemed to be to buy and move a house…just kidding, that wasn’t logical at all.  But, turns out some family friends had just moved a house, so we knew of some Amish guys that would do it.  And then a neighbor told us about this house that he was going to bulldoze.  There wasn’t really anything wrong with the house, but he didn’t want to be a landlord any more.  However, he wanted to keep the land that it was on.  Since he didn’t really want the house, he offered to sell it to us and even offered to help us, since he had a semi.  We bought the house from him and I coordinated the move. I can tell you more about that a different time!

It really all worked out perfectly and I’m so glad we did it even though now all I want to do in my 40’s is design and build a house!  So in a few years, this baby will be for sale!

I know, I love it too, but the kids will be out of the house and this is more than 2 people need!

Ok, let’s get back on track…

Fast forward to the mudroom transformation.  We put a back, or side door in what was once a bedroom.  For us, it made sense to use this room as a mudroom/laundry room combination. When we moved the home, we knew that we would build on within 5 years and at this point we only had one child at home. (We also have one in heaven) So, it was worth it to have a drop zone versus a bedroom.  If you can contain all of the “stuff” we bring in and out every day, it will make for a tidier house, right?

Shop Antiques New Arrivals

When we built the addition a few years later, we knocked out a window in the mudroom and made that opening much larger.  This would become where the addition attached to the original house.  In the new addition, I made a little nook for the washer and dryer, so we could move it out of the mudroom area.  And then I used some old doors as closet doors on a “new” closet directly across from the washer and dryer. You walk by this laundry space to get to our master bedroom, so I look at it multiple times a day.  And if you are planning an addition or remodel, having the washer and dryer right by your bedroom is absolutely wonderful! 

The addition is pretty much the laundry room and our master suite.  So the laundry is set up in the “hallway” to our master bedroom.  Off our bedroom is a master closet and master bathroom, along with a huge back deck.  This deck didn’t get screened in when built and now 16 years later, is still not screened in!  Maybe someday! I love the whole addition and will be sharing more about that soon!

If you want to see some laundry room pictures, HERE are some. There are definitely pros and cons to having an open laundry area! The pros are that because I see it every day it stays picked up and everyone can see how cute it’s styled when they visit the house.  The bad thing is when all 3 kids decide to bring a load of laundry down and then the hallway becomes overloaded with dirty laundry which is not something you want to see every day OR something you want guests to be looking at!

Where the washer and dryer had been located we built 5 lockers. At this time we had added a couple more kiddos, so we wanted each person to have their own drop zone. Otherwise we left the space open so that we would have room to put on coats and shoes and grab backpacks and sports equipment bags.  If you have kids that are involved in a lot of activities, then you know the importance of this!

The only thing I wish I had done differently in the design of these lockers, would have been to have the “seat” section come out a few more inches from the dividers.  Hopefully that makes sense.  Basically we needed a little more space to sit as the kids and adults got bigger bottoms!

Another thing I might have switched up was sectioning the bottom space for shoes. Adult shoes will not fit side by side, but instead nest together like they do in a shoe box.  This is fine, but it’s hard to fit in adult boots.  However, I have thought about options for this dilemma many times and really have not come up with a good solution on how to fix this issue with the built-ins.  So, what we do with boots has been to set them in a closet on THIS.  And in the winter time we might just keep them out on the mat under the coat hooks. I love that it has a lip around it to keep in any dirt or melting snow!

Since this remodel I have not done much to change the space, until I transformed it with paint!!  When we first moved in I had painted all of the rooms traditional craftsman colors.  This red in the mudroom, with white furniture and wood tones.  The function of the room continues to work well, but as my tastes changed, the decor needed to be updated.

I used Glidden Seal Grey paint from Walmart and boy, what a difference it made! I still love the storage baskets I picked up at Target for above the lockers.  So we kept those the same. This is where we stash hats, gloves, scarves, masks, balls and baseball gloves.  I also always keep a dresser in this room to stash even more of the kids’ items! And bigger items go in that closet across from the washer and dryer.

On the very top of the lockers I do seem to rotate through vintage decor, but mainly because I’m always selling my vintage finds!  Job hazard! Click to see some new arrivals.  I tend to pick suitcases for displaying up here because I think it fits the theme of the room.  I also think that larger items look better up high than a bunch of smaller items.  Click for some staging tips.

On one wall section I added old wire vintage coat hooks to chippy white door headers as a place for extra storage.  Depending on the athletic season, the kids’ bags will not always fit in their locker, so we can hang those here.  Since the lockers are divided, you are limited as to how much stuff you can squeeze into a section.  These open coat hooks allow enough room for those jumbo bags. The off-season sports equipment goes into the closet across from the washer and dryer.  These extra hooks are also great when we have guests over! That way everyone has plenty of space to hang their coats!

Needless to say there are so many reasons I LOVE our mudroom transformation!   I love when everything has a home, it really does help keep the rest of the house cleaner.  And when the space is pretty, it’s even better! 

Are you lucky enough to have a mudroom?

Even if you don’t have a whole room like me, you can always do a little switcheroo and make a mini version

-designate a drop zone in the garage

-use a drawered piece behind the sofa to stash everything

-remove some closet doors and add a bazillion coat hooks to hang everything and make it accessible

-get a bench with built-in storage like THIS

Have a mudroom, but hate it?  Transform it with paint like me!

Disclosure: Affiliate links are used in this post

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi, I’m Brooke. Welcome to The Junk Parlor.

Get my 5 Favorite Cleaning Supplies for Your Junk.

* indicates required
Categories

My Favorite Cleaning Supplies

* indicates required