MUDROOM MAKEOVER

Welcome to our mudroom.  Yep - this is real life.  This is what this room normally looks like.  I have tried and tried to make this "catch all" room function better and not just gather heaps of shoes on the floor.   After really thinking through how this room best functions, I came up with a solution.   This room right off the garage actually was the laundry room.  Can you believe it?  There was just enough room for a washer/dryer and room to walk through to the garage.  Well, imagine trying to carry an infant seat through there on top of shoes, backpacks, etc.   We quickly moved the laundry down to a room in the basement, which stinks to carry laundry up and down two flights of stairs, but it makes both spaces now function better for what we need.  I LOVE having a huge laundry room in the basement.   Now on to the new and improved mudroom.


After months and months of trying to find just the right piece for in here, and even contemplating custom building it ourselves.  I finally decided on this piece from Ikea.  It's actually a TV unit but it was perfect for what I needed.  I love that it has three shelves and three drawers, perfect for three kids!  Plus since it has feet there is room to slide shoes underneath.  I also found this shelf piece to go along with it  - a perfect match.

AND it was the perfect size to fit that room.  Almost - more on that in a minute...  Meanwhile.... this is what my house looked like for two days while we worked on this project.


I was just about to go curl up in a corner and cry somewhere - I can't STAND for my house to be in chaos. 


A quick peek at the hubs hard at work......


And finally - we have a new and improved, much more functional mudroom!!


I love the shelves up above with baskets for each girl that holds all winter hats, gloves, scarves, etc. 


See that arrow?   That is where my hubs actually had to cut away a piece of the baseboard because it was such a tight fit.  It was a pain, but I love how it fits so perfectly now.  I will not however, bring up the subject of my BFF and I actually holding this bench up above our heads trying to get it into the room.  I will also not discuss anything about cutting off a door jam either.  Thank you very much.  : )

But now it's a perfect "drop zone" bench type set up.  I love that they can hang up anything, or drop anything right on the bench, and even sit down to put on socks and shoes.  Plenty of space to kick off shoes and just kick them under if they are feeling lazy, or neatly place them on the shelf or in the drawers.   The shelf will be for the everyday shoes, and the drawer will hold the more seldom worn shoes.   I have a great three-drawer basket shelf right outside this room that holds everyones socks. 


Directly across from these new shelves is the coat closet.  This closet was waaaaaay too small for a family of five that needs coats for three seasons.  I forgot to take a before picture, but just imagine it completely stuffed full of coats and piles of shoes on the floor.   Now it houses all of those everyday "I need" kinds of things.   There is a drawer for school papers, hair accessories, brushes, batteries, light bulbs, tools, etc. (Repurposed work boxes from prior homeschooling days) : )


And right on top is the main living level dirty laundry basket.  Perfect for dish towels and dirty socks.   All of these things used to be on the old shelves taking up all that space for coming in and out of the house - this is so much better!!


My sweet hubby saw how I re-purposed the closet and actually said to me "Where are we going to hang our coats?"  My reply - "Honey, we now have a total of 24 hooks in our mudroom, I think you will be able to find a place to hang your coat."    : )     Also, in our laundry room downstairs we have an additional large hanging space for the heavy winter coats and snow gear and such, so I simply will switch everything out when the seasons change.




A much happier enter/exit zone!!  I'm still planning on painting all the trim and beadboard the same color, plus a fresh new color for the walls, as well as nice throw rug for the floor.