Mudroom Reveal

Finally!



I started on this project about a year ago so let me recap a little. This is what it looked like before as an awkward shaped under the stairs closet.

These shelves were difficult to build because of the angles. We even ended up partitioning off the right side because the low ceiling made it unusable.

We added shoe storage, beadboard and hooks on one wall.

Now, it's all painted, organized and the flooring is in.

 





This area on the left wall is all we need to keep my kids organized. I like having a wall calendar to remind me of upcoming dates. I am really bad about checking my phone calendar in advance. Each of my boys have a folder with their names on it for school papers, including weekly homework packets. A pinboard is a must since I seem to have an out of sight, out of mind mentality no matter how important the paper is.

 

Check out this storage! We had a Costco open up near us recently and my husband loaded up on paper products and drinks. I was nervous we wouldn't have enough space for everything, but I reorganized a bit and was able to fit it all.

Shoes, shoes and more shoes! At least there is a door so I don't have to worry about Mario using them as chew toys. That dog truly has a shoe fetish. Well, if someone forgets to shut the door he might eat a shoe, but it's usually my husband's. Mario recently chewed up his sandal and "marked" his backpack, but left everyone else's things alone. I think Mario sees my husband as competition for alpha male in this house.

Look at all this pink! You can finally tell a girl lives here.

Don't laugh! If you are thinking this light looks like a deck light then you would be right. This is the only light I liked for this closet. A bonus is it was only $7.

The basket on the top shelf is perfect for gloves. We don't use them much, but when we do one is always missing. Keeping the basket up high keeps the kids' little mitts off them. 

We have so many paper products store in here I decided to just write "paper" on the basket chalk label. Now, that I see it in a picture it looks a little strange. I also store extra cleaning products and seasonal décor in these baskets so you never really know what's going to be in there. Maybe I should just write "?" or "guess."

 

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have this space. It's a mudroom, pantry overflow, storage room, and school organization center all in one under the stairs closet. It's definitely the hardest working room in our house besides the kitchen. For a closet it's not too hard on the eyes either!

 

Mudroom Shelves and Paint Color Resources

Sorry, for the late post this week. My internet has been down for a few days. I honestly have no idea why it’s working now, but I’m going to type fast in case it decides to crash on me again. Thank goodness for cell phones to keep me on top of the most important things, like bill paying and emails.

Speaking of emails, I was contacted recently by Jena from Involving Color about featuring my master bedroom on her blog. You can see the post here. It’s very flattering to be featured, but what’s more exciting is finding her blog. It’s completely devoted to paint and paint colors. What’s even better is the way it’s organized-by room, by color, by brand. I’ve been using Pinterest and Google to choose my paint colors before I even walk into a store. Her blog is an easier resource to finding the perfect paint color. I hope you check it out!

On to the mudroom progress. The built-in shelves are finally in place. I can’t tell you how confusing this was to figure out due to the weird angles in this closet. Even more confusing was to explain exactly what I wanted to my husband, the one who actually builds things around here. You would think after 16 years of marriage we would be able to figure out what each other is saying, but what we have here is a failure to communicate. After attempting to talk about the plans several times with the kids interrupting every thirty seconds, we just gave up. On Saturday, he decided to just get it done while I was out of the house. He showed me what he did when I got home and I said, “This looks amazing!” He said he was mentally prepared for a fight because he figured it was wrong! Nope. It was exactly what I wanted all along.






I think he deserves a gold star for figuring out these angles!

We ended up walling off the space on the back right (the brown board on the right side). It hurts my heart a little to decrease any storage space, but only a hobbit could get back there with the sloped ceiling. Anything that ended up back there would have stayed back there…forever.




Here is a pic of it before we blocked it off. The ceiling height is a whopping two feet tall.




The shoe cubbies are also done.



Well, the far left one isn’t finished quite yet. At least we can use them. Now, if I could just get the kids to actually put their shoes in the cubbies we’ll be doing good. Oh, and they need to learn to shut the door so Mr. Mario doesn’t drag their shoes out and snack on them. I’m buying two new pair of kids shoes today…sigh.

To recap, here is a before picture.







Cleaned out.




And almost finished....



So, what do we have left to do? Obviously, the floor and the errant shelf on the left need to be addressed. We’re also going to build a shelf above the top coat hooks. The rest is just filling in the gaps with quarter round and lots of caulk. Then, it’s my turn to finish it off. I need to paint, replace the light, and add a few decorative touches. When I type it out it doesn’t sound almost done!