Garage Entry Closet turned Elegant Mudroom

I finally did it! I finally finished the mudroom and it turned out really well. This project proved to me that I can do something big and do it to completion. This is not something I've been exceptionally good at. I generally do "good enough" and move on. Then, after some time goes by, end up hating the way it looks and wishing I could start all over again. So, this time I was determined to keep working this project until it was done to complete satisfaction, no matter how long or how hard it proved to be.

If you are unfamiliar with a "mudroom", it is the first room or hallway entering the house typically off the garage or main entrance to the house. In our case, it's the garage. Our mudroom also houses the washer & dryer. This room initially had a closet used as a pantry when we moved in. This didn't make any sense to me since there was a perfectly good pantry closet in the kitchen that was being used for cleaning supplies! This seemed totally backward to me so I started with the pantry construction a few years ago. This required pulling all of the shelves from the mudroom closet, cutting them down, and hanging them in the cleaning closet. That project has been done for a while, albeit not beautifully, hence no pics. Maybe some day.

In the meantime, the mudroom closet has been used as a coat and shoe closet. It was now time to create something beautiful. As I often do, I searched online for inspiration. I found a few videos on how to create the bench so that gave me the encouragement I needed to get started.

After removing the pantry shelves, there was a lot of patching and sanding, but I still had a devil of a time getting the texture just right and to completely eliminate evidence of those original shelves. So, I decided to hang a 1x6's to cover the trouble areas.

This project wasn't too hard on the budget, although I didn't track my spending. I saved where I could by reusing items already on hand from previous projects. The wood for the bench use to be a shelf in the garage that was held up by the same 2x4 pieces I used to mount it in the closet! The large pillow is just an old pillow with a new hand-sewn cover. The milk glass vases and the picture frame came from other parts of the house. I ended up painting the whole thing including the room one color so any imperfections would be hidden and it worked. Like I said, this project is a source of pride for me. It turned out just as I pictured it and is a very comfy spot to get ready to go out.

On the other side, as I mentioned, are the washer & dryer. Above it are cabinets that use to be a dark walnut stain. The wood being that dark really made the cabinets feel heavy. So, I lightened them up! The cabinets were a big risk... no turning back kind of thing. I was super nervous, but just after completing the primer step, I was sure it was the right move. So, one coat of primer and two coats of paint and they look amazing!

I am so glad I took on these projects! It has given me the inspiration and confidence to create more big changes in the house. So, more to come with the kitchen reno where I will go into detail about how I painted the cabinets.

Mudroom purchases:

Coat hooks and pine boards from HomCo

Paint and paint accessories from Home Depot

Baskets from Target

Fabric from JoAnn's

Pink pillow from Cost Plus World Market

Blue planter from Botanica Home and Garden

White planter with faux greenery from Marshall's