Mudroom Dreams Fulfilled

When last we met I told you all about my dreams of a fabulous mudroom, one that the kids could walk into and put their coats and shoes and bags away, one that hubby and I could have a place to keep our shoes and especially to have a storage and landing space...and if that's not enough, I also would like it to look pretty.


Well.......I think I did it!


The first step was to come to the realisation that my entry way was not going to cut it.  There was very little that could be done with that space that I hadn't already done.  Here is a reminder of what it looked like.

The next step was to determine the location of said mudroom. There are not a lot of choices and I didn't want it to be too far from the door.  This brings me to this space...

The living room is just off to the right in the photo and to the left is the kitchen.  I think this space was originally intended to be a dining area but it is really too small to be a functional dining room so we have never really had a purpose for it, it is just wasted space....(insert light bulb here). 

What a perfect spot for a mudroom, just steps from the front door and it would finally give this space a purpose.

So, hubby and I started talking about what we would want in the space, I wanted an Ikea shoe cabinet.  This one to be exact...

...and hubby?  All he wanted was to not be able to see the mudroom.  I couldn't believe it! I had great vision about how beautiful it would look.  Alas, I gave him the benefit of the doubt due to the fact that it shares space with the living room.  

Now the question becomes, how do we now divide this space so you can't see the kid's coats and boots?  I was thinking along the lines of a bookshelf like this Ikea Expedit one...

...but hubby wasn't convinced, he thought there should be an actual wall.  I didn't want the space to feel so closed in and wanted it to feel a bit more translucent, so to speak.  So, he actually came up with this idea.

Curtain panels.  I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.  So we went shopping and spent a weekend or two putting it all together and this...is the final result.

We started with the shoe cabinet I mentioned earlier and built the rest of the room from there.  I knew I wanted a bench...

I really liked this one because it had additional shoe storage and it was a great size.  I also knew I wanted a coat rack for the kids...

We had a bit a trouble installing it so that it was good and strong, so hubby put a panel behind it that it could be attached directly into the studs with the rack on top, but we haven't had a chance to paint it yet.  I love the coat rack because the kids can (and actually do) hang their coats/bags on it.  Also, it has a shelf for a basket for hats and mitts and a place where I can keep storage containers for their artwork that they bring home in droves.  

Once we got those things up there was this big gap between the shoe cabinet and the wall. What to do?  I thought about just keeping the vacuum there, but that just looked messy and weird, then hubby had another great idea. (I know right?)  So we measured the space and determined that a billy bookcase would fit perfectly. We decided to add doors that were half solid and half glass so that it kept the space looking light but still had some closed storage.

Then, because there wasn't room to add a coat rack higher up for grown ups, hubby went one further for me and did this...

Yep, he put a simple coat rack behind the door for us to use on an everyday basis, but it is also perfect for guests.  We don't need to clean out the closet for guests or have them throw their coats on the stairs, they can just hang them here.  There is still enough clearance for the door to fully open as the coat rack is very low profile.

Here is one more look at the before and after.

So there you have it, a mudroom of my dreams that is both beautiful and functional and the best part -  it is in my very own small space.  

Have you ever had a vision of a space that has come to fruition?  If so, I would love to hear about it.

Cheers,

Lisa