I finished our mudroom makeover and boy does it feel good to have a finished area in our house. Of course like I mentioned before the other side of this room is our pantry that is not quite done. I think when I paint the pantry side of the room I will probably touch up the white walls on this side. These white walls have taken a beating. They were the first thing to be done a few years ago. As you can see below I don’t really have a real before picture of this side of the room. I guess I didn’t take many pictures in here before painting the paneling, but believe me it was pretty sad looking.
Even though I painted this room a few years ago it took awhile to get it all just right. I like to do slow renovations because you get the best results that way. It gives you time to sort out how you use that space, and what the friction points are. It also gives you time to find the perfect pieces that are full of character and charm. Or sometimes for those perfect pieces to find you. Like the free flooring that came from a room in my in laws house.
Slow Renovation Benefits
I get why slow renovations aren’t as popular. It’s not as exciting as seeing a room go from drab to fab in a weekend. I think like most things in life though it’s worth the wait. When you rush you miss the nuances of how you use your space and what you need storage for in your space. Plus as I mentioned before it’s very difficult to find the perfect piece in a short window of time.
When you are on the lookout for certain items and know what you want for a space things have a way of finding you. Or you can stumble upon some steals, but it’s very difficult to do so with a tight deadline. That is part of how I was able to do this renovation under such a tight budget. If you don’t have the time to do a slow reno I guarantee you will end up spending more, and will probably end up with placeholder pieces that you will swap out later. Again probably taking another hit on the budget.
Sometimes a placeholder piece is necessary, but when I can wait for the perfect thing to be found I will. Otherwise I try to spend as little on a placeholder piece as possible. Sometimes even shopping my house for a piece that I’m not utilizing works well also. I’m always switching things out and trying to get a feel for what works best. This space took years to complete, but I love it.
Mudroom Makeover-Budget Breakdown
- Flooring=$0 From In Laws
- School House Bench=$0 From In Laws
- Mirror=$0 From In Laws Friend
- Large Storage Basket=$0 Came With Our Furnished House
- Nesting Boxes/Shoe Storage& Trays=$0 From Our Barn
- Window Treatment=$20ish Hardware (painters canvas was from my fabric stash)
- Paint=$40
- Star Ceiling Light=$45 (we already had wiring from previous project)
- Lockers=$70
Make An Imperfect Item Perfect
While talking about budget I think it’s important to note, don’t be afraid to make an imperfect item perfect when possible. Like the mirror/coat rack in this room. It was a dark stained wood originally, not quite right for this space. But I put a couple coats of minty paint on it, and it’s perfect. It’s a nice fresh and bright addition to our mudroom.
Also as much as I love the lockers, I went a step further and built some shelves for the bottom of the kids lockers. They function even better now. Those shelves help to keep it a bit more organized, and take advantage of all the vertical space available.
Mudroom Makeover Success
I’m so happy with how this room came together. The nesting box works so well for storing our shoes and socks. I enjoy it way more in this space than when we were using it for the chickens.
Using the roost on the nesting box for drying our shoes works so well. The trays below were from our bunny hutches, that we no longer use. They work really well for catching the moisture from our shoes.
Also maybe a less obvious thing, but I love having our socks in the mudroom. We used to have them upstairs in our dressers. It’s way more efficient having them down here by the shoes.
I added a cafe curtain to this window. It helps soften up this space a bit, all of the metal can be a little much. It’s nice to have the option of closing the curtain.
The large basket is great for storing our off season items, and some back stock items. I loved this basket since I saw it while walking through our house with the realtor. It’s made it’s way around the house a little bit. I think it was meant to be in here all along.
Having the hanging rack at kid level has been so great. Our three year old has been getting better at hanging up his own coat/jacket. He also knows to put his shoes on the shoe tray, even though his younger sister loves to walk off with them.
As I’ve said in my last post I always wanted a set of lockers for in here, and I’m so happy with them. They hold more than you would think. The baskets above hold some of our smaller outside toys, and some smaller miscellaneous items.
The bench is nice especially in the winter time when putting on snow boots. I love the combination of the mirror and coat rack. It actually holds quite a bit too especially in the winter time.
I struggled with what to do for lighting in here. The ceilings are low so I thought of doing sconces, but I never found any I liked. When I saw these flush star lights on a youtube video and I saw the price I could not buy them fast enough.
Thank You For Visiting Our Farmhouse!
If you are looking for help while designing your own space you can find information on my design your space ebook here. If you missed my mudroom design plan with tips on how to design your own mudroom you can find that here. If you missed our small bathroom renovation on a budget you can find that here. There are also some DIY home projects like a concrete countertop or flower box, I share about those here.