DIY Mudroom Project

Spread the love

DIY Mudroom Project

I can’t believe it’s already been three years since we downsized, moved into our rental property and proceeded to do a complete demo and rebuild. After looking at all of our options, we decided that the land this (then) 30 year old home was built on was exactly what we wanted so we to proceeded to take the house down to the studs and rebuild. There are always unforeseen issues and the first was a drainage problem. The house was built in a sloped forested area so lots of water had been coming through and accumulating. Over the years the drains broke down and became clogged so the house was eventually sitting on swamp. French drains went in as ASAP as we continued with house permits and then finally we started the demo. The existing foot print was kept and we bumped out a few areas to create more space. The project was more that we anticipated from a financial standpoint so we (or I ) have had to patiently wait until we recovered a bit before we could work on details such as built-ins in the family room and a mud room. The house is petite so it’s been a challenge to work with from a design perspective. There are a few things I’d do differently now but all said an done I’m pleased with our home.

I was noticing about a month ago that the house was needing some attention so I started a discussion with my husband. The conversation soon escalated into a long to-do list. Our walls needed to be touched up or repainted, built-ins or floating shelves needed to be built in our family room, and the window treatments in the great room need to be replaced. Rather than re-painting we decided to try shiplap. The great room wall was the area I wanted it most but because we had no experience putting up shiplap my husband wanted put it up in the mud room first. No problem! That room needs work too! Oh and btw, we have started to ship lap in the great room so that’s coming next!

DIY Mudroom Project

There is a small room off the garage that was formerly a laundry room. When we remodeled the laundry room was moved upstairs (best idea ever!). Like most Washingtonians we are outdoorsy and have a dog so that means we’ve got lots of athletic gear and need a place to drop off jackets, beanies, hats, gloves, and to dry Layla off after a rainy walk. A mud room is super helpful! We purchased a deep utility sink with a ledge for soap and a cleaning brush along with a bench and storage space.

If you are creative and have an open mind, you’ll be surprised what you can do with a small space! I’ve seen bloggers turn closets into mud rooms so just think out of the box :) Layla is modeling so you can get a feel for the room size. We wanted a small seating area and baskets for storage. Building custom seating and an open shelf would have been nice but time consuming and more costly. With a long to-do list and a limit on what we can spend, purchasing seating was the best option. Both pieces were easy to assemble however the bench arrived a yellowy white so that needed to be painted. All the baskets are filled to the brim and currently the sink is filled with dirty towels. It’s amazing how quickly we accumulate and create messes!

The sink is perfect for rinsing muddy shoes and soaking dirty clothes. The canvas lined laundry bin. contains “dog towels” to dry wet paws. We use the roll up blanket for cool summer nights on the deck and it also makes a nice picnic blanket.