Finally....The Mudroom Closet Reveal!

Hello!

I'm excited to finally share my mudroom closet with you. I never dreamed this project would take me almost a month! It was filled with ups and downs and delays for all sorts of reasons. But in the end, I'm very happy with how it all turned out.

Let me remind you of how things looked when I started. Ouch!

              

When I first shared the mudroom with you, I didn't really have any thoughts of doing a makeover. I really just intended to clean it out and get all our winter gear organized. The sorting and cleaning out only took me parts of two days. I was able to donate some things the kids had outgrown, relocate a few things to different places in the house, and throw some things away.

But once I had cleared everything out and it was totally empty, I realized something....it still looked really bad! The walls were extremely scuffed and dirty from everyone just throwing their shoes and boots in there. I tried to scrub the walls but to no avail. I was only scrubbing off the paint. You see, when we put on this addition, we never painted the closet, only primed it. So I decided that before I put everything back in, I really needed to paint.

But somewhere in between realizing this and digging out the painting supplies, I remembered a very cool mudroom makeover that I had pinned from Carmel at Our Fifth House. I was totally inspired.

Now I knew that my closet wasn't, nor did it need to be as amazing as Carmel's. After all, she was creating a complete mudroom out of a closet and a hallway. I still was going to be closing my closet doors. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be cute, right?

I purchased some of the supplies I needed...like cute new metal door knobs and wood, but it just seemed that my time to work on the project kept getting waylaid. Between birthday celebrations, Hubster traveling (I knew I was going to need his help for some of my ideas), meetings, church activities, etc., it just wasn't getting done.

Finally, last week I decided to paint. I planned on using leftover yellow paint from the mudroom. But when I picked up the can, I realized it was not going to be enough. So I wound up mixing that with the leftover paint from the kitchen. It made the yellow a little duller, but I reminded myself it was only a closet. (You have no idea how many times I told myself that during this project!)

My plan was to wallpaper the lower half using the same bead board wallpaper that I had used in the kitchen, only horizontally like Carmel did. The day after I painted, I attempted to do the wallpapering myself. Big mistake. I really needed a couple extra hands. So I gave up on that and waited for Hubster to be able to help me a couple days later. But in messing up the wallpaper, I also had wasted some and now I didn't have enough. So that evening when I was tired and crabby and disappointed that I hadn't got the papering done, I headed out to Lowe's to get more which was a fiasco and a long story itself.

Finally, this past weekend we had no plans so Hubster and I worked together on hanging the wallpaper, installing a kind of chair rail board, painting, and installing new hooks.

Yesterday was spent purchasing a few accessories....like new baskets to store things like gloves and hats (It always bugged me a bit that you could see through the old baskets. It made it look a little messy to me.) and a cute sign I found at Hobby Lobby.

So....are you ready for the final reveal?



Ta-daaaa!!!!!

Hubster now has his own big basket on the floor for his caps, ear protection for mowing, gloves, etc.

My daughter also needed her own little basket for her iPod, headphones, and other little doo-dads she feels are necessary to keep in this closet.

And don't you love this metal sign? I thought it was just perfect for us all to see as we grab our coats to head out the door. It might be my favorite part of this whole makeover.

I also added another boot tray since it seemed like the two we had were always overflowing.

Now I have to be honest and tell you that there are still a few things that need to be put back in the closet. And the kids will be hanging their school backpacks here as well. But you'll indulge me a couple "beauty shots," right?

I love a good "before and after."

And one last look. I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Thankfulness.....

* For safety for Hubster traveling in bad weather.

* For my sweet sister and her love for all the nieces and nephews in her family.

* For the Lord's provision of help when I needed it.

* For a beautiful blue Fall sky.