Mudroom - Week 01

Welcome to our mudroom, or the not so affectionately known "dog room". Our previous dog (RIP my gentle giant) suffered from separation anxiety when we first adopted him and he chewed up the door jamb and drywall when left alone while we were out. The wall heater hasn't worked in nearly a decade and that's only the start to the list of things wrong with this room. Currently, the room is used as a dumping grounds for tools, outdoor equipment and boxes from amazon deliveries that I'm too lazy to break down and take out to the recycling. On a positive note, there is a lot of room for improvement and to make this a more functional and pretty space. In the words of Ned Stark, "Winter is Coming" and I for one would like to be able to park my car in the garage this winter (hint, hint honey) and enter the house through a nice warm mudroom with a bench to remove boots and plenty of space to store and hang our outdoor winter gear. Since I'm a perpetual procrastinator I decided to sign up as a guest for the One Room Challenge™ to motivate myself to get this room completed by November 7th, just in time for the temperatures to start plummeting in Minnesota.

I've been collecting and pinning inspiration for this room for way too long and it's finally time to take some action to fix things up in this space. Here's what I've been digging.

Images (left to right) via Whittney Parkinson Design, Woods and Ivory, and Realm Interiors

And here's a little layout view of the space which includes three doors and a closet with bi-fold doors. There's a nice little space next to the closet with room for a little built-in bench and storage à la the inspiration images. There's also a dog door (not shown) between the closet and exterior door to the side yard giving access to a dog house and fenced dog run which is how this room space got its aforementioned nickname.

Here's my game plan for whipping this room into shape:

• Replace the door jamb and repair the drywall,

• Install a functional electric wall heater,

• Add a new light fixture,

• Prime and paint the doors and walls,

• Replace the tile flooring,

• Upgrade the closet doors,

• Construct a built-in bench/storage,

• Install new trim work,

• Replace mismatched door hardware, and

• Accessorize and photograph the space

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I'd like to do all this on a limited budget. Ideally, I'd add some natural light to this room using a new half lite exterior door but that is going to get pushed out to a later date since until I can find one for cheap on Craigslist or Marketplace. I'm going to try some budget saving DIY projects and creatively reusing some materials in our garage that are collecting dust but you'll need to tune in to a later post for further details. For now I'll leave you with the mood board I pulled together for this space. Time to get to work transforming this room!