mudroom done...

Okay, can you ever really be done with a room? There are still a few things to do like wire in the chandelier (and paint it) but we're moving on to the bathroom so it will probably happen next summer.

Be prepared for a monster picture post. If you are on dial up (is there anyone on dial up anymore?) I apologize.

Here are all the posts about the mudroom.
Click here to see the progress.

First I'm going to post the before pictures. I will warn you, it's not pretty. I can't believe I didn't do anything about the mudroom for these past 5 years. How did I live that way?

Looking from the back of the mudroom in toward the house.


From the back door.


The pantry that was taken over by my painting supplies. They are now housed in the garage.


This is the kids cleaning out the mudroom and depositing everything in the backyard.


The door before we replaced it with the new one.


Looking from the house into the mudroom.


Now the afters:

We replaced the floor, tore out sheet rock to showcase the ship-lap siding and bought new outdoor rugs.


There were huge holes here to the garage attic so Brian cut some old cabinet doors to fit. Notice the poor chandelier.


We put in a new door, new moulding, new stairs and a stair rail. Those birds are just vinyl decals. The gold picture frame is covering up a square hole that we didn't fix.


I know the furnace and water heater are super ugly here but there's nothing we can do about it. I though about painting them but decided I'd rather keep my sanity. You may be wondering why I didn't paint the brick on the chimney, well we are going to be taking it down and putting in a sink cabinet someday so I didn't waste my time.


The ugly gold mirror that Ava painted blue for me.


Here is a new picture of the door showing the curtain I made on the other side. Sorry it's so grainy but there is very little natural light in there and it's currently raining.


We had the shelves there but I painted the brackets my favorite blue and put a vinyl decal on the washer and dryer just for fun.


The mudroom sink had seen better days but we aren't going to replace it yet so Ava and I spray painted the bottom a cheery red.


I pretty much shopped the house for all this artwork. It's all Goodwill paintings. See the moulding along the bottom of the wall? That is justa 1"x4" that I stained walnut. Maddie and I installed all the baseboard ourselves and Brian and Maddie did all of the quarter-round on the celling.

Oh there's a lot of laundry in the basket - should have actually washed it before taking these pictures. Oh well, just keeping it real.


Brian made these lockers shortly after we moved in 5 years ago. We only had 5 kids then.


Our beautiful pantry full of canned goodness. I hope to add applesauce and home canned chili to the shelves. I painted them and layed some contact paper here and sewed some curtains trimmed in brown grosgrain ribbon. They are hiding canning pots. Goodbye painting supplies!


Our new window, window treatments made from a thrifted skirt, our new plastic bottle rug and the chair that will eventually be reupholstered.


Isn't this cool fabric?


So there is our mudroom/laundry room. I love it so much and don't mind doing laundry anymore! I'm working on redoing the living room and hallway so I'll share those pictures soon.

I had the cost break down on my computer but I think it got erased. I know I sold enough stuff on Craigslist and eBay to break even! We really only bought the floor tiles, new door, window and the washer/dryer, decals and rugs. Everything else I had here so it wasn't too expensive!

Sources:
Door and Windows: Lowes
Moulding: Restore
Commercial vinyl tiles: local flooring store
Paint: Mistints from Home Depot
Striped outdoor rug, was cheaper when I bought it: Overstock
Mad Mats plastic bottle rug, used coupon: Outdoor Rugs Only
Vinyl bird and tree decals: Etsy
Art work: Goodwill


I love parties! Linking to:

  
     

busy, busy, busy

I haven't got many home improvement projects done due to canning these:


60 quarts of green beans in 1 day


15 quarts of blueberry jam + 5 freezer gallon bags of frozen berries.

We've also done some tomato sauce and tomatoes and are preparing to can some chili.

Sewed a curtain for the mudroom window


then realized it made it look to cute like a nursery so I raided my fabric stash and found this piece of an old skirt. The girls are visible through the window and are making a movie.


It's held up by a tension rod and some ties. Not exactly the look I was going for but it will do. I also repainted the window frame in a darker turquoise blue ($1.00 mistint from Home Depot). I like the intensity better.

Now I just need to put one more coat of yellow paint on the door and hang the pantry curtain and then I'm done!

more mudroom...

We'll put the finishing touches on the mudroom tomorrow and then I will be able to move on with my life or at least to the upstairs bathroom. I need to sew some curtains for the window and a long curtain to hide the bottom of the pantry.

Here are some pictures of what it looks like now.

This is the kids wall but only Grae posts his pictures here. The picture that is framed is by Maddie when we were doing abstract art in class. The Wanted picture is from a movie the girls are making.


Here is that same spot before (spot on the left side).


This is where we hang our long coats and is a collection of Goodwill landscape paintings I've picked up. I want to add more of course. The horse picture is painted by Ava a few years ago.




Here is that same wall before:


My really, really cheap light covers. Just $.99 baskets from Goodwill. I wanted to paint them but needed some natural texture so I'm keeping them as is.


The second basket is ugly and I want to replace it as soon as I find something better. But for now it works.


More mudroom progress pictures here...

Linked to:

almost done....

We are almost finished with the mudroom project. The only things remaining is to wire in my new chandelier, make a long curtain for the lower half of the pantry and a curtain for the window. Oh and a new faucet for the mudroom sink. That's it!

Here are some more sneaks of the mudroom.

The window is trimmed out and painted the same color as the mudroom stairs (and our bedroom). See my $.99 basket light fixture.


Here it was before.



Here is that same corner with our $7.50 chair that we will recover and move inside. But for now it works in here. Check out my new rug made from recycled plastic. It is much more vibrant in person.


Well yes I did paint the mudroom door yellow. I'm going to be painting the other side (the side in our house) yellow as well. It is Valspar Top Banana.

I'm so pleased at how it is turning out. You can find me sitting on the mudroom stairs just staring at it (freaks the kids out when they open to the door). Before I would just get in and get out quickly. Amazing what a little work can do.

more progress...

Most of the major work on the mudroom is done. We just need some trim but have to wait to see what they have at the Restore.

Before:


After but before new trim and moulding.


I did finish the new stairs and they are installed and pretty. We used the base of the old stairs as it was sturdy and in good shape but put new treads on. I stained them a deep walnut color and sealed them with 3 coats of poly.

We took a cheap and hefty dowel ($3.78) which Brian cut, mitered the ends and wood glued them together. I also stained this a walnut color. The stair rail was mainly for Molly who just used the wall to get up and down the stairs and left muddy hand prints all over.

I stuck some vinyl bird decals on the stairs for fun.

Speaking of vinyl decals - look what I did to our "new" washer and dryer.


I love the look and really dresses up a boring appliance. The vinyl sticks just fine to the dryer even when hot.

About the washer/dryer...my Grandparents gave us a heavy duty Kenmore washer and dryer set when our old pair died. They were teeny tiny and I had to do a million loads of laundry but they were free. Fast forward to a week ago and suddenly I HAD to have a large washer and dryer NOW! So we looked on Craigslist and lo and behold a super capacity washer and dryer set popped up in Hillsboro for $375 for the pair! They were only 2 years old but had only been used for 1 year. Brian drove over and got them and I couldn't be happier.

child labor...

We at the Shearer household believe children should work. We're not above putting our 3 year old to hard labor. Just because you can't wipe your own bottom, doesn't mean you get out of work.

The two little girls had the arduous task of sorting the new tile. Maddie would yell "Gray one or white one" and one of the kids would hop up and provide it for her.

Speaking of Maddie, this was her job. Note: she volunteered and actually enjoyed it.


Here is a view of the floor in progress. It's really brightening it up. We went with commercial vinyl tile. It's the same stuff used in school cafeterias.


And just for your horror photo of the day...here it was before.

progress

We're making progress on the quick (or not so quick) mudroom makeover. Brian replaced the broken, duct taped window with a shiny new vinyl one.



Hole in the wall.


Now a window! I had Brian remove the sheetrock from the wall completely due to my discovery of these amazing wood slats.


From the outside:




We're going to install the moulding around the frame and get started on hanging the beadboard paneling on the ceiling. After that the new floor goes in. Can't wait!