...because home doesn't happen overnight.

It’s Feature Friday!  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room!

If you were ever-so-observant last week, you may have caught a sneak peek at my mini mudroom reflected in the mirror of the powder room.  The catchall mudroom use to be a poor attempt at a hall closet.  Its door was 1 of 3 that opened into a short hallway leading from the garage to the kitchen.  It was a pain to open the closet door because usually the garage door was still open letting others in, so the 2 doors would just bang each other, back-to-back.  One night I had an epiphany to remove the closet door, widen the doorway, install recessed lighting and add a bench to act as a mudroom of sorts.  Handy Hubby did the dirty work (he’s awesome) and I organized the space with baskets, hooks and hangers.  And we did it all for less than $160!!

Here’s our hardworking mudroom…

I painted and recovered a bench we already had then added baskets to dump shoes into.  This makes a great spot for putting on and removing shoes…which keeps my house a little cleaner.

Hooks provide quick hang-ups for purses, hats, backpacks, lunch boxes and hats.

The wooden hangers get utilized during cooler months for jackets, scarves and heavy coats.  Another basket holds gloves and ear warmers.

The ‘MILLER’ black-and-white photography art was a gift from Handy Hubby’s sister.  She took the pictures in Cincinnati and matted them herself.

More than anything, I love the function of this space.  As the homeowners, we nearly always enter our house through the garage, so it made sense to have our dropzone in proximity to the garage versus the front door.  We use this space daily and it helps keep clutter (shoes, bags, coats, etc.) in check.  It’s amazing how much a small room can do if you utilize it to the best of its abilities!

47 Comments

30.July.2010

Gorgeous! (Even better with the Steelers hat hanging up!)

31.July.2010

great use of space! all of our closets have those little spaces behind the wall, but I never thought of installing shelving back there!

love the personalized artwork, too! we did something similar with numbers on a clock:
http://buckcanuck.blogspot.com/2010/01/picture-clock-project.html

31.July.2010

Jenna – I wondered if anyone would notice that…especially since we’re in Bengals country!

16.September.2010

Wow! This is really a great idea for a closet. I would love to have something like this near my garage door! Our goes straight into the kitchen. Good work!

10.November.2010

I LOVE the photo of your last name “letters,” such a great idea!

10.November.2010

MEP – That artwork was actually a gift from my artsy sister-in-law. She took all the photos herself downtown in Cincinnati and then DIY’d the black matting too. She’s awesome!

I know I’m late to the party… but this mudroom idea is FANTASTIC! I think that you’ve executed it beautifully – lovely post!

Stacy

20.January.2011

Is the paint color the same Valspar Bonsai or is it different? It looks a little greener and I didn’t know if it was the lighting! Thanks :)

22.January.2011

Brittani – Here’s a post where I disclosed the paint colors used in our home…

https://www.housetweaking.com/2010/09/14/you-asked-for-it-paint-colors/

23.January.2011

i love those pillows! can i ask where you got them?

24.January.2011

Have you posted these photos before? I ask, because I’ve found them a few times on the Internet.

It is quite lovely, btw.

24.January.2011

Irene – My mini mudroom was featured on Young House Love a while back so that’s probably why you’ve seen ’em before.

24.January.2011

Malissa – The flowered ones are from an Etsy seller, Maries Cosy Cushions. The white textured one in the corner was a cheap Kmart find. They’ve all held up really well against our family!

24.January.2011

Malissa – The floral prints are covers from an Etsy seller here. The white textured pillow in the corner was a great cheap find from Meijer! They’ve all held up nicely against our family.

24.January.2011

Malissa – The flowered ones are from an Etsy seller, Maries Cosy Cushions. The white textured one in the corner was a cheap Kmart find. They’ve all held up really well against our family!

31.January.2011

Hi! LOVE the closet-turned-mudroom idea! I am having a small house built this year and as I would love the budget for adding an actual mudroom to said house, it won’t be a reality. I will have a foyer with a closet and am wondering if you can tell me the dimensions of your closet? It is difficult to tell from the photos…Thanks so much! Love your style!

01.February.2011

Kelly-Anne – The closet/mini mudroom is ~ 66″ wide, 24″ deep and we widened the ‘door’ opening to 39″. Hope that helps get your wheels turning!

09.February.2011

I love your mudroom. And I love your Miller photo. I planned on doing something like that for our home. I just keep forgetting to grab my camera and look for interesting things that look like letters!

04.April.2011
05.April.2011

Missy – Wow! Thanks for the link!!

14.April.2011

Do you remember where you bought these wall hooks?

14.April.2011

Kelly – All wall hooks came from Target, Lowe’s or Home Depot.

20.July.2011

This is the best idea I’ve seen in a LONG time!! I’m so impressed with your projects!! Thanks for sharing!

11.November.2011

Where will I put my vacuum?…..

13.November.2011

Apron Appeal – While this small closet was our only ‘closet’ on the first floor of our previous home, we had a decent-sized pantry where I kept the vacuum…and broom and dust pan.

17.November.2011

I had considered doing something like this but wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Thank you for showing me that its amazing! (I saw this on Pinterest) Our house also has three doors that open into a small hallway/entryway. I hate it! This will solve all my “guests can’t figure out which door they should exit from” problems. Thank you!

25.January.2012

I love this idea, but just one important question: If you got rid of a closet, where do you hand the coats that once went there? We live in Minnesota and have a LOT of cold weather gear.

I’m a transplanted Steeler fan, too! :)

26.January.2012

Jeanine – We have hooks and baskets galore in the mini mudroom to contain our winter gear. I also hung a set of hooks with a basket on the floor near the front door to accommodate guests’ belongings.

02.April.2012

I have these same pillows on the end!! With the line green, yellow and hint of aqua squares! Etsy?? :) looks great!

24.June.2012

I love this idea!! My set up with the garage, bathroom, and closet is the same. However my closet is only about 40″ wide. Did you get any feedback from anyone who may have tried this with a smaller closet? Do you think it would still work?

26.July.2012

I just wanted to let you know that I have been drooling over this idea since I posted it months and months ago. As of the last couple of weeks, I have actually implemented it in my own house. Everyone who has come over has just loved it, and I tell everyone that I got the idea from your blog! If you want to see my humble version, I posted about it here: http://o-my-goodness.livejournal.com/74775.html

Thanks so much for the inspiration. It may sound silly, but it actually has made a positive difference in my life. Every time I walk into my house I feel good about the room, whereas before it was always a “I wish it was different” feeling. :-)

26.July.2012

Aw, gee. I meant to say “ever since I PINNED it…” I’m so excited I can’t even type right!

08.August.2012

Did you make the cushion for the bench yourself? If so, can you explain how?

08.August.2012

The original seat was leather. I simply unscrewed it, covered it with linen {using a staple gun} then screwed it back onto the bench. Easy! No sewing required.

14.August.2012

I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing where you got your bench. I’m having a really hard time finding one that doesn’t have drawers or compartments. Thanks for sharing this project!!

14.August.2012

I got it on HomeDecoratorsOutlet.com. It was black + leather top originally, but for the inexpensive price I figured I could paint it white and cover the leather with linen. It worked great! Some of the stuff on HDO isn’t all that great but every once in a while I find good pieces at affordable prices. I like the hunt!

14.August.2012

Thanks!! I’ve been hunting for a while now. I’m even considering trying to build one myself. We’ll see…

06.September.2012

I found your mud room from pinterest. I have been pinning different ones for sometime now. I just have to say, what caught my eye about yours was the way you used the shelf rack on the inside with the hangers. It’s one of those things that is out of the box thinking that I just couldn’t seem to fathom myself! Now with the idea from you, I think I will be able to re-do my closet! Thank you so much!!!

11.October.2012

Hi! I just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me to turn my hall closet (in a very dark foyer) into your brilliant mud room. I found the idea on Pinterest. Thank you!

11.October.2012

Ooooh. I’d love to see it!

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19.October.2012

I’m doing this to my front closet!!! But I’m having trouble finding a bench for it but I’m not giving up hope.

04.November.2012

Can I ask what the dimensions of the closet are? Is it a standard size closet door? Looks great, I just want to make sure mine would look as great as yours… Thanks for any info you can give me.

16.February.2013

Absolutely love this. My next project.

22.May.2013

Nichole,

I recently converted an old rectangular coffee table into a bench. Sand, stain, add bench cushion, and viola!

18.July.2013

You are so creative and TALENTED! I need people like you so I can be a copy cat. So, thank you :) I wasn’t even searching for mudrooms, but somehow found your blog today and another one and randomly flipped through posts and saw your sweet mudroom, and this one: http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2012/08/our-home-tour-outside-and-entryway.html (scroll down to see her mudroom in her entryway) you two should be friends!!! I like that yours was near your garage because that’d function better for my family too. We want to be free of all debt in a few years too, yay for financial freedom and living our dreams!

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