Mudroom Makeover

Three years ago when we remodeled the kitchen, we added a small mudroom area. At the time we had three girls and we figured it was just enough space for all of us. Well, now we have added an adorable little boy to our family and suddenly the mudroom seems, well, smaller. But, we've managed to rig up a system that works wonderfully, all the hats, mittens and scarves stay in their owner's bin and they look great too! Here is what the mudroom looked like for about well, three years. It was functional, hooks to hang up coats, a bench to sit on and a place to hide put our shoes.

With three kids in school, backpacks, winter gear and jackets take over this mudroom in a flash. It looks like a tsunami hit everyday at about 3:00pm.  Here are a few pictures from earlier this winter. WARNING, what you are about to see is not pretty, at all, if you are afraid of chaos, please scroll down quickly.

 Finally one day I had enough of this mass of hats, mittens and coats.  I was afraid we might lose a child in there and not be able to find them.  So Mr.A & I went looking for some solution and found it, at a beautiful store called Target.  Target has these storage systems by Closetmaid called cubeicals, they come in different colors and sizes. We bought a few of those, some cute metal bins to go in the cubeicals, came home and rigged up this system. Ok, well Mr.A rigged up the system, I just watched.

I also painted the back of the door black, which I love!  No more dirty fingerprints all over my door!  The map pictures I printed off at The Graphics Fairy Queen, love that place!  We bought the cubeicals from Target and the cute metal bins for less than $100 total.   I got the cute black family clock from Target for $3.24 and the canning jar and flowers I already had at home.

Here it is, one more time, BEFORE:

AFTER:

Check out my other remodels and makeovers,The Kitchen Remodel , The Pantry Makeover and The Cloffice Reveal .

I'm linking up at:

http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2011/02/laundry-room-organization-linky-party/

Coffee filter wreath and vinyl lettering

In addition to painting the doors, I also added some vinyl lettering to the mudroom entry area. I originally bought the vinyl for my glass door piece but it wasn't quite big enough. I think it helps blend the door and the kitchen table with the rest of the house. Here it is....

Last week The Nester featured a wreath and a tree made out of coffee filters. I loved them and knew right away I was going to have to make at least 6 of these! Here is the link for the wreath and trees: http://www.thenester.com/2010/11/making-a-coffee-filter-wreath-and-tree-and-things-of-that-nature.html


And here is my first wreath which was made on a weird foam wreath shape that I won't be using again. I searched my Wal-mart, Hancock Fabrics and Dollar Store but no one had a normal wreath shape that I could use. I finally found the one I used at Hobby Lobby this weekend while I was away with Mr.A.
Of course I didn't take a before picture but you've come to expect that of me, right? I did take a picture of the back of the finished wreath.

I think if I make another one, I will not use quite as many filters. I still need to make a ribbon so I can hang it. If anyone has any blog posts about using ribbon to hang things, I'd love to read it. I also think my next wreath will be white. This was so simple and cheap, I'm sure I will make at least a few more. Stay tuned for my latest finds, I'll be blogging about soon!

Catching Up!

The weeks have been flying by around here lately and I've been working on a lot of little projects around the house. Winter will soon be here so my spray painting days have come to an end for now but I'll be back at it in the spring! This past Monday through Wednesday we were in the 60's here which is unseasonably warm for this time of year. I had Mr.A install our new front door with the help of my dad and so when the nice temps were here I decided to quick throw some paint on the door before winter. Trying to pick a paint color was too much stress so I just grabbed a color and regreted the decision as soon as he started mixing it. Oh well, at least the door has some paint on it and I can repaint it in the spring. What's the old saying, Haste makes waste? So true.
I also purchased some black paint so I could paint a coffee table I found on Craigslist for a mere $10. I don't have a before picture but it was a reddish brown with a big old red circle on the top where some nailpolish spilled and they tried to take it off with nail polish remover. Nothing a little paint couldn't fix and I like that the legs have a little character to them. Here it is how it looks now.

I also used the black paint to paint the back of my entry doors. Here are the doors and of course I don't have a before. sigh. I also need to purchase some more trim paint so I can paint the pieces that need to go around the front door and touch up the spots on the back door that I somehow managed to get black paint on. I even used painters tape this time! I usually like to play it dangerous and see if I can paint without taping.

The front door which Mr.A just installed.

This is the side/back door which has our little mud room area.

I'll post some more stuff in the next few days. I'm off to bed soon, had a busy but refreshing weekend away with Mr.A and no children!!!