Wednesday, April 5, 2017

The Most Important Room in the House? The Mudroom

In Maine, we don't have Spring - we have 'Mud Season'.  All that permafrost that's set up over the winter is starting to melt and venturing off your driveway could land you ankle deep in the soft, gooey mess.  Your rubber floor mats become the most important accessory in your car (okay, maybe right behind your cell phone charger).  And walking the dog means 20 minutes of clean up, when you return home, to get those muddy paws clean.

That's when you start to realize why we're so passionate about Mud Rooms up here (disclaimer - we don't have a mudroom in our own house, so all of this is said with Mud Room envy).  

This house has a brand new mudroom - and a pretty big one at that.  And I want it to be amazing!  It will have every detail that I'd have in my own mudroom......if I actually had one :-)

So we've started from the bottom up.  First step, a great floor.  We need a durable surface, that can stand up to beach sand, snow, ice and mud.  I found a great porcelain tile, that mimics stone, without all the maintenance.  And since the mudroom is where you strip off your boots and walk around in your socks, we've installed a heated floor, underneath this great tile. Won't that be a treat on a cold night?



















Next, we need storage.  With all our different seasons, everyone has a lot of coats (and boots and hats and gloves.....well, you get the picture).  And you need someplace to put all that stuff!  Not to mention beach stuff, when mud season finally retreats.

So I started with this Ballard Designs storage unit that I found on sale.  It has 2 big drawers below and a spacious cabinet at the top.  I really like it, but now that it's in the space, I think it's a bit short and squatty.  It looks odd, the crown molding is right at eye level and seems to be jutting out when you walk by.   So we're going to do a Ballard Hack!

To make it taller, Justin created an extra storage compartment in the middle (we plan to paint the whole thing white, BTW). This is a great place to put baskets, to store hats and gloves.

Next, he built a boot bench, so as you come in the door, there's a convenient place to sit down and remove your boots.  Of course it will have storage below for boots and shoes.  And once it's done, I've made this custom polka dot cushion to make it a bit more comfortable!

Mudroom Storage Wall - all the woodwork will be painted white

And on the opposite wall, he built a bead board wall for lots of coat hooks, to hang up all your stuff!
We just need to add coat hooks!
With all that white bead board, I'm thinking about Tidewater Blue on the section of wall at the top
Restoration Hardware Circa 1900 Steamliner Fixture in Polished Nickel
For lighting, we're installing these Restoration Hardware nautical style lights.  I LOVE them!!  There is only one bulb, so I'll install 2 of them, since the room is 13' long.

At the back of the mudroom, there's a powder room, which is also pretty convenient.  I'll be sharing more about that soon!

But for now, we're ready for mud season.  Bring on the spring thaw!!


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7 comments:

  1. Is your heated floor heated by electricity? How do you keep it from heating in the summer? Just curious. Sounds heavenly!

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    1. It's an electric mat - supposed to cost just pennies a day. And it has a thermostat, so you can set it at whatever temperature you want. Of course you could just turn it off in the summer!!!

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  2. This looks fantastic, and I love the cabinet hack!

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  3. This looks so good! I live in Massachusetts and we don't have a mudroom... and I am having serious mudroom envy too. Love the cabinet hack!

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  4. So happy to have found this blog!!! Love your work!

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    Replies
    1. Yay! Thanks so much and glad you discovered us - and we'll have lots to share in the next few weeks!!!

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