A major mudroom makeover...

Dingy, disorganized, dowdy ~ that has been my mudroom since I bought this house. Finally, after redecorating the rest of the house this past year, I decided it was time to do something about it.

It was my kitchen makeover that jumpstarted things. While re-doing the kitchen, I decided I had to move some things out of it ~ appliances that were taking up space on the counter, extra dishes used only occasionally filling precious cupboard space, etc. Of course, that meant those things needed somewhere to go. Since the mudroom is directly off the kitchen, it seemed the obvious answer, especially since the room has plenty of space (or it would have once I got it cleaned out and organized).

Here’s what the mudroom looked like before:

Like I said, dingy, dirty ~ just a mess. Those cupboards beneath the windows were piled high with things until we got some great stainless steel shelves and were able to sort and clear things off. It also helped that we were finally able to move a large toolbox out of the room ~ the shelves went where that used to stand.

The shelves are pretty much industrial strength, made to hold a lot of weight ~ perfect for heavy appliances and pans and stacks of dishes. The best part is they are on casters and are extremely easy to move if necessary, even fully loaded. 

As you can see, this is where the overflow of kitchen supplies went. I love it because even though these things are no longer in the kitchen, they are just a couple of steps away and are so much more readily accessible. Really, it turned out to be a wonderful solution.

Since the shelves are stainless steel, I decided to take my cue from them for the colors in the room. I wanted bright, bold and fresh, so I went with a bright yellow on the walls (which was very close to what was on there originally, though it had gotten desperately dingy), and a deep tropical blue and bright and sunny green for accent colors. 

Here’s another before photo...

And after...

I pained the outside of the back door the same yellow as the front door. It is a different yellow than the walls, however. The inside of the door is white.
Our very dingy cupboards before...

And after some gorgeous teal paint...

I decided to do painted stripes around the top of the room, getting rid of the old, dowdy wallpaper border. I ditched the old valences, too ~ the room is brighter and looks fresher without anything at the windows. 

While I call this room our mudroom, it’s also our laundry room. As you can see below, before there was too much stuff crammed on the little shelf above the washer and dryer. You could also see the pipes and things behind the appliances. I painted the little shelf bright green and then skirted it to get rid of the unsightly pipes. And, I used baskets to help organize laundry necessities.

Now there is a place for everything and when I’m changing laundry, I don’t have to look at all the pipes and things.

You may have noticed that my laundry baskets match the new color scheme. That was purely accidental. That often happens to me ~ I find things that I bought awhile ago suddenly go wonderfully with whatever new look I’m working on. A happy accident, as they say.

In addition to the new paint, I added a few pieces of art that I created and a bright magenta rug that used to be on the front porch. After being scrubbed and organized and repainted, our mudroom/laundry room now feels fresh and clean and bright ~ and it’s so much more useful. It’s actually a pleasure to open the door and walk in.

I am linking to:
Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House
Blue Monday at Smiling Sally
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Photos by The Art of Living Beautifully