Closet to "Mudroom" Transformation

I've mentioned before how much I hate our front entry and closet. The space is just too small to work properly - that and the closet door opened into the room further bottle necking traffic.

Could have sworn I had a better picture. I'm standing in the front door frame to take this and there is no space to the left. The closet door opened to the right into what is the size of a doorway leading into the living room.

Well, we solved that problem. Awhile back when Beth at Home Stories A to Z was talking mudrooms, I told her my dream was to turn my closet into a a pseudo-mudroom, and I finally did it!

First we took the bi-fold door off and removed the track. Easy peasy. We knocked the shelf out and removed the hanging rod.

The inside was painted to match the rest of the room and the holes left by the rod where patched and sanded. 

Bad pictures! Sorry.

Mateo used scrap wood cut to fit the holes and then some putty and sanding to smooth it out.

The harder part was the bench. The back of the closet near the floor is angled because it sits over the stairs to the basement. So Matt had to build around that and close it in so it was hidden. He also wanted it to be strong enough to hold the monkey boys who were bound to climb up on it.

Some priming, caulking and painting, and viola! the bench was white. We added five double hooks for hanging coats and whatnot.

The sign was a gift from my parents. It reads: Please excuse our messy house, the kids are making memories.

I'd like to get a different basket, actually, something a bit smaller so I can have two. I'll use those in the winter for mittens and hats and whatever other odds and ends need a home.

The basket is angled and sticks out a bit too much. It's hard to see in the picture.

I did not remove any walls, and yet it feels so much more spacious at the entry. It feels usable now too. The bench can hold purses or other items. Using a hook is so much faster than a hanger, so it should help flow issues.

Color info: The walls are Coventry Gray by Benjamin Moore and the Trim is Mayonnaise by Benjamin Moore (but I actually had that color matched at Home Depot in Behr paint).

New and Improved Closet

I'm embarrassed to show you this, but you need to see it to understand how bad it was.

My closet. Well, Mateo's and mine. It's not very large. We have an older house that has a larger master bedroom, but it's not connected to a bathroom. We gave our son the actual master so he could have more space to play. The only downside is we have a smaller closet.

I'm 5'5". That shelf is pointless. It's a mess because I had to toss things up there.

So, Mateo took out the shelf and rod and raised them. I can easily reach the hangers and he can still reach the upper shelf. Must be nice to be tall. ;)

Then we got ClosetMaid shelves, and added two to the bottom of the closet.

They are wire shelves which I was against, until I learned that we could line them with cedar planks. (My closet smells awesome now!)

Also, the closet system has the option of a wood trim front, so we added that as well.

Now I can reach all my clothes! And, bonus, actually see them when I am trying to pick out something to wear.

The shelves don't go all the way across to accommodate long hanging items, and also taller boots from the bottom.

So, just forget you ever saw that first picture, okay? And focus on the new and improved closet.

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Four to Fix and One I Like

Howdy! I thought I'd show you a few things that need some attention around here and one success. Good? Good.

First up, my crazy coat closet. There is virtually no point to having this closet. You can see in this picture that there is hardly any space between the front door and the closet. The closet is directly across from the front door in the picture.

Not much room to maneuver, but then, here's the real kicker, the door opens the wrong way! It opens into the flow of traffic so you can't get people in the door and hang up their coats. 

This leads to gathering guests' coats and tossing them in a bedroom, and, unfortunately, leads to a pile of coats on the floor in front of the closet when our family tries to all get in at once. Oh, who am I kidding. I throw my coat on the floor even if I'm the only one coming in.

It's not just a space issue on the outside; it's a space issue on the inside as well. Teeny tiny. Hanging space is okay, but because the ceiling to the downstairs steps is on the other side, it's shallow and there is only enough floor space for boots my size, not even my husband's size. 

(This is the best I can do on the pic without standing outside my front door, it's that tight of a space, and it's much too cold out right now.) 


I'm going to knock it out. I will turn the lower space into a bench, possibly with a lift up lid for storage and then add hooks. It won't help make the space any bigger, but it will look bigger and hooks are faster to use than hangers which should eliminate the whole pile of coats issue.

Here are my pillows. They are okay. 

I still like the colors, but these are just very tired (and don't look too closely, they're stained too). I've had them for about four years now. I have these beautiful orange curtains so I intend to keep the general color scheme, but I will be hitting up the fabric store soon to diy up some new cheery pillows. 

By the way, I love the bright days we are having, but the glare off the snow is making it difficult to give you guys decent pictures. Anyways, I'm keeping the orange and green and maybe tossing in some sky blue. I'll see what I find. I'm also planning to make them all different. They'll "go" together, but they won't match. Then I hopefully won't feel ocd about how the pillows need to be placed on the couch to "look right."

This wall has been in need of help since we moved in. 

I didn't have a piece of art big enough and so it remained bare. I also didn't want that movie stand there, but I had few options. After the built-ins are done downstairs, the movies will go away and the stand will be moved to the dining room and converted into a bar. Stay tuned for that.

I was happy to add color when we moved in, having lived with rental white for so long, but even after adding color, it still felt bare in here. I need texture! So, I'm not going to spill the whole story yet, but let's just say : burlap. I can't wait. 

Numero cuatro is the spice rack.

It has turned on me. It used to be tucked into a pantry and was so wonderful with it's deep shelves (it was really designed for a laundry room), but this tricky beast has been attacking me. Whilst picking up things from the floor I have concussed myself on this more than once and those wire shelves really dig in and keep the pain a-comin'! It has to go.

I want to punch into the wall and build shelves between the studs, then put a door on it. I can't really take any floor space in that area, so I think this is the best way to tuck all those spices away. Maybe some day I'll clean up all those coupons stuck to the side of the fridge too, but that may be dreaming too big. :)

So, that's a taste of some of the small-ish projects that I'm contemplating. One small project that I am in love with is this:

My chalkboard wall. I had this problem. I painted my living room this creamy yellow color and I loved it. It's bright and warm. I painted my kitchen a spring willowy green color. It's pale but not pastel and I'm in love with it too. (Did you know that the color you paint your kitchen will affect your appetite? Blue suppresses your appetite while warm colors enhance it. I pick green because green, in nature is pretty neutral.) The problem was when I looked at this short little wall where my green kitchen meets my yellow living room and groan! it looked like a gender neutral baby room. Blah!

I had to fix it. But I didn't want to give up either color. I decided the little wall had to be a different color so that the green and yellow weren't really next to each other. My mom was skeptical when I told her I was going to paint the wall black, floor to ceiling. But so far everyone likes it. It works perfectly to break things up. I hung a picture on that wall to break up the black, but it never really is just black anyway because the boys always have some drawings up there which is a happy thing.