My Mudroom Renovation is Complete

As you step into the house from the back door, this is what you now see ... but it didn't always look like this. When I moved into this house last fall, I used this space as my office. It was functional, but it was not conducive to writing!

My son asked if he could move his bedroom to the basement, and I said yes. We moved his furniture downstairs and I moved my office furniture into his old room. We're both thrilled with the change. The basement bedroom is much larger than his old room, but his old room is the perfect size for my office. When I moved into this house, I already knew what I wanted to do to transform the mudroom from blah to "how cute!", but I had to put those plans on hold because I was using it as my office. Now I was free to execute my vision. 

With the furniture gone, I had an messy tangle of internet equipment and wires. First, I drilled a hole in the bottom of the upper cabinet, which was well over an inch thick (they don't make cabinets like this anymore!). I "hid" the modem and cords in the cabinet to get them out of sight. I drilled another hole through the top of the cabinet (which was also over an inch thick) so that I could set the wireless router on top. It wasn't fun to drill those holes, but at least I can be certain those cabinets are sturdy enough to hold whatever I put in them.

Then, I added bead board .,.

Next came a really cute bench ...

a ladder shelf with baskets ...

then molding and trim ...

I secured the coax cable and gave everything a couple of coat of white paint. When the paint was dry, I hung coat hooks, and re-hung the white picture frame a little higher (to clear the molding that wasn't there when I originally hung the frame). Lastly, I attached a black wire basket attached to the top of the ladder shelf, and hung a die-cut "Give Thanks" above the shelf ... and the room is done!

I'd like to find a couple of throw pillows and a jute rug for the floor, but I have rugs by all the doors, so those things aren't a necessity. I'll just keep my eye out and pick up those items when I see something that strikes my fancy. Even without those final finishing touches, I am very pleased with how well it turned out!