One hesitation I had with wood floors in the kitchen was that it would also mean wood floors in the mudroom. It’s ok. We’ll make it and I’m cool with it. And it means I get to pick out a rug. In really heavy traffic or soil areas, I like to get a beat up old vintage persian rug for a good deal. I love vintage persians practically anywhere. But getting a cheap one for an area like a mudroom feels so good because it is pretty, inexpensive, and makes me feel care free about it’s condition and maintaining it.
To quickly recap, we recently had two closets ripped out in here. Then we laid new floors. The walls were super patchy and dirty from the closet removal (and because I had been ignoring this room’s cleanliness because it was going to be renovated soon.)
black & white kitchenaid mixer | articulating sconces | farmer’s market calendar | cabinet knobs | drawer pulls | persian rug (similar)
I painted everything my beloved white (ralph lauren’s chalk white). In here I went with satin which is a departure from my pretty strong devotion to eggshell. A little extra wipeablilty felt like it would matter.
Also at the same time we swapped out all the outlets and switches for new ones which CONTINUES to be one of my favorite little fixes that makes such a difference in how updated your house feels. If you are getting by ignoring yellowed or almond colored outlets and switches, I think you will be so much happier if you swap them out. It is not expensive (like $1.50 for materials). While I am at it, I go ahead and get the tamper resistant ones because they are only like 10 cents more. If you are a moderate diy-er you could do it yourself. But even hiring an electrician to do it would possibly be not expensive because it is so simple. We are changing them room by room as we work on them and it always delights me when they are fresh and new.
And even if you have been following what I’ve been blogging lately about our mudroom’s design and progress, you may not realize it has a hidden past. Three years ago when we bought this house from an older woman living alone, this area had a standing tub installed. These two photos are of the same view!
You may see there is a weird little cubby on the wall. It has like, some valves in it? I don’t know what for. I think a laundry option since there is an outlet in the middle of the wall there too.
My vision is to have built in cabinetry here, so right now my goal is just to make this end clean and neutral. And a weirdly placed but still crisp white outlet bothers me like zero percent.
So I’ve added a great persian I adore. (Here’s a pretty good mass produced one that is similar for only $55!) I found that shoe bin while thrifting (documented on my instagram stories). I wavered at first because it was $12 at a more high end thrift store. Then I thought about how many of my go-to places to shop at a mid level price range (target, world market, urban outfitters, craft stores) just are not selling pieces like that and they would definitely be more than $12 if they start.
Metal is perfect for shoe storage because it is so easily cleaned and sanitized. And a bin for shoes needs to be a good size. The little wool basket is from target. I love having these for storage here. They are mostly just for children’s shoes. And the little one is actually for the kid socks. Having those right by the door is so convenient. And children can get their own items and help with clean up.
Now next we we will do some hooks for functionality and art. That will make the mudroom complete except for the second phase of one day doing the built in cabinetry. And when I will do that depends on how much I find myself feeling like I need more storage! So much prioritizing when you’re renovating a home. There’s always a hundred things you could do, so we just have a lot of list making and conversation to decide what most will make a difference to our family.
