Making over the mudroom

In addition to chatting with the Home Depot's Frank Turco about mudrooms last week, I was also taking on a mudroom makeover of my own.

The mudroom was a later addition to our home. In fact, the light in there is an outdoor model, and you can still see the spot where the house numbers used to hang!

Because it's such a small space, it didn't rank high on our list of to-dos, so it quickly became a crammed, and kind of mucky, storage spot. 

But, with the temperatures starting to drop (I froze on my way to work this morning!), I needed to clean it up so I could haul out our arsenal of winter coats, boots, scarves, mittens and hats.

Plus, it is the first thing people see when they walk into our house, and the crammed, grubby space was so not setting the right tone.

So, first order of business was clearing out the boxes that were stowed there "just for a day or two" back when we moved in, and giving the space a thorough cleaning.

Then, armed with a can of Boomerang paint, I took the walls from beige to a soft green, echoing the colours in the rest of the house. I also gave the ceiling, which had been painted beige like the walls, a fresh coat of white to try to make the space look more intentional.

The paint alone made a huge difference! The space (while nearly impossible to photograph - sorry!) now looks like it's part of the house, instead of just an add on. And, there's room for my boots and coats.

Of course, like all things in my house, it's not quite done. I'd love to replace the flooring next spring, and we need to install a more stylish wall sconce to replace the gold, outdoor model that we inherited from the previous owners. But, it's now functional and ready for winter - and apparently, not a moment too soon!