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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

mudroom: the breakdown

I shared our finished mudroom yesterday, but here are some of the projects that made it all come together.

1) Ripping up the carpet. Josh sanded the floor to get all the glue off, then washed it with muriatic acid so it was a clean work surface. He filled in the carpet nail holes with cement and then painted and sealed the entire surface. This also meant getting new baseboards.

2) Building crates out of free pallets.

We measured the wall we wanted the crates on and decided we wanted 4 crates. Then Josh did the math and cut up the pallet wood in order to make 4 identical crates for shoes.

See his perfectly stacked pieces of wood?

Here they are in their natural state.

We decided we wanted to paint them, so we purchased a $5 mis-tint gallon and went to it.


We were really happy with the final result. Especially because they were free!
If you're wondering about the hello sign - that tutorial is here.

3) A dog bed for Baxter. One of the main reasons the idea for the mudroom started was Baxter. He comes in and out of this room and the carpet was quickly becoming stained with red Virginia clay.
Plus, it's a great room he can call his own. So, we decided to make a bed in there for him.


Josh used the same pallets and just sort of free handed this build. I had showed him this inspiration picture and he went off of that.


Baxter loves it.




4) A fabric covered bulletin board. I just took a regular old cork board I had lying around and un-hindged one of the corners so that I could remove the cork to cover it.

This also gave me time to spray paint the frame gray.

And then I had a perfect little note station.

5) Bird wall hangings. These were a $1 yard sale find and as you can see they were originally brown.

A few coats of aqua spray paint and now we have a fun pop of color on the wall.

6) Vintage framed map. This was a 3-year anniversary present for Josh. He had always wanted one and I finally found one to frame for him. I wrote "you mean the world to me" on the frame.


When we added it to the mudroom, I decided to make the "you mean the world to me" more prominent by writing it in stickers.



7) Installing the sliding glass door was the biggest project of all. It involved cutting through the wall, rerouting electrical, redoing drywall, and actually installing the door. Josh, with the help of our friend, Lucas, completed all the work themselves.

Here's what we started with:



And then after the wall removal:



 Josh's sidekick wanting to get in on the action.

(You can get a glimpse of the comical miniature fan in this picture.)

But poor Baxter was mostly resigned to this position while the work was in progress.



Installing the sliding glass door.



And putting in studs to redo drywall.



Finally all came together to equal this:


We were able to save hundreds of dollars by purchasing this sliding glass door for $75 on craigslist.


The entire redo cost us less than $200 including the door.
And we couldn't be happier with the outcome.
Huge shout out to my handy hubby who made all of this possible!


Bring on the mud.

Monday, February 6, 2012

long time coming: mudroom reveal

So this has been a long time coming since I first shared my mudroom inspiration board.
But let's just say getting pregnant really zaps your energy for finishing projects.

Alas, I present to you: project mudroom.

Before:
This is the outside wall, which we knocked out to put in a sliding glass door:

And the inside - note the carpet and the back wall:


After:

In order to make this a practical mudroom, we installed 8 coat hangers along the main wall for lots of storage.

A thrifted valance find.

Easy access umbrellas for rainy days.

One of our best finds was this end-of-season bench at World Market for $40.

A thrifted suitcase sidetable.

This was my favorite yard sale find of last season. A 50's, art deco clock. 
I love that the numbers flip when the time changes.

Shoe storage was a major essential for this room.
 Josh built these crates out of old pallets and then we painted them.
He also built that bed for Baxter out of pallets.
Yes, that window will get a curtain...someday.



This is the first room we walk into when we enter the house, so a bulletin board to pin cards and notes just seemed right.


We brought in an old dresser for some additional storage. We use it to store odds and ends and Baxter's stuff.


I just have to smile when I see this chair and painting. As a spontaneous gift, Josh gave me $6 and told me to go make the most of it at the thrift store and these two items were it.
Aqua blue vintage school chair = $5
Vintage floral painting = $1




We finally found a home for Josh's map.

Another essential - a mirror by the door for doing double-checks before leaving the house.


The biggest changes we made were 1) ripping up the carpet and refinishing/painting the cement for easy cleaning 2) installing the sliding glass door for inside access to the deck.
Shout out to Lucas Dollarhite for helping with the install!


And don't forget the light fixture! I wish I had a before picture of the the miniature ceiling fan that was there before. It was quite comical.

So there you have it, our biggest diy project to the house to date.

I'll be back tomorrow to share some of our project breakdowns.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

valentine's day round-up

It's February 1. That means two weeks 'til Valentine's day, peeps.
So, to get you procrastinators (like myself) thinking in the right direction, here are some fun Valentine's Day ideas to get your wheels turning.

Sweet and easy for Valentine's Day.
Because everyone loves Rolos - or should.

Valentine's Day Eggs in a Basket
I did this last year for breakfast and it was a hit.

paper
Heart garland - simple, beautiful.

Martha Stewart homemade crepe paper flowers
Over roses? How about some pretty paper flowers?


LOVE Red Velvet :)
Red velvet. Enough said.

valentine wreath
Simple and adorable wreath for your door.

dollie
Because what is Valentine's Day without doilies?

Cute for Valentine's Day
A simple, thoughtful gift.

Breakfast for two. So cute!
Nothing says romance like breakfast in bed.

Valentine's Day Coupons
A super cute free printable.


Got any other good ideas to share?