Do you ever tackle a home project that then snowballs into more and more projects? Well that’s what happened to me, dear friends. A little over a month ago, I tackled the lovely wall in our pantry area using beadboard and the lovely black and white tree printed wallpaper. I think I even joked in the reveal post that I was wanting to carry that into our mudroom.
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Well, the idea stuck and that’s what brings me here today.
Before I get into the details of our Mudroom 3.0, let’s back up just a bit, shall we?
This was our mudroom after I completed it in September of 2019. Honestly, it was fine and was a great budget friendly project that resulted with us having a place to hang coats and drop bags right inside the back door.
In July of 2021, I decided to give this space a little refresh with a coat of dark, moody teal paint and we really loved the bold pop of color that felt a bit like a warm hug when we got home.
The look was great but the function was a little lacking. The space always looked cluttered and messy and it bothered me that the first thing we see when we get home was a mess.
More recently in the new pantry area, I’ve noticed that slowly the pegs have gotten filled up more and more with coats, dog leashes, and other things and while it makes sense being so close to the back door, it was becoming more clear that our mudroom wasn’t doing its job.
I started brainstorming ideas. I measured for a true coat closet only to confirm there wasn’t enough depth for hangers. I considered simply ripping out the bench and extending the same wall treatment from the pantry the entire length of the room from pantry to laundry sink. That’s where I was leaning simply because we’d gain more hooks to hang coats on but then a photo inspired me.
It’s funny when and how inspiration can strike sometimes. I was actually researching green paint colors for our family room when I stumbled on some images from this blog post.
I don’t know what it was exactly because the Studio McGee – Northridge Remodel looks nothing like our mudroom yet something about it instantly gave me an idea for our tiny space. We didn’t have room for a coat closet or even lockers but we do have room for some vertical cabinets to give us some added storage to help deal with some of the clutter.
That night after B got home from work, I showed him a sketch I’d done with measurements and a materials list to get his opinion. AFter a slight eye roll because I’m constantly adding new projects to our already long list, he agreed that it was a good solution to our problem.
After a little price comparison, we decided that it made more sense to buy pre-made cabinets instead of building from scratch. This would not only save a little money, but be a lot easier and take less time.
We used three 15 wide x 30” high wall cabinets from Home Depot, with a 2 x 4 base for them to sit on. With 101” high ceiling height, this left a bit of space at the top which I closed in with a scrap board to make the cabinets look like they were built-in.
Because these cabinets (Home Depot – pre-made unfinished) don’t match our shaker cabinets on the other side of the doorway, I had to get creative with how to make them feel more like a part of the rest of the house. I decided to trim the doors down and swap out the hardware so they are more inset rather than on top of the frame.
This allowed the doors to be ripped down just enough that it removed the rounded edge giving them more of a shaker style look. They aren’t an exact match, but the look is more in the ballpark and I think it elevates these generic, pre-made cabinets a bit.
I found these inexpensive non-mortise hinges on Amazon in a lovely brass finish that work perfect for this project. Honestly, the quality isn’t great but I think they will be OK for cabinets that aren’t going to be used super hard.
Because I used up the last of the leftover beadboard in the pantry, I had to figure out something else for the wall. This beadboard paneling is a great alternative and because I only needed one sheet, it cost less than $30. I was able to reuse a lot of the trim boards from the mudroom to add the cap at the top and down the side.
I stopped the beadboard short of the wall heater so running a small piece of trim down the side gave the beadboard a nice finished edge. I had quite a few shaker pegs left from the pantry so they were installed and painted to match the woodwork.
Even though I wasn’t originally planning on using the bench again, it was a near perfect fit so we framed in the bottom to match the cabinets and I gave it a fresh coat of paint.
The last element I added was the shelf at the top with the wooden brackets. I’ve always used black metal ones, but really wanted something that felt more crafted or like it could have been part of the house originally. It’s a different look from what I’m used to, but I really love it.
It’s not a coat closet, but we are hoping that the added closed storage helps keep the clutter more managed and the addition of more hooks to hang coats on, the room won’t feel like it’s drowning.
Resources:
15” x 30” Unfinished Wall Cabinets: Home Depot
Unfinished Beadboard Panelling
Antique Brass Non Mortise Hinges
Brass Door Pulls – Champagne Bronze currently sold out
Paint: Lafayette Green, Benjamin Moore
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