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The Mudroom Nook--Part II..errr the Final Chapter.

December 16, 2011
Well, that was quick!  My plan was for this project to take three days.  A day for prepping and painting the walls, another day for painting all of the dingy and dirty trim and doors and then a little shopping and putting things back together on the third day.  My three day plan became a two day plan when we got word that Chris's parents are arriving Saturday morning, which meant I had to work double time to get this project done last night/in the wee hours of this morning, so today I could get other things ready (read: the house cleaned and the fridge stocked).  
In other words, lucky you!  I have "after" pictures for ya.  But first, catch a glimpse at these dysfunctional "befores.":


That little mudroom nook was a black hole.  So much stuff was crammed into a 30" wide space (more on that here) and even when I emptied it all out, hanging things so low on both sides just didn't make sense for us.  Here's what I came up with:

Chris cut trimmed down a shelf with hooks that used to be hanging in an upstairs bathroom to fit in the space perfectly.  We hung it much higher than the previous coat racks because 1.) We're tall.  2.) It heightens the space and makes it feel bigger and 3.) We wanted to make sure we would have room for extra storage underneath.

Enter leather storage ottoman:

This was the only thing I bought for the whole makeover (besides some gold spray paint, but I'll get there).  I knew I wanted an ottoman that had storage and fit the width of the nook for $50 or less.    Even though the space is 30" wide, with baseboards on either side, we needed something around the 28" mark for storage.  After lots of online searching with no luck, I almost asked for a budget extension--but decided to check Ross first with tape measure in hand.  This 28" tufted, dark brown, leather storage ottoman was $49.  (!!!) Huzzah!  We have our yoga mats, exercise bands, camera bag, tripod and even some blankets for the adjacent family room stored in there.  Love that thing.

With the bold paint and the dark ottoman, I did worry it would start feeling too dark back there, so  I decided to hang a simple full length mirror we've had since we got married to bounce off some light, not to mention a mirror kinda belongs by a house exit, right?  The only problem was--it was dark, too:

And dirty.  Oops.  I taped off the glass and spray-painted it with Valspar's Metallic Gold.  Once the mirror was hung, the whole space really began to evolve and make sense.  Grab your purse, check yourself and head out the door.

The gold mirror also made way for more little touches of gold.  Like the gold in the throw pillow that I got during my college days, pre-Chris.  The little frame on top of the shelf that holds a family picture and will most likely be joined on the shelf by keys and sunglasses.

With gold accents quickly coming to play, I grabbed this oil painting I did in high school (it was previously in our guest room/office) and hung it in the hallway, too:

Hard to believe it looked like this on Wednesday:

And the other side looked like this:

And now looks like this:

As much as I really don't like painting trim and doors, I have to admit it makes such a beautiful difference.  All of the trim in our house is beige-y cream and looks dirty and dated.  The extra effort to give everything a fresh coat of white paint really finished this space off. 
And if you are wondering where all of our coats and jackets went, I finally cleaned out the mini closet by the dining room and hung them in there.  Why did I wait so long?!

There you have it, friends.  A quick little revamp that turned a dysfunctional mudroom/black hole into a smashing organized nook:

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