My Magical Mudroom Makeover & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up On the Edge #717

Be forewarned…this is a very long post because this was a very long project.

My magical mudroom makeover is nearly complete. I said I wasn’t going to share the transformation until it was totally finished, but the last few little details that I want to add may take some time. I will share my ideas about those final details after I share all the work that I have already done.

Project Pantry was definitely a labor of love and a learning experience. Of all the room makeovers that I have completed over the last few years, this one was by far the biggest job and took the most time, about 8 weeks of toiling away in the heat and the humidity of the summer months. As hard as it was, I really did enjoy every step of the process and I even overcame some serious fears, too. Plus the results are simply magnificent and I get a bit happier every time I step into my magical mudroom.

For those of you who may not know exactly what a mudroom is, Merriam-Webster defines it as “a room in a house designed especially for the shedding of dirty or wet footwear and clothing and located typically off the kitchen or in the basement.” Our mudroom is in between the kitchen and basement. There is an entrance from the back door of the house. If you go down the steps, you go to the basement. If you go up the steps, you go into the kitchen.

Let me first share some photos of the dirty ole mudroom before I began the makeover. In the first photo, you can see that the upper level of the mudroom acts as our food pantry with the awful wire racks and the ugly beat up bookcases as storage. The other three pictures show the space after I emptied it out.

Details to take note of that were dramatically changed…the dark green walls, the very dirty white trim, the unpainted ceiling, and the worn out indoor/outdoor carpeting.

My vision was to tear down the hideous white wire wall racks and remove the beat up old bookcases that housed our nonperishable pantry items and replace them with two old dressers as pantry storage.

In order to empty the pantry so I could paint it, the very first step in this process was to find a temporary food storage solution that wouldn’t be too inconvenient for the months long process. So before I did anything in the actual mudroom itself, I took two old dressers that were being stored in my basement and did my very first furniture upcycle project using chalk paint.

I have never used chalk paint before but I love the distressed finishes with a nice waxy shine so I really wanted to try it. My sister has been refinishing furniture using this method for years so I turned to her for guidance. Her first recommendation was to make my own chalk paint instead of purchasing it. Her reasons were that it is much cheaper to make yourself (about a 1/3 of the price of purchasing actual chalk paint) and you get many more color options when you make it yourself. It is super easy, too! It is simply a matter of choosing your paint colors and adding some Plaster of Paris and water to the paint until it becomes a thick chalky paste. The tutorial I followed called for 1 cup of paint, 2 tablespoons of Plaster of Paris, and 1 tablespoon of water. I found the consistency of these proportions to be too thin and runny and ultimately ended up using almost equal parts paint and Plaster of Paris. I added water a little at a time until I had the consistency that I wanted.

For these dressers, I purchased sample sizes of paint in bright orange and yellow for $7 each. One sample container provided enough chalk paint to cover one full dresser. Plaster of Paris is not very costly at all and I probably used only pennies worth of it for each batch of chalk paint. So for approximately $15 I had enough paint to complete two dresser makeovers.

The first dresser was left behind in the back corner of my basement by the former owners of our house. We tried for years to return all the stuff that was left in the basement until we completely lost touch with the former owners and claimed the stuff as our own.

First we removed the top two drawers and my husband created sheet metal shelves to fill those spaces. He also replaced the back of the dresser because it was all warped and coming detached. Then I got to work painting, distressing, and waxing.

I wanted to use the remaining drawers that were removed for the shelves as funky little shelving units on the walls. I did run out of the bright yellow paint before I got to the remaining two drawers so I used a lighter yellow paint that I had on hand for the ceiling. I attached the knobs backwards with them facing inside the drawer as that would the bottom shelf that would be most visible.

The second dresser was Archie’s baby dresser that we purchased brand new way back in 2010 when I was pregnant with him. He has since upgraded to a larger dresser and this one was sitting empty in my basement waiting for an upcycle idea to inspire me.

This dresser had more surface area so the sample sized paint covered only the dresser. For the drawers, I used the same orange paint that was used in the boys’ colorful bedroom makeover. For the remaining two drawers that will be used as shelves, I used a lighter orange paint that I purchased for the pantry walls.

After the dressers were painted, distressed, and waxed, they sat in the garage for about a week to allow the wax to harden and protect the surface before piling on the pantry goods. Then I moved the dressers into my dining room and moved all the food stuff and other pantry products into them, readying the mudroom for its paint job. Once the dressers were in the dining room, my husband called them Willy Wonka dressers which inspired me to keep going with this brightly colored palette.

Before I get to the room painting, however, I want to share one last furniture makeover. This old footlocker was also left in the basement by the former owners. Inspired by my husband’s Willy Wonka reference, I decided to paint it bright purple and had planned to use it for additional pantry storage. But it ended up not fitting at all so I just need to find a new spot for it. But it turned out so adorable that I had to share it here.

Now for the room painting. With everything removed, I was ready to tackle to this massive painting project. I really did like the original dark green walls but it was just too dark for an already dimly lit area. So I chose a similar shade of green to paint the trim instead. The white trim was just awful and ever so dirty. I scrubbed off so much filth from those railings, it was actually making me gag a little. I kept the green color on the lower area of the cement walls leading to the basement because it was much easier to paint those surfaces in the same color and the dark green will mask the dirt better.

I chose a terra cotta color which is a light shade of pinkish orange for the walls. I wanted to brighten up the dark space with as much color as I could and, boy, did this color do just that!

I had contemplated leaving the ceiling as it was, unfinished wood, but once the walls and trim were all painted, it just didn’t look finished so I chose a very light sunshiny yellow for the ceiling. This is where overcoming a major fear came in!

The ceiling is really high from certain points in the mudroom and required an 8 foot ladder which is too high for me and my fear of heights. So I solicited the help of my husband for the places I simply couldn’t reach from a comfortable height on the ladder.

I have to share some background about this…

Ever since I painted our first home shortly after we were married, my husband has been banned from touching the paint brushes. He is really bad at painting, y’all! I know it, he knows, and now you all know it, too. But I asked for his help anyway because I am equally bad at climbing tall ladders.

As I watched him effortlessly scale his way to the top of the ladder without any fear, I felt relieved that he could manage painting the spots I could not reach. Until he started whipping that brush around with unnecessary fury as paint was flying and spraying everywhere. I could hear my mother’s voice as I blurted out, “If there is paint flying off your brush, you have too much paint on your brush!” My anxiety could not handle how he was messing up my detailed work. So I decided right in that moment that I had to conquer this ladder-fear and apply the second coat of paint myself.

The next day, I climbed straight up to the top of that big ladder with my paintbrush in hand and prayed harder than ever for my spirit guides to hold me steady and guide my brush. I actually could feel my mother’s arms wrap around my waist, holding me steady and giving me confidence as my brush was guided easily and cleanly into the tight corners of the ceiling.

Guess what? With some determination and prayer, I managed to paint all of the hard to reach spots by myself! It was a super proud moment. I still don’t like heights or tall ladders but at least now I know I can do it if I need to do it. And please don’t think that I am lacking gratitude for my husband’s help. I am super grateful for everything he does. The man is just not any good at painting!

Another side story…I have been painting rooms since I was a young child. My mother was always repainting rooms and the front porch. Like on an annual basis. And we always had to help. So I am really good at painting. So good, in fact, that I only use painter’s tape around glass. Other than that, I don’t need it, so I don’t use it.

However, my husband is really good at taping off walls and corners! For years, he would tape off all of my painting projects but he never knew that I didn’t need the tape. And I let him continue doing it so that he would feel like he contributed. He was a little mad at me when I finally revealed this information to him. But, oh my gosh, it makes us laugh so hard.

Okay, okay. Let’s get on with this…

But first, a photo of our cats after Jeff removed their window seat (he’s really good at that stuff). Despite a very narrow windowsill, Dave and Frankie still managed to get their furry bottoms up in there to give me all the dirty looks that cats can give!

After the walls, trim, and ceiling were painted, I had intended to be finished with this project. But then we looked down at the horrible indoor/outdoor carpet that has 10 years of ick embedded in it and the next phase of the mudroom makeover was in full swing.

We knew there was hardwood underneath the carpet but we had no idea what condition the wood was in. Keeping ourselves on a very strict budget, I decided whatever condition I was met with, I would figure out how to paint the floor. This is one phase where my husband rocked! It took him a few hours after work for about 5 consecutive days to tear out all the carpet and the layer of linoleum beneath it, the rusty old nails and the ancient metal trim that was fused to the hardwood.

This is what was beneath…

Gross, isn’t it?

The next step was to get all the glue and goo lifted from the wood. That took me an entire week, working about 8 hours a day. Armed with a spray bottle filled with boiling hot vinegar water and a scraper, I painstakingly sprayed, soaked, and scraped every inch of the floor and steps until all the stuff was removed..

Then we encountered the need for another unexpected extra phase of Project Pantry. When Jeff tore up the carpet on the basement landing, he found that a few of the boards were really rotted so he decided to replace the entire landing. He also rocked at this part. I would not even know where to begin and he did the whole thing in about 4 hours.

Once the floor was as clean as I could get it, I set about to sanding with a borrowed orbital sander (thank you, Jeff’s work friend, for loaning me your sander). Because I needed to sand all of the wood three times, this part took about 2 full days. It also required careful sealing of the door into the kitchen, proper ventilation, and appropriate face covering. It was hot and humid and hard to breathe with that mask on but I have no idea what kind of toxic junk was in the antique floor paint and linoleum glue. So I masked up and got into a sanding trance.

Next I painted the floor boards with two coats of Kilz primer. The consistency of this primer is similar to Elmer’s glue which made it somewhat challenging to apply. The second coat went on a little smoother but it was still like painting with glue.

Finally, it was time to apply the paint and I was very excited to get started. Using the three paint colors that I had on hand for the walls, trim, and ceiling, I decided to paint the floor boards in alternating colors. After two coats of paint, I added a top coat of polyurethane. I literally was giggling when it was all done. It turned out even better than I expected and I love it so much!

My favorite reaction so far about this floor came from another one of Jeff’s work friends. As soon as he saw it, his voice went up about two octaves as he squealed, “Oh my God! Look at the floor! Look at the floor! Can I take a video and some pictures of the floor?!”

Once the floor was completed, I did need to let it set for a few days before moving the food back into the pantry. So I took the children and headed to my sister’s house in Pennsylvania for a few days. We spent three wonderful days sitting around her pool with our families. We never even left her house because we had everything we needed right there! My sister is the ice cream lady, after all. So there was an unlimited supply of frozen treats and cotton candy. What more do kids need in summertime besides cotton candy, ice cream, and a swimming pool?!

While we were at my sister’s house, we did convince Archie and his cousin Payton to recreate their Oogie’s Ice Cream truck photo from 12 years ago. I am still waiting for the teenagers to do the proper editing but here is the unedited version. I love them so much!

When we returned home from my sister visit, it was time to move the dressers and the food into the pantry.

Next, my husband hung two of the drawer shelves for additional food storage.

Finally, we put some nails in the walls to hang a few pots and pans and other kitchen items and then we hung my “In the Garden” rag curtain in the kitchen doorway.

My favorite reaction to this set up came from my neighbor. He said that the dressers looked like I cartoon-painted them right onto the wall!

With the pantry portion completed, the windows still needed decorating so I went with some original raggery creations. I made the raggy valance for over the cats’ window seat and then decided a raggy curtain was needed for the back door as well. We haven’t hung the door curtain yet because we need to get some specific hardware. I also added a tie dye door hanging on the outside to create a welcoming vibe. The back door was originally all white (and dirty). It is now dark green (and fresh and clean) with yellow trim.

We still had two more drawer shelves to hang and a lot of elevated wall space. Because they had to be placed too high up the walls for any practical purposes, I filled them with some fun bottles and jars that I made out of garbage.

There was still a large space of wall underneath the pinkish shelf that was perfect for this thrift store find. The original frame was a distressed black color. I painted it distressed purple to match the footlocker that doesn’t fit. But I love it anyway.

So Project Pantry is about 97% completed. The last little details include adding something to the top of the pinkish drawer shelf as well as filling the bottles on with more decoration. I had considered putting some kind of crawling plant on the top shelf but it would be too difficult to water it. I also want to get some hanging baskets for the wall at the bottom of the stairs right next to the door. We originally hand a corner wire shelving unit there but I don’t like it so I need to find some other creative wall storage idea.

The last detail is the best detail. I just need to get motivated to do it!

Remember the Willy Wonka comment? Keeping with this Wonka theme and because Gene Wilder is one of my favorite human beings to have ever lived, I am going to paint this graphic on the kitchen landing. I will add photos once I complete it.

This was a long and arduous makeover project but I really enjoyed every stage of the process. And I am so pleased with the results. I really do get a little happier every time I walk through the mudroom. And I walk through there countless times a day…so my happiness just keeps increasing!

Do these cheerful colors have that same effect on you?

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