Mudroom

We have been in the house for almost 3 months and we are loving it. We have met so many wonderful people who have welcomed us and made us feel like we are home here on Signal Mountain, TN.

We've had a revolving door of family and friend visitors this summer and bookings are now available for the fall for the "Warehouse Mountain B&B". haha. We still have so much to explore and plan to hike the mountain and caves this fall when the weather cools down. 

H1 started kindergarten, H2 started preschool 2 days a week and H3 is getting some one-on-one time for a change, when brothers are in school. The pups love their dog door & backyard dog run. E has been working some long hours but still finds the energy to rock 'n roll with the boys as often as possible. 

The mudroom has become my favorite room in the house, because it is so functional and hides the mess of life. This room captures the shoes & socks, work & school bags, coats, table (for laundry folding, standing desk, diaper changing pad), office supplies, art supplies, extra clothes for little ones who can't yet dress themselves, calendar, kids art work, keys, mail, papers to file...you get the idea: MULTI-functional room. 

Before: this was a breakfast nook. We switched out the light fixture & flooring.

With the window mullions and screens off, it feels like a sun room!

The upper cabinet is repurposed from the original kitchen. I painted the upper cabinet, walls, trim, bench and shiplap wall. The dresser was E's dresser when he was a kid- built solid. 

The countertop is from Ikea, purchased in Atlanta and rode on the top of our vehicle to Collierville, where we ended up not using it. It rode on the moving truck to this new house and finally taken out of the box 2 years after purchasing. (sometimes it IS good to save things... just in case). 

There is some clearance between the dresser-top and countertop, so the computer printer and diaper changing pad are stored here when not in use. 

We added a wall and door here to separate the new mudroom space from the kitchen. 

Shiplap and custom shoe bench were built by our talented contractors/carpenters. 

The kids each have a basket that slides under the bench to store shoes. E & I put our shoes on the little shelf. Hooks for coats & bags. 

Upper shelf & baskets store seasonal items, Winter: hats & gloves; Summer: sunscreen & bugspray.

 Before blank wall is now the Ware Art Gallery.

Art Gallery

I used some inexpensive curtain rods and rings with clips to create this art display area. Its also used for cards, photographs and invitations.

  I wanted a bit of GLAM somewhere in this frat-house. A $4 can of spray paint and BLING BLING- this mama feels fancy. I painted items I already had and they feel brand new. Knobs, basket, file organizer, curtain rod & rings for art wall are now GOLD.

 Gold Contact Paper as a backdrop for the family calendar. I keep our schedule on my phone calendar but I also like an oversized paper one so E can see what is planned.

Mason Jar pen holders with added gold accents

File folders labeled : IN, NEEDS ATTENTION, FILE. 

GOLD handles and of course every drawer is labeled. 

Love-obsession with my label maker- I think I have a problem. 

A shoe organized re-purposed as a hat holder hangs on the back of the mudroom door. And safety first: a fire extingusiher close to the kitchen just in case.  

And because I like to keep things honest, here is a not-so-picture-perfect shot of what the mudroom usually looks like: laundry, dog beds, dirty diapers and at least one person running around naked. 

I love my crazy life ;)