For the Spring 2021 One Room Challenge I am taking on our Mudroom. This is the workhorse of the house. It has to be filled with functional storage for all seasons, and ours is an unusual, dark room which needs more light, too. I’ll let you in on the inspiration board as well as plans for this welcoming room where organization and storage are critical — all infused with some Mid Modern style. Be sure to check in on all of the other ORC projects on the ORC blog here.

So, it has become customary for me to begin with an update on the garden.

First and foremost: my roses have started to bloom! The houses in our neighborhood were built in 1958, and each house was, according to our neighbor, given 3 rose bushes. Our red roses may be one of the original bushes planted in 1958 — at least that’s what our neighbor thinks. And all of the roses have begun to bloom! Prepare yourself for flower photos on Instagram!

We spent a lot of time this weekend doing unglamorous things like hauling gravel and moving river rock from one place to the next. Previous residents of this house used gravel and river rock with abandon — and sometimes just dumped it for no good reason. So we keep having to move it! Good thing it isn’t heavy or anything. We are using it to line paths between raised beds and to keep plantings away from the new fence as well. Someday we will cover the ugly gravel with a layer of pea gravel to make it prettier, but this makes a good substrait.

I am also experimenting with an ancient garden watering system: the olla. Sometimes called a Roman Pot, ollas have been used for millennia on multiple continents for watering crops in dry areas. If this is successful, I’ll create a tutorial for how to make them — they are really easy! I’ve placed them in the beds with our pumpkins and melons to keep these water-hungry plants happy.

We worked a bit on the pergola last weekend. When we had to take down our 70 year-old maple tree a few months ago, we lost all of the true shade in our yard. So we are building some. The pergola structure is nearly done which means I will need to sew the shades soon. And we built several of the planter boxes which flank the pergola as well. The hard work is yet to come: digging out the ground underneath and filling it with decomposed granite. That will happen soon, though.

A Note about the One Room Challenge… and before we go on, I’m going to tell you something that’s really important to me. Unlike a lot of ORC participants, I don’t save it all for the big reveal. Some people want to keep their readers guessing, and that’s a choice. I actually hate that approach, though. I feel like it gives people unrealistic expectations for home renovations.

I also am not going to stage this room for the big reveal. Part of this project is a storage room. We don’t have a garage, attic, basement — this is it. And it would be disingenuous to only put the pretty stuff in, dress a few shelves with plants, and tell you it was done. That’s not real. I will make this room as beautiful as it can be, but you’ll also see a lot of toilet paper, mis-matched plastic bins, and the real stuff it takes to run a house because that’s what will always be in this room.

And now for an update on the progress…

Part One: The Storage Room

For those of you who are new: the Mudroom is an L-shaped space with two functions: the entryway and the storage room.

I did exactly nothing in this part of the room this week except retrieve some toilet paper for one of the bathrooms. That’s it. More yet to do, but it is in pretty good shape.

Part Two: The Mudroom

This week we had to do a lot of waiting. Last week we installed the new light fixtures, but in doing so we discovered a wiring problem which required an electrician. But now the fixtures are in, the proper lightbulbs arrived, and the room is lit at last! It’s astonishing what a difference this makes! Before, even with the light on, I had to open the door to be able to take a photograph in this room. We have been so used to this being a dark room, it’s going to take some time adjusting.

What’s the difference? We went from a fixture with two bulbs and a frosted glass shade, to one with five bulbs and no shades. We did the same in the storage area where we went from two single-bulb fixtures with frosted shades to dual-bulb sconces with no shade — doubling the light in that little room.

Overhead lighting shouldn’t be the primary lighting source in lots of living spaces — a bedroom for example. It is too harsh and casts lots of shadows. But in a utilitarian space like the Mudroom, it’s essential. Now finding things will be so much easier, and flipping on a light when coming home will be much more welcoming on a cold winter night.

And I can’t wait to get the new door in…

The rug I ordered arrived, but it is much more blue than I had hoped. It was described as being green and looked green in the photos, but it tends toward blue. I am on the fence about keeping it.

I am hard at work on the vintage door for this room. This is one of those times when I really miss having a garage. We set up a temporary work space under the pergola which is great unless it rains, so I am hustling to get the doors sanded and finished.

If you are just joining me, these doors came out of a Mid Century church. I got them from a local architectural salvage yard, and they were a tiny fraction of what a new door would have cost! Added bonus: there are two! So I’ll be replacing both the mudroom door and the front door — both of which are on the same side of the house and visible from the street. Emtek sent me some gorgeous hardware, too. I can’t wait to install it!

In removing the hardware, I found big holes which will need to be patched. That sealed it: I am going to paint both sides of the doors rather than staining one side. I am excited about bringing another pop of color into the room, too. 

The doors still had their original finish and are in amazing shape. I started sanding with 100 grit sand paper which took most of the finish off. Then I followed with 120 grit. I’m nearly done with one side of each door — just have to finish the fine sanding of the trim around each window. Then I will flip them and do the other side the same way.

Ok. I have a date with a sander, so that’s all for today! Follow me on Instagram where I’ll post about the doors as I work on them. I am soooo in love with them!

The Design Priorities

So where are we on the project plan? Well, I’ve distilled this project down to three big design priorities:

• Function and Storage: there’s a lot to fit into this strange little room without allowing it to look crammed. We’ll see if I can accomplish that!

• Light and Lighting: this room has no windows, so we will be replacing the exterior door with something that will let in some natural light. We will also replace all of the light fixtures in the space, too.

• Mid Century Style: it all has to work together, and the room needs some style, too. I’ll be using a combination of new and vintage items to give it a Mid Century vibe — I’m thinking Mid Modern Milan, personally.

I said it last week, but it’s true this week, too: light and style. The function and storage are largely in place now. Having functional light fixtures makes a huge difference, and that new door will be bringing all the MCM glam when it is done! I can’t wait!

Clean and crisp. White and wood. The Mid-Modern Mudroom Makeover will bring functional design and organization into one of the hardest-working rooms of our home. With a combination of vintage pieces, easy-to-clean fabrics, and storage solutions for every season, the result will be a mudroom that nods to our home’s Atomic Ranch roots while making space for our 21st century family.

To Linda Weinstein, the creator of the One Room Challenge, I offer my most sincere thanks. Thank you for offering this kind of opportunity and for opening it up to anyone. And to Better Homes and Gardens, the ORC media sponsor: thank you for making this possible! And to all of the other ORC participants: I’ll be sure to stop by to admire your work! It is always fun to do this together!

Thanks for following along! I’m so excited for the next phase!

Cheers!
Angela

Thanks to my sponsors for this project! Interested in being a sponsor? Let me know!

Don’t miss a single update!

Sign up and each installment of the One Room Challenge will come directly to your email on Thursdays! And be sure to stop by the One Room Challenge Blog to check out the other creative renovations happening across the country. You can also follow #oneroomchallenge and #bhgorc on Instagram for more inspiration! Be sure to follow me as well!

@MidModernMama

Pin it!