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.

It is blisteringly hot here. We don’t usually get this kind of heat in Colorado -- not this much for this long this early in the summer. It’s a bit of a shock, frankly. So I have been coddling my plants, watering them in the mornings to cool their roots for the day. Tonight I need to feed them all once the temperature cools down a bit.

But the roses! Let’s talk about the roses! June is busting out all over! If you’ve been around awhile, you may remember the story of our rose bushes. According to our neighbor, each house in this area was given several rose bushes as part of the landscaping in 1958 when the homes were built. We have three that might be some of those originals, at least that’s what our neighbor thinks. And their roots are huge and strong, so I think it is possible. 

Well, this week those buds opened, and we have been treated to a gorgeous flush of pink, magenta, and crimson. That these fleeting, living poems now thrive out my back door brings such joy.

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…

The Last Mudroom Update

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

I am writing this sitting outside on my patio, guarding my precious vintage doors. They are sanded and repaired, and I just put the first coat of primer on one side. I checked the weather today: no chance of rain. But as I was working, the wind picked up, the clouds moved in. It’s hot. Dry. And just plain odd. In Texas where I grew up this would be tornado weather. Here in Colorado, this kind of weather often means hail. So I am sitting watch, ready to throw something over the tops of the doors to protect them if needed.

Living without a garage is ok most of the time, but there are a few times each year -- a few projects or weather systems or something -- which make me long for a garage. Ironically, we ended up getting this house because a sale fell through: the other buyers decided they wanted a garage. We have lived without a garage in many of our houses, so we figured we could make it work. And we do, most of the time, but today I am sitting and waiting. 

Of course, this house used to have a garage. It is now the Mudroom and part of our living room. It was a one-car garage and a small one at that. Most of the houses in our neighborhood with the same garage style have converted them over the years -- some into living space like our house, some into two-car garages with an addition. Time marches on. 

The vintage doors seem to be a project that will never end! I sanded and sanded and sanded. And then we had to repair the places where the original handles were attached. My husband turned some plugs for each hole which we then glued in, shaved off, and sanded down. Then all of the holes and marks had to be filled with wood putty which then needed to dry. In total, this actually isn’t all that much work, but there’s a lot of waiting for things to dry — and then working and parenting. It just all slowed down this week.

But the scariest part of the project happened today: we cut each door to fit their new openings. Eek! Measure twice. Cut once. Breathe. I was terrified and left it to my husband’s more-than-capable hands. But now they are cut and primed. Hopefully the first coat of paint will go on this afternoon.

The paint color is a gorgeous peacock blue from Kelly Moore called Barbados Bay (KM5051). It is so yummy! I am painting both sides, so the color will carry through from the outside in both in the Mudroom and in the front entryway. I am not usually a blue person — green is my color — but this has just the right balance of blue and green, and hopefully it will pop both outside and inside, too.

I have a bunch of small projects in the works, but I have very little to report this week. We spent a lot of time this weekend working in the backyard and playing in the pool. It has been really hot here as it has been across the country which makes getting work done very slow. But I have the punch list ready, and I just have to pick off the small projects one by one to get them done. A dab of paint here. A few screws there. And a large-scale art project -- that one will be fun, but a good challenge! There isn’t much left to do! 

Ok. I have a date with a paint brush, 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.

This week was all about the doors. Now I just have to pull it all together!

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!

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@MidModernMama

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