Stuck in the Middle with You, Remodel

Ugh. I have a strong love/hate relationship with remodels.

I love the potential. I usually love the outcomes. But I hate the craziness it causes in day-to-day life as we try to work around construction and have people come in and out of the house. Conveying our wishes to the contractors and electricians is always tricky, too, because sometimes we speak different languages. They're all like 'that's not to code,' and I'm like, 'but my design!'

I told you we were going to tackle the mudroom, and here we are doin' it. The floor tile has been laid. The side closets have been stripped down to make room for bench seating. Some of the walls are painted before moving the washing machine and dryer back into place. There's a new light fixture.

The ugly brown door and yellow blinds remain in place for now, mocking me.

I think it's going to turn out well, but admittedly the middle is the point in remodels at which I get major doubts and unease. And you know, one of the major reasons why we chose this ol' home is because it had a mudroom we could work with. So, no pressure or anything. . . Eek!

Oh yeah, Mudroom

Its name is mud, or utility closet. Take your pick.

Remember when I showed you our ugly mudroom? Yeah, it still looks that way. But hey, I'm grateful to have one, even if it needs a lot of TLC.

By the time I have two kids in school (Homegirl just might start pre-school in the summer), I'd like to have this room remodeled. I already started talking to a contractor. Now I gotta draw up exactly what I'd like to have in this place and work my way down to the details.

General layout

So here is the layout as it could be framed out.

Kids' closet detailed

And this is what the section off to the right could be like.

Seating area detailed

The thing that's going to take a lot of consideration is what to do in the seating area. I've drawn out what I think should work above, but I don't want to have regrets due to a lack of imagination and experience. I don't want to say a couple of years from now, "Dang it, I wish I had left space for the kids' science projects,"  or whatever. I'm not even factoring room for sports equipment because that can go in the attached garage or, let's face it, I highly doubt my kids will be sportos.

Below you'll find the pins to which I keep coming back in order to make an informed decision:

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If there's anyone out there with strong opinions on design and who happens to read this blog, please let me know what you think!

Hot Mess: Mudroom

The insanity had to stop. We finished* up with some big remodeling projects in the basement, but there are monumental organization tasks to be addressed upstairs. They've been neglected, and now I can't take it anymore. Let's do this.

Starting with the mudroom:

This storage unit is going to stay. It's on the other side of the wall from the fridge, so it makes more sense to turn it into a pantry space. The shelves are adjustable, which is great. 

This has been the corner that has served as a pantry since we moved in. It's not functional. Small items tilt between the spaces of the grid pattern, the coated surface allows items to shift around like carry-on items on a plane. To the left of this area is a closet (there's no picture because, well, just envision a closet and you got the idea). I hope to turn that closet into a bench seating area like this where the kids can don/doff their outwear and,with that in mind, coats, gloves, hats, etc. can go to the right of it. 

You've heard of a junk drawer, right? This is our junk corner. In a game of musical chairs, the cleaning supplies that are being moved out of our current pantry will go here. I'd love to find something that works like a shower caddy to hold various bottles and jars all organized by their function. Any leads out there?

I hope to head out to IKEA tomorrow where I will pick up a few of these Kassett boxes. My plan is to use them to sort our outdoor accessories. With any luck I'll find containers for the cleaning supplies there, as well. By having everything in its own container, it'll be easier to put things back after the even bigger task of painting the walls. I'm pretty much certain I'm going to ditch the wallpaper and stencil them instead. We'll see. . .

*When I say finished, I mean the dust is no longer flying. There's still much to do in terms of completing the basement. Alas.

Designing a Mudroom

This is a big deal, people. The mudroom, methinks, is the most important room in the house.

My research into this task knows no limits at this point. I have been scouring Pinterest for mudroom examples, reading up on what people think is most important to consider BEFORE renovations, and  re-reading my go-to book for components of functional rooms:

Can be purchased here.

I'm also reflecting on what does NOT work in my current home. For starters, we don't have a true entryway.  Stuff always accumulates near the door and spills into our dining room. Then it's like herpes, the mess spreads easily and rapidly, and no one is happy.

So what am I looking to accomplish with the new home? Here are my goals:

• Create a small, but uber-functional laundry room (my current laundry room is actually quite large, so this is a change). Check out this video from BHG.com.
• Make room for a vertical freezer 
• Build a seating area with storage for the kiddos
• Organize the mini-office area to stop clutter in its tracks
• Include a storage area for cleaning supplies
• If possible, include a mini-pantry

Now

Inspiration

Contemporary Home Office design by Dc Metro Design-build Wentworth, Inc. (Source)

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Inspiration

(Source)

Now

Inspiration

(Source)

Clearly there's a lot of imagination going on and work to do. Gotta love it, though. Oh, and check out these floors:

Can you handle this?