The mud room plan

Hello errrrybody! How are you? It’s been a HOT one this week – I’m not complaining (yet) because it’s the first 90+ temps we’ve had all summer. And tomorrow it’s supposed to cool down again. It’s really been an amazing summer!

So I’m busy working on our bedroom right now, but my mind easily wanders when it comes to projects and decorating around here. If you haven’t noticed I’ll start one thing and get an idea and then move on to something else because I have a great idea I just have to do. It’s very much “Oh look, a butterfly!” Or in this case…a mudroom.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about a ton lately. Ours has been sitting half way done for years. It started when I replaced the floor, and then last year we moved the the laundry down to the basement (best decision ever). It used to be a combined mud/laundry room and it drove. me. nuts. The picture tells it all:

It looks much better now (well, it’s still bright yellow, which is making me itch) – but the clutter (shoes!!) is creeping back in. I have an idea to address some of that till we finish the room but otherwise it’s just going to be slightly messy until we get some storage up in here.

I know I’ve said it a million times, but it takes me a while before I know exactly what I want to do with a room. I’ve sat on this one long enough that the plan and ideas are finally coming together in my head. Like other spaces though, the updates need to be made in a certain order, which slows me down a bit.

The big decision I’m struggling with now is whether or not to keep the flooring as is or do hardwoods. I don’t want tile in here because it flows into our family room and I want a nice transition that you don’t really notice. The vinyl tile that’s in there looks great because it’s a similar color to our floors. A few years ago I would NEVER have considered hardwoods, but now that I’ve lived with them for awhile I love them and how they hold up – even to the occasional water.

These vinyl tiles are holding up great, it’s the grouted spots between them that’s not looking the best. So I need to make that decision quick, because I want to move on this space. Here’s my plan, told through inspiration pics, of course. :)

First up, the lighting – you can’t tell in that picture above, but our lighting in here is a long fluorescent light. GREAT light, but I’d love something prettier. We got the fluorescent for a reason – we wanted good light because we knew the laundry would be in there. We wanted to see the stains well I guess? :)

But now that’s not needed, and I’d like to do some regular lighting, maybe two of something? It’s a decent sized room so I think we’ll need more than one. This mud room is one of my all time favorites:

For MANY reasons, but I do love LOVE that light fixture. I think the round shape is fun.

I love the idea of adding color in the lights too, like this room:

Speaking of the ceiling – I know I want to do something fun. I’ve always loved the look of a planked ceiling – I just can’t decide if I want to go with color, like this one:

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Or natural wood, like this one I’ve loved forevah:

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I am leaning towards the natural wood, but it will depend on the lighting situation. We don’t get any natural light in that room, so I don’t want the ceiling to feel too heavy. Isn’t that beautiful though?

Next up – storage. This is what has taken me the longest to figure out. We have about five feet of space where the washer and dryer used to be – plenty of space but not a ton, so I want to use it well.

I know I want to go all the way to the ceiling with the built ins:

But I’m not sure if it will be closed like that one or open shelves like this:

Isn’t that room ADORABLE??

We have a shelf in there now that just ends up full of clutter (stuff I mean to take out to the garage/my car and hardly do) so I don’t know if I want it open. I know I need closed storage in there somewhere. And if we go all the way to the ceiling (nine feet), that area won’t be accessed regularly anyway since it will be so high. So it will probably be closed. Thanks for helping me decide. ;)

The biggie for me is the shoe storage. ARGH. The shoes!! (Shakes fists in air!) At first I thought I’d be OK with open storage for them underneath:

I figured I could use baskets and such. But the more I’ve thought over it, the more I know I want them put AWAY. Will they stay put away? That’s yet to be determined. We have a million shoes and wear the same ones over and over, so I think most of them will stay out of sight.

We have them in baskets now and it’s not working great. One, we have too many shoes. Working on that. Two, you have to dig through to find the ones you need and it makes a mess. Not great.

I love the idea of the bench opening up and hiding them all, like at my girl Traci’s old house: 

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I think that would be the easiest solution.

But I’ve been crushing on this secret door idea since I saw it years ago:

Like hard core…CRUSH. I know I can’t do this on my own though, so we’ll see. I heard from a friend after I posted this pic the first time years back that this is actually nearby in central Indiana – I need to do some investigating! :)

So there’s the biggies – the beadboard has already been up in most of the room but I need to wait on built in dimensions of the built ins before I finish that up. Paint will be easy – in my head I’ve been planning something a little different though. I may go with a color on the beadboard and white (or light) on the walls. I think it would look awesome!

Do you have a mud room? I consider myself lucky that we even have a space like this! It’s going to be SO fun to work on, I can’t wait! I’ll try to anyway. :) What would your dream mud room look like?

Have a great weekend!!

**I can’t find original sources for some of these pics – if you know of them let me know!

A touch of chevron

OK…if you’ve been around these parts for awhile you know I show you the good and bad and the ugly around here. (Go here for a REALLY bad one that ended good.)

Not every project turns out as I had hoped, and some turn out…but I just can’t quite decide if I love them or not. This is one of those.

I’ve planned to do this project forever and was excited to finally get it done – it was a simple little trash can redo for my office:

I’ve had this wood one for YEARS. I think it was my first Pottery Barn purchase ever, about ten years ago. It was on clearance and it’s a great little waste basket. After all this time the structure has held up great, but the outside was a little nicked up. So I figured it would be the perfect project to experiment on. :)

I started by sanding it down super fast in my “workshop.” That would be on the trash can in the garage:

I got that sander a few months ago and it makes sanding SO much easier. It’s the first one I’ve owned that doesn’t leave skip marks all over everything. I loathe sanding and I love this thing so that’s saying a lot.

After I wiped it down I gave it a coat of primer and then a couple coats of a satin white paint in my other workshop. Or on an old sheet in the front yard:

Next was the FUN part. :)

I let the paint dry for a few hours inside so it would hold up to some painter’s tape. This wasn’t just any painter’s tape though – it was chevron tape!: I work with the lovely folks at Frogtape so I have had this stuff for awhile – I’ve just been waiting for it to come out in stores so I could show you! I saw it at Lowe’s a few weeks ago.

I sat and watched TV while I taped off the trash can:

So I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m usually eons behind the latest decorating trend. Either that or I’m so far ahead of the trend it’s not even cool yet. (I was putting chalkboards everywhere before they were the thing.)

Chevron isn’t one of those trends I’m hooked on – I haven’t added it anywhere in the house yet. When I got this tape a while back I knew it would be fun to use it somewhere small to see if I liked it. Just a little spot, a smidge. A skosh of chevron if you will.

When I redid my office years ago I added in a few touches of pink in the space just to break up all the blue and beige in there. I picked up a pink paint sample (Sunrose by Valspar) months ago to use on another spot in the room and figured it would be a cute accent on the trash can.

I didn’t worry about great coverage on this – I didn’t want the color to be super saturated, so I just did one quick coat of the pink. I was kind of excited as I peeled off the chevron tape:

It was looking super cute!

But by the time I was done taking it all off…I didn’t like it. At all. It was too much.

I was doing this at night so I tried to get a shot of it in the bathroom:

It’s hard to get a good idea of how it looked – it was just too bright and SO girly. I mean, I love some girly touches but it was just a LOT. In a little girl’s room, it would have been perfect. For my grown up office? A little much. (For me.)

Soooo, I tried to figure out how to salvage it. I didn’t hate the chevron, the color was bugging me more than anything. I decided to try using the sander again to knock it down as much as I could. I used a 220 grit sandpaper and then a 120 to knock it down even more.

And whew…I liked it SO much more.

It gave it a washed, old look that I liked so much more! Cause you know chevron is on all the old stuff. ;)

Do I love it? I’m still not sure. I do like the look of chevron, I’m just not sure I love the look of it in my house. ;) It really is pretty cute though:

I AM love with my new mercury glass “vase” on my desk – it was a clearanced out outdoor candleholder at Menards. Three bucks!:

I think it will be absolutely beautiful with a candle inside too – but I’m obsessed with my hydrangeas right now. :)

But oh, the possibilities with this fun tape!! It makes it so easy to add this look to anything! I’m not sure of the exact shapes they have out, but I do have a wavy look too that I’m thinking of trying somewhere.

Are you a fan of the chevron? Do you have it in your home somewhere? I thought it may go away but I am still seeing it all over! I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon. So NOW I’m totally caught up with the trend. Finally. :)

**For more on my office redo, go here.

Roughing it

Hello everybody! Hope you had a lovely weekend! We just got home from a little family excursion up north. We took off late last Tuesday for a four day RV trip through Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This is our second RV trip -- we took our first one a couple summers ago and it’s safe to say we’re hooked. :)

RVing is SO fun – this time we rented a smaller one (the first time we got a huge class A and this time it was a smaller class C). The smaller one was still plenty big and we all loved it. (And I could drive it no problem – bonus.)

This trip was all fun for the kiddo and me, but some work for the hubs since we were traveling around with the drum corp he works with. Back in our old days when he and I were dating we would take off on these kinds of trips often in the summer. I love doing the same with our boy. :)

We love RVing because we can travel at our own pace, stop when we want and still have plenty of space to stretch out as we go. We saw some pretty countryside in Illinois on the first day:

While my husband worked with the corp the kiddo and I explored the cute little town of Metamora, IL – and ended up spending most of the afternoon at their awesome public pool:

It took a few hours, but right before we left the Bub got up the courage to go down that slide and LOVED. IT. :)

When we RV (or when we drive anywhere really), we like to hit up local restaurants, shops…and apparently pools. It was just by accident we happened on that and it was a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon.

The next day we headed to our stop for a couple days – La Crosse, Wisconsin. The Bub and I did some shopping at some local antique stores:

I didn’t find anything I had to have, but I did come across a huge selection of these glasses that totally took me back:

Man, I was so close to getting a few of them. I still kinda wish I had. They had all of the ones I remembered from my childhood – Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Muppets, E.T. It was such a fun blast from the past. :)

And of course, when Mama saw the HomeGoods sign I pulled that RV over faster than you can say, well…HomeGoods:

We actually came across an awesome find there – I’ve dreamed of one of these for our basement for years:

  

We both freaked when we saw it – the bonus was that it was $70 cheaper than what I’ve found online. (It was missing a couple measuring cups, no biggie.) Just another reason I love traveling in an RV – plenty of room to take the treasures home. (And I’m sure it was a sight seeing me loading this thing into the big rig.)

I was so tempted to use it one night on the RV, but we didn’t have the popcorn or oil, so we waited till we got home. I have to say, I think it made better popcorn than my WhirleyPop! That’s saying a lot cause I adore my WhirleyPop people. (The popcorn from the machine was much crisper, if that makes any sense.)

Anyhoo – that was our best find on the trip. :) We saw a good share of drum corp rehearsals while there, with the backdrop of the beautiful Wisconsin hills:

And one of the highlights for me at least was the cauuute cabin we stayed in:

This was at an RV park that had cabins, so we were able took hook up the RV and still camp out inside that night.

It was so totally precious:

A few of you on Instagram wanted to see the inside so I made sure to take a few pics before we left. It was very rustic, but had all of the modern conveniences you could need (including air!).

It had a cute little bunk room that would sleep at least four and a bathroom with all the basics:

 

The main part of the cabin was one big room with a kitchenette:

And another bed with trundle:

And a TV!! Glorious TV! We didn’t have it at all on the trip otherwise, and I actually really didn’t miss it. But it was nice to have while we were there. We only ended up turning it on a couple times though – it was nice to disconnect for the most part.

They had everything you could need while there – toiletries, dishes, cookware. It was great! I drank my wine out of a coffee cup:

Ha!! Told you…rough.

My favorite parts of the cabin were the ceiling:

The view:

We were perched right at the edge of a cliff in the woods– I thought we had the best cabin there. :)  

And the AWESOME screened in porch:

Usually when we travel to Wisconsin or Minnesota the mosquitoes are horrible this time of year – but this time the temps and bugs were both great! Low temps and very few bugs.

Then it was time to head on, this time to beautiful Minnesota:

We stayed in the RV that night and heard the Kenny Chesney concert nearby. :) The weather was PERFECT…at least till later when a crazy long storm came through. Pouring down rain hitting a metal roof for three hours straight doesn’t really make for a great night’s sleep. :)

The next day we spent a few hours at the Mall of America:

The hubby and I had been briefly years ago, and this time we were excited to take the Bub to see it. All he cared about was the Lego store, of course. And they were having a huge Lego event throughout the mall all weekend – perfect timing!

We ended up heading home early so didn’t get to do all the rides and stuff – we definitely want to go back!

What a fun, relaxing trip! I loved having all of my boys to myself for all that time:

It was just lovely all around.

I love that we’re doing these trips with the Bub – growing up I spent every weekend in the summer camping with my parents. We were out on the lake ALL the time. I wish my boy could experience that, but at the same time I’m not sure I want to rough it quite as much as we did back then. :)

RVing is the perfect compromise – you have a safe, comfortable home on wheels, but you also enjoy the best parts of camping – making your meals, sitting by a fire, enjoying the outdoors. We love it!

We looked into buying an RV earlier this year but held off – it may be something we look into next year. I am dreaming of a long trip out west to see all the sites I saw on a girl scout trip as a kid – Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park, Snake River, Jackson Hole. It was an amazing trip that I still remember so well and I want the Bub to see all of those sights as well.

And as much as we love to travel, it is always SO good to come home. When we travel I find I’m so much more appreciative of everything – how lucky we are to take trips like that, how much I love exploring our country, how wonderful it is to come back to our sweet house. We are lucky indeed.

So have you ever been RVing? Did you like it? Did you camp a lot as a kid or do you do it now? I keep hearing the term “glamping” lately – I guess you could call an RV trip that? :) Air conditioning and no bugs – two of my favorite things.

**Here’s the campsite we stayed at in La Crosse for those who asked! :)

The power of a neutral wall

Happy Friday to you all! I’m so sorry for the late post, the Internet is not cooperating today so I’m lucky to even get this one out! This is my third location trying to get wifi – that’s dedication right there. ;)

So many of you have noticed lately that my style, it is a-changin. While I still love the look of a dark, dramatic room (and still have plans for one or two in the house), overall my preference has moved to lighter spaces.

I do struggle with having enough color in a room with lighter walls – I NEED my color. But I’ve had one too many instances where I couldn’t find drapery fabric/bedding/accents that work in a space because the look of the room was so dictated by the color of the (darkish) walls.

I’m realizing that there is great power in a neutral wall. I told you how I couldn’t decide on light or dark for our bedroom, but I made a decision soon after:

Yep. Light won. :) It’s a really light gray color (I can’t remember the name so I’ll have to look and update.)

I went light mostly because I didn’t want the room to become too dark (it already is with the current color). We only have one east facing window in there and I knew it would become a cave if I went any darker on the walls. And it felt like it would be a dark and depressing cave, not a cozy and comfortable cave. :)

But working on the powder room redo really opened my eyes to the decorating possibilities with lighter paint on the walls. I’ve already had plans to lighten up the family room and kitchen, and these inspiration photos kind of sealed the deal for me.

Here’s the thing – I’ve fallen in love with white kitchens over the years too. I drool over them. I love how clean and bright they are, but so color is SO easy to add in:

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I painted my kitchen island a similar blue, and I love that you could totally change up the look of the space with just a new color on the island. (And painting an island is WAY easier a whole room.)

I loved this bright kitchen with the soft yellow island by Sarah Richardson:

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That kitchen still feels so warm and comfortable to me, even with all the white.

And in a kitchen you can add a ton of color with a backsplash if you wish too:

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Of course that’s not an easy change down the road, but you could also add color with the chairs and accessories like this photo.

I found this kitchen on Houzz a few days ago and instantly fell in love:

Maybe it’s because I was still feeling the Americana love from the 4th, but I just adore the use of blue and red in there. SO welcoming.

These walls aren’t really neutral, really, but they are light. It just goes to show all the different colors you can bring in:

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I’d love a built in banquet like that by the way. Any time is fine.

You know I love a painted ceiling. With darker walls a painted ceiling will feel heavy and could make the space feel dark (I’ve done it and it does both) – but in a lighter room it’s just a beautiful, unexpected accent color:

OK, but seriously, make sure you love that ceiling color. It’s a pain in the patoot to redo. (Again, ask me how I know.)

With a lighter wall color the less expensive, easier decorative stuff (like pillows and accessories) can be changed out more often if you wish:

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Although I would totally paint the back of those built ins. ;)

Like I said, I have loved our darker bedroom for quite some time, but it’s been SO hard to decorate. The greenish/gray wall color made it difficult to even find accessories that I liked. And bedding? That took FOREVER.

This light gray/blue color is so pretty – there’s not a ton of color in this room but the dark blue pillows totally pop:

I could see a big print on the drapes too – that would be amazing in that space. (Like that room needs my advice.)

In a more neutral room you can do a darker accent wall too – or a really fun wallpaper you wouldn’t normally use on in a whole space:

And this photo (which is one of my all time favorite spaces by the way), is a great example of how a lighter space doesn’t always mean stark and bland – the accessories, art and furniture add plenty of texture and color:

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All that gorgeous, thick molding sure doesn’t hurt either. 

I still don’t think I could do white walls though, do you? Do you have them and love them? I had plenty of white walls in apartments over the years so I don’t think I’ll ever go that far in the light direction.

You’ve probably noticed I’ve gone lighter as time goes on, and I think that will just continue. What do you think? Of course color on the walls doesn’t always mean it will be dark and hard to decorate – I’m just speaking from my experience. Years ago I used a lot of very deep, saturated colors in our house and it was such a struggle to make changes in those rooms. It can be done – it just takes a lot more talent and patience than I have most days. ;)

Are you leaning light these days? Or do you still love your color on the walls and not on your shelves?