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mudroom madness

Our previous house was a split entry home.  While I loved the home, I loathed that split entry.  Hauling kids, groceries, car seats, etc in to the house got really old, really fast.  I dreamed of the day when I would have an organized and beautiful mudroom where we could put all the crap away BEFORE entering the house.  Just the thought of cubbies and bins and hooks got me all kinds of worked up. 


As we were designing our home, we got to the portion where my mudroom would be located.  The cost of putting in what I envisioned was ridiculous, and therefore vetoed by Mr. Hodges.  He did, however, promise to build me one later.  Well friends... LATER HAS ARRIVED! It only took like 14 tantrums, 8 episodes of tripping over kids shoes in their bedroom, a handful of curse words, and a hernia surgery to get the ball rolling.  It was totally worth the weight. Special thanks to our go-to guy, Kurt Wilson, for helping us out.  He and Dewy have put almost as much time and sweat in to this house as any of our subs did.


The design of my mudroom came straight from my brain.  I knew I wanted hooks, obviously, and a bench with cubbies underneath for shoes.  The cubbies needed to have bins, because otherwise each human would only get to keep one pair of shoes there, and that wasn't helpful.  I wanted shelves up the side to hold things like umbrellas, gloves, etc.--also in some kind of bin--and cubbies up top with bins to hold seasonal items like sunscreen, floaties, sports gear, etc.  I wanted it all to look like one big unit, as well as an additional storage option should the need for it arise, so I asked for two larger compartments up top to complete it all.  Shiplap was a must, and Mr. Wilson had the genius idea to use the excess on the wall across from the lockers to tie it all together.

Dewy had two requests upon designing: 1. The garage door needed to be able to open farther than 90 degrees, and 2. I wasn't allowed to paint it a weird color.  You know... like blue.  I am so predictable.  Also, our painter--aka Mr. Wilson--was thrilled with the industrial strength paint that covered his person and turned him in to papa smurf for days.  Sorry, pal.  Friends forever.  Say hello to my new mudroom! Hunting for the bins kept me up at night.  They needed to look good with blue, but not be too busy,  I wanted the same ones along the top and bottom, but something different down the side.  Both styles needed to coordinate, though, and I needed the right size... do you see how stressful this was?! I hunted high and low.  Ikea, Wayfair, the Container Store... FAIL! FAIL! FAIL! Target, Walmart, At Home... AGAIN ALL FAILS! Enter Amazon.  I searched through hundreds of these stupid bins.  They either wouldn't fit, were too ugly, didn't match... You get it.  Then I found these little polka dot ones with wooden handles.  It was love at first sight.  Guess what? THERE WAS ONLY ONE SET AVAILABLE, AND I NEEDED TWO.  I realize that these are all first world problems, but I LIVE IN THE FIRST WORLD so shove it.  I searched the internet for another set and found nothing.  I ordered the baskets and the one set of bins and spent the next few weeks stalking amazon for another set, finally found one, and my mudroom is complete.  You guys...my heart goes pitter patter every time I walk into the house.  It. Is. Perfect.



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