Mudroom Makeover:: The Treehouse

Are you ready for a little before-and-after action???

Before we moved in last year, my husband dubbed this unfinished utility room in our new garage  the treehouse and even suggested we take it down altogether....but oh no, I had a vision for this room!
I am not kidding when I tell you this little room was one of my favorite features of the house.

Here she is in all her plywood grandeur!  Oh the possibilities!

 This pretty window had me at hello.

What mother wouldn't covet these shelves for organizing the enormous amount of kid stuff that a family of 5 acquires, I ask??

A utility sink!  Oh happy day for the DIYer!
But ugh - the lighting!  A press-on light and clip-on lamp???

This summer I went absolutely crazy priming and painting everything in and around the mudroom/treehouse, starting with these stairs, the plywood walls and even a forlorn old frame that we turned into a postcard display.
There is nothing like painting to freshen up a space and make a house feel like your own!

The color on this door makes me exceedingly happy!  I'm an easy-to-please kinda girl.

Before I started prettying up the mudroom, I sat down a made a list of everything I dreamed of utilizing this room for and came up with a pretty tall order of items I wanted to store in here,
and since I know you're on the edge of your seat I won't keep you in suspense! 
I needed this little space to be home to....

coats, shoes and backpacks

recycling bins
seasonal shtuff -

{towels & bathing suits in warm weather}

{hats, gloves, snowpants and boots in cold weather}

dog dishes, food and supplies

mop, broom and dishpan

and one more crazy idea.....

gift wrapping supplies.

Here's the actual mudroom/treehouse getting decked out in Kilz primer.  Did you know that if you seal unplastered drywall boards with primer you can paint or wallpaper them?  Who knew.

Next up - paintable beadboard wallpaper.  Yes, wallpaper - it's $20 a roll at Lowes and I used just under two rolls. I went right over the seams of the plywood and the drywall and for the most part the wallpaper hid these imperfections.  I wasn't too picky because, after all, this area is part of our garage
but I also wanted it to feel like a real room and be a bit more aesthetically pleasing to our guests and to my family who has to view this area a gazillion times a day.

To top off the wallpaper, I used a pre-primed baseboard molding turned upside down, and a flat trim piece to create a ledge, attached with wood glue and a nail gun.

{PS - My first trim job cut and put up all by myself!  Now the domino affect - I've already got the wood for my next carpentry project!  So addictive :) }

After the wallpaper and ledge was up I caulked 'til the cows came home, and then painted the wallpaper, trim and shelving with semi-gloss white paint.

I have to say I am very impressed with the beadboard wallpaper.  I'm a big fan of the real deal, but this is an inexpensive and easy way to achieve the same look.  My father-in-law did not believe me that it was wallpaper!  What do you think??

Finally: 

 the treehouse today.  C'mon in!

Here in the treehouse we have a lovely view of the garage  {and the munchkins playing on the driveway}.

Pardon the horrific photography but this might be the hardest room EVER to photograph.

I hung tons of hooks for New England winter apparel and bathing suits and towels in the summer.

We inadvertently have a bit of a dog theme going on here.  Since our pup's dog dishes will live in this mudroom during the cold weather (they are on our deck for the rest of the year) and Bruschi, our Saint Bernard, IS the main source of mud in this house, I thought it fitting that the mudroom ultimately be an Ode to Bruschi.

The dog's leashes found a home on this hook made with upcycled materials.

My favorite part....
I made use of the wall over the shelves as a place to store wrapping paper and ribbon.  I don't have a craft room in this house and really needed a place besides my foyer coat closet to store these supplies!

Also, seeing all that fun and colorful ribbon every day just makes me happy!

As I told Mark when he gave me the LOOK: it's versatile!

The little wrapping area does not take up a lot of space.  The top of the shelves can still function as a place for baskets of hats and mittens as well as a counter to wrap on when the occasion arises.

 I also added a hook for gift bags, and the little shelves over the utility sink hold boxes of tissue paper, stationery and cards, and other supplies.  I used boxes I already had and added labels to pretty 'em up a bit.

The big thing I still need is to have a light installed overhead (meaning my light source remains that funky clip-on lamp!)  I also have my eye on a cute bench for shoe storage.  The woven baskets on the floor currently hold shoes but eventually they will house all our cold weather gear in the shelving unit.

I was able to fit everything on my wishlist in here (I can fit three recycle bins in there!) and so many things that were previously shoved in our tiny foyer closet have found a permanent residence.  The painted floor is moppable and everything has a place, plus it's light and cheery.

So there you have it - the before:

and the after:

{via}

I hope you enjoyed this before & after!  Details on some projects that went into this room coming soon.

Thanks so much for taking a few moments out of your busy day to come by and visit.  Hope you have a great day!



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Just A Girl