Coat Closet Turned Mudroom

I am finally back after enjoying a wonderful Fourth of July weekend with friends + family. I thought I'd start this week off with a project that Evan and I tackled back in February. I wish back then that I would have known I was going to start this blog. I would have taken more pictures of the entire process. But, we'll do the best we can with the pictures we have :) 

When you walk into our house from the garage, there used to be a coat closet. I felt like it was wasted space. Neither of us ever hung our coats there, and it acted like a place to store our vacuum, swiffer, and other various cleaning supplies. We have a coat rack upon entering the front door, so the need for a coat closet just wasn't there. Evan and I had made a list, and set a goal that we would do one project a month in the year of 2014. In January, he built our farmhouse dining room table. And February, he surprised me one day when I came home and he had demolished the coat closet.

Immediately I felt as though the space was more open and would be more functional. But, like most of the demo's you see on HGTV, we hit a snag. I had originally hoped that the whole closet could be opened up into our downstairs hallway. But, hidden in that closet was the vent pipe from the HVAC in the basement. Luckily, we were able to frame around it, and even though it wasn't what I originally had pictured, I love it the way it is.

After knocking out those walls, Evan replaced the sheet rock. There was a lot of mudding, re-mudding, sanding, re-sanding, and sanding some more to make sure the walls were smooth and seamless and that they matched up with the previously installed sheet rock. There was sheet rock dust everywhere. I still find it in some crevices while cleaning. So, after all of that, he then measured the bead board and shelf to fit to size and custom built a bench out of MDF with storage on the inside. Once the shelf was installed with corbels, and bead board attached, we caulked to make it seamless. We then were ready to paint the bead board, shelf, and bench seating.

I painted the walls to match our downstairs hallway which is Creme (SW 7556), by Sherwin Williams. Its a great neutral with yellow undertones. The white on the bench and bead board is a custom color match we had mixed to match our trim throughout the house. It's more of an oyster white.  After the paint was dry, we were able to reattach the top of the bench with brackets that I found at Home Depot. Once it was all dry and painted, it was time for the fun part... DECORATING.

A couple of weeks after the mudroom was installed I was put in touch with a local upholsterer to have a custom cushion made. The fabric is a thicker linen blend that I got from Fabric and Fringe in Marietta. My favorite part is that he installed a zipper in the back which makes it washable and easy to keep clean. One of the last things we also did was change the light fixture. I found this Star of Bethlehem light at Pottery Barn and immediately knew I had to have it. My parent's have a similar one that my Grandfather found at an antique store many years ago. Every time I see it, I think of him. I love having pieces that have true meaning in our home.

Here are a quick list of sources + links for items I used to decorate with:

Black Lab bookends- Joss & Main; unavailable now
Picture frames, distressed- Hobby Lobby
Custom wedding canvas- Anne Humphrys, artist, her Instagram here
Storage Bin- Ikea Byholma Basket
Burlap letter 'C' with nail head trim- Hobby Lobby
Light Fixture- Olivia Star Pendant Pottery Barn
Bird Cage- HomeGoods
Boxwood topiary- HomeGoods
Small wreath- HomeGoods
Floral Pillows- gift from my Mom
Metallic letter 'c' pillow with wreath- It's Not Business Shop, Etsy
Set of linen Pillows- Hobby Lobby
Iron Mudroom Hooks- Anthropologie

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to pin + share.