Closet to Mudroom

**Disclaimer:  when I am showing pics of my house I have worked my tushy off to have them look "picture perfect."  My house normally does not look like this.  I have three kids and while I try and keep it tidy, I can never seem to have it clean all at once.  I need  bloggers hosting challenges to motivate me to organize my home.  I just don't want to give the false impression that my home looks like this on a daily basis.  I am a stay at home mom....my house and my kids are pretty much my life, so when I have spent my time and worked hard on something, taking a picture of it makes me feel good inside. **

 Several months ago, right in the middle of winter, I knew  I had to do something about our current mudroom situation.  We had a fairly good sized room to walk in from the garage, but the sliding closet doors were hard for the kids to manage and everything ended up on the floor in a mess.  I bought hooks to place on the opposite side of the closet just for the kiddos stuff, but it felt cramped and messy to me.

 I wanted a custom built "mudroom" style cabinets built in place of this closet, but we had an estimate and it would cost about $1000 dollars.  Now, my husband is very supportive of any house project I take on, however in his mind that was a unnecessary project, since we already had a perfectly good closet.  So I  started thinking about what I could do on my own.  I hated the doors, I really wanted those gone!  When we moved in this home I was not a fan of the Maple woodwork and cabinets and there is a lot of it.  I wanted it all painted white, but quickly found out that would cost about $6000 to have it done professionally and that dream quickly slipped out the window.   So, I was all about getting rid of big chunk of the wood and the doors were my first victim.

My hubby removed the doors and we saw what a nice sized space this was.  I took everything out of the closet and moved all but what we were currently using daily to an unused closet in the front hall.   We removed the hanging rod and started painting the stripes on the wall.  Then, I purchased the crates at Micheal's and painted them red and added light switch covers spray painted with chalkboard paint and tied them to the crates.  Then I brought the Pottery Barn bench we had in my daughters room down and added bins from Target.  I labeled  them with each of the kids names, these hold shoes.  The rug I purchased online and  is an outdoor rug, so it can easily be cleaned by rinsing it with a hose. 

Then my hubby cut a piece of plywood and I added some foam and used this leftover faux leather fabric I had from recovering stools in our kitchen.  I was very happy using this fabric because it wipes clean.  I bought the wooden letters from Hobby Lobby and painted them red to match the crates and placed them over the hooks.  Now everyone knows where their stuff goes!

 I placed a clear shelf by my hook to hold my planner and household binder.  I have an extra bin on the floor to hold  store returns and library books.  On my hubby's side I add a docking station for his wallet, keys and cell phone.  I drilled a hole in it to accommodate his cell phone charger.
Here are the before and after photos.

              

I am often asked what I do in the winter.  This is what the space looks like in the winter.  Boots and one pair of gloves and a hat are in baskets in bench.  All extras and scarfs are in a red bin.  All extra coats are in another closet, along with out of season shoes. 

I couldn't be happier with this mudroom.  It is much more ascetically pleasing and the kids have no question where their "stuff " belongs. I figured this new "mudroom" cost me about $300.

 What about you, have you ever had to think outside the box to get a home project done that was out of your price range?

**Update**  This space was featured on my favorite blog, I Heart Organizing!!  Check out the link here.

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