Beautiful mudroom makeover, step one!
May 21, 2019
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Hey there! I've been hard at work on our mud/laundry room makeover that I told you about here. It's taken me way longer than I thought it would, for reasons I'll explain in a minute.
Let's go back to how the room looked shortly after moving in:
The lighting was horrible (more on that in a bit!), but otherwise, not much changed other than I changed out the "boob" lights later on with some cute flush mount fixtures I got from an outlet store. (You can find them online here!)
I shared my paint misstep with a color I thought I would love:
I did NOT love it, and hated the height that I had it at too. I quickly changed directions with this wall and the feel of the room and I'm SO freaking happy with it now!
I told you last week that I decided to go with a much lighter color called Whitestone that I used in our old master bedroom. I decided to do a shiplap accent wall instead of board and batten around the whole room.
I've done smaller shiplap walls on our staircases, and had help doing the large wall in my old office/craft room in our last house:
I did the smaller walls in there, but they were easier than this one!
My go-to for shiplap (or planked walls as I've always called them), is using very inexpensive luan instead of "real" wood. Luan comes in 4x8 sheets, is very thin, easy to cut, easy to install and only costs $15 for 32 square feet. You just can't beat it!
I had it cut down at Lowe's, and this time they didn't do the best job keeping the strips a consistent size. Most of them started at 4.5 inches and ended around four inches because of the way they ran through the saw. It made the installation much more difficult because I couldn't use most of the pieces as they were.
I can't complain though, because they cut them for free (they usually charge for cuts over a certain amount now), and the convenience can't be beat! When I've done this in the past they've gone up MUCH quicker though.
I always use change to figure out my spacing -- it just depends on the distance you want between planks. This time I wanted a more noticeable line so I used a nickel:
As you install you'll need to use your coin to check the spacing as you nail the boards in (I use an 16 gauge nail gun) and also check for level as you go. Usually our walls and floors aren't perfectly level, so I err on the side of the coin and my eye more than perfect leveling.
This time I had a lot of trim to move around too -- the crown on the built ins and the window especially. For these spots a tool called a contour duplication gauge is SUPER helpful:
I really need to upgrade mine, but it does the job. You trace this onto your wood and then use a jigsaw to cut it out. Perfection is NOT necessary. Most of my cuts are not even close to what the tool gives me, but after caulk and paint you can't even tell. I've told you before, caulk is my BFF!!
And what do I always say? If someone is going to look that close and notice the small imperfections...they get a cookie. ;)
Since my boards weren't all perfect, it took longer than usual. Plus filling holes and caulking and all that jazz is a lot of work! Not hard stuff, just busywork. But it was all so worth it!:
I am so thankful I decided to just do this one wall in shiplap! GoodNESS it would have taken me forever to do it all around the room. I don't think the other walls need it anyway. There's plenty going on otherwise:
This room will get crown molding at some point down the line. The line at the ceiling isn't perfect because the lines of the room aren't perfect. You'll find this to be true a lot of the time. Frustrating, but common!
I added the beautiful wood mirror from Target -- I have admired it forever and finally found the perfect spot! It's great for checking everything right before we head out the door:
One big difference in this room is the lighting. I added the flush mount lights from Ballard last year, but the daylight bulbs in them make ALL the difference. If you have a room that gets little to no natural light, these are a game changer!
I finally added the light to that sconce above the mirror -- you can see how I did that without having electricity by reading this post:
The sconce matches another one in the room by the huge chalkboard (that I DID run electric to), and I love that they add a touch of black in the room as well as tie in the gold ceiling lights with the gold/brass accents.
I found new baskets for the upper part of the built ins at Hobby Lobby. The were 40 percent off and hold way more than the old baskets. I keep all of our winter gear in here -- there's a basket for each of us:
I shared how I made the DIY bench cushion last week! It's such a great way to add some softness and color to a seat for not much money. Remember the other fabric I showed you? I made a long lumber pillow for the bench with that:
I got enough of it to make another one for our bed. I love it so much!!
I have about half of the room painted -- I still have a lot to go. I'm SO happy with this color. I looks so great against the white trim and the wood and black tones we have in here:
This week I hope to tackle the rest of the painting as well as start the shoe cubbies for under the built ins. Can't wait to replace those floppy baskets!
Let's look back at how the room started, shall we? I didn't have a problem with it before -- it was perfectly lovely! (Minus the boob lights.) I just knew it had big time potential:
Now it's so bright and lovely, with custom touches that make such a big difference!:
I can't wait to get after the rest of my list in here! We've really enjoyed this mud room/laundry combo, simply because of the size of this room. Our last room like this was way too small and just didn't work at all.
Stay tuned for the rest of the makeover! :)
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Beautiful! What color did you paint it? I cannot wait to see what you do with the shoe basket cubbies! We have a similar situation and I can't stand it. Nobody puts their shoes away because it is so hard to pull the baskets in and out. So instead, they just sit all over the mud room floor. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteThe color is called Whitestone. :) I link to our old master in the post if you want to see it in a bigger space.
DeleteNot kidding when I say cutestttttt laundry/ mudroom. It's sooo bright, simple & stylish. The baskets, light & mirror make it!! LOVE IT!!
ReplyDeletePaige.Rose
From
Www.thequaintsanctuary.com
Is this only the first step? It already looks SO good! I love the new colour. Such a chic little laundry space!
ReplyDeleteCharmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Love the room so far! That wall!!! Did you start installing from the bottom up or top to bottom? And did you paint the planks after it was up or before installing them? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood questions! I started at the top so I could remove the base and end behind that if needed. I plan to add crown later so either way would have worked. I painted the edges before installing (when I remembered) and then painted the surface after it was up. You don't have to paint the edges before, you can do it after, because you don't really see in between much. :)
DeleteCan you tell me how you secured the puck light in the sconce when it is facing down like that? It's just SUCH an awesome idea!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYep I used wire! The puck has holes on the back -- I ran them through the inside of the light and then through that, then screwed the top back on the light. It was easier than I thought it would be!
DeleteIt looks like it has a hint of grey in it (Whitestone). What color is the white?
ReplyDeleteI need to find out! I thought it was Pure White but it's not.
DeleteSo cute.... love it.
ReplyDeleteWow!!! I would be so excited to do my laundry!😄
ReplyDeleteDoes Whitestone have a hint of grey in it?
ReplyDelete