house tour: laundry + mudroom before

I wanted to share with you the room in our house that I'm most excited about: the laundry + mudroom. That may be an exaggerated statement but I think I'm most excited about the transformation here for two reasons:

1. It's currently the saddest room in the whole house so I know that the potential to improve it will be the greatest.

2. I've always wanted a big laundry/mud room. This room is really large so there's some space to do a few things I've been dreaming about for a while. Plus, it's just going to be really great to have an area to put all of our stuff. Since we live in a split level, there's no room in the entry for jackets, shoes, rain gear, purses, backpacks, etc. It's one of the major drawbacks to this popular style of home here in the PNW. However, we have a plan that I think will be a big draw for resale.

Here are the before pictures. I won't have after pictures for a while but I still want to share the progress along the way. This picture above was taken with my back facing the exterior wall of the house. Straight passed this wall, that David has started to tear down, is our garage door. The plan is to remove that wall and create a large opening. There won't be a door since the opening will be around 5' wide. We're leaving a small portion of that wall up, where we will put a wall of built ins with cabinets, a bench and hooks to house all of our shoes, boots, coats and backpacks.Currently, the situation upon entering our house, is a basket on a small landing to throw shoes in. There is no coat closet or place to put your purse/keys. Having the mudroom directly in from the garage will be such a perk! I am really excited about getting that done.

Our downstairs only has one door to the backyard and that is this sad little guy. There's no natural light in here and I'd love to replace this door with a beautiful, green Dutch door so that on nice days, I can let in the fresh air. I'm also hoping to add a window on that one wall, but we'll see how things go.

We'll also add a utility sink to the right of the washer and dryer. That reminds me, if any of you know of a great utility/laundry sink that's large and reasonably priced, let me know! We'll also add cabinets above the washer/dryer which will be so helpful in organizing the ugly household necessities. I'm using a few of these for inspiration.

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I have a mood board that I created to help me plan. Just like the mood boards I create for clients (more information on that here), I will use this as a base for all the things I want to save up for and purchase. Some of the things on here are just for visual purposes and I will probably change up a few things here and there as time goes by. I haven't decided on a few things yet, like flooring, cabinetry and if we want to add recessed lights in here as well, but it gives me a visual plan to keep in mind as I shop and plan.

Here's the to-do list:

- remove wall
- skim walls/ceiling
- paint walls/ceiling
- replace lighting (recessed?)
- new washer/dryer
- install utility sink
- replace flooring
- built-ins
- cabinets above washer/dryer
- window
- replace door with Dutch door
- rug
- art work
- accessories