My Newly Wallpapered Mudroom Phase 1

About 2 1/2 years ago, I redid my mudroom to a lovely pumpkin orange with lots of wicker & new slate floors. I loved the mudroom but felt a need for a change as we have been changing the colours in the whole house. I most recently painted the hallway & replaced some doors. So, seeing this, I knew I could not put off any longer my ideas for my mudroom redo!

When we bought this house the mudroom was in dismal shape. You can check here for the story of its first before & after. I chose the pumpkin colour to blend with the earthy colours already in this house when we bought it. Plus, I plan to use my mudroom as the room where I can try out every bold colour I want because it is a small space. So, I knew the pumpkin was a temporary colour...something to enjoy for the short term since I have always loved shades of orange!

So, as we progressed with the rest of the house using lighter, happier colours, I realized I was becoming tired of the pumpkin colour. I loved it, but I had had enough. About a year ago I discovered an amazing wallpaper for the mudroom. I brought home samples & settled on the pattern. However, I then discovered the most beautiful wallpaper which suited my diningroom to perfection. So instead of doing the mudroom, I bought paper for the diningroom. That delayed me doing the mudroom once again. Check here to see my diningroom wallpaper.

So, I had settled on the idea of just painting the mudroom until recently my mother & I were out shopping & she encouraged me to just buy the paper & be happy for it! So twist my rubber arm...& here is the results of a full week of work. I painted, primed, wallpapered, filled holes, and went nearly crazy matching & cutting in and around awkward, not plumb corners & walls! I hope you like it!

Of course, with every new redo, you discover that the items you used to decorate before just don't work anymore. I really loved my wicker purses hanging in my mudroom. I've collected them for about 20 years now & love to show them off. However, the pattern is to busy & it clashes with the wicker handbags. I also had to remove my wicker drawers which I used daily for storage and to hang Maggie's leashes plus extra coats, etc. However, I'm pretty excited with my new to me accessories.

I bought of Kijiji a couple of months ago an Ikea Wooden shelf with drawers which I've been covering with paper plus an Ikea glass sliding door cupboard. I just need to get it up on the wall & repaint it to match the beadboard using my mistint colour in linen.

This photo is from another blog...I'm so sorry...I can't recall where...I can't show mine till it's done so I wanted to show you my inspiration! I paid $10 for my drawer set. Above it will go the glass cabinet painted to match. I may etch the glass....maybe!

I painted the beadboard using a mistint called Linen. It was $40 & I paid $10! Not sure if I am keeping this in the mudroom. But it is practical.

This is the room after, but before decorating! I love my bench! I bought it at the Kingston Market from a guy who makes them here locally. I love to always mix in natural pieces. My slate floor is the kind that is rough cut or hand hewn...not sure of the technical term. But I wanted the real slate because it reminds me of Ireland. I might switch to faux wooden blinds in white.

I love the vibrancy of the wallpaper. I only wish my photos would do the same! This is where my cabinets are going & I plan to hang iron hooks to replace my old wicker drawer unit.

I also painted my door black! Not an easy task in December! I plan to replace the handles when I replace the door.

These are the double doors going into a very large closet! Love them!

The Beauty of Wallpaper

For over a year now, I have been planning some changes to my mudroom. One of those changes that I was most excited about was to add wallpaper above my white beadboard. I wanted to do something different & special. Plus, I have secretly been excited this past year exploring all the possibilities available now in the wallpapering world.

However, as I searched for the perfect paper for my mudroom, I instead discovered the most perfect wallpaper for my diningroom! I ditched the mudroom & started imagining it on my diningroom wall! Wallpaper isn't cheap, but wow, am I ever glad I saved up for the splurge. It added the finishing touch to my diningroom. I think when I finally found my elusive diningroom light within my budget, (uhmmm $10 for an Ikea Pendent Light) the stars aligned & I found the energy & inspiration to finish my diningroom! I can finally proclaim that my diningroom is finished!

This past weekend, I papered the largest wall in my diningroom with the most beautiful light blue wallpaper with big white flowers...think dalias or mums! Everytime I walk by the room I smile & feel so happy that I can finally say that ONE room in my house is actually finished!

My diningroom is so light & airy...I have always loved the clean lines & light airy colours of Swedish style & this room allowed me to nurture this love! However, I can never lay claim to one particular look as I always add my own eclectic touch from my weekly treks thru local yard sales!

I love this room! I do so many things in my diningroom & it is by far the sunniest room in our home. I hope that it a place where friends & family always feel happy & relaxed in! When I think back to how it used to look when we moved in....to its first transformation to now, well...it is like the clouds parted and let the sunshine burst thru!

Oh, & thanks to my friend Heidi for taking the top three photos as my camera does not have a wide angle lens!

Mudroom....

This is a photo of our mudroom closet. It is a huge closet with two solid wood colonial doors which is the first thing you see when you come into our mudroom. The closet is spacious and it already had a closet organizer inside though the inside walls needed a lot of work and the wooden shelves needed paintingBefore we began renovating this room there was very old cushion flooring in white of all colours, along with walls that had the most ugly wallpaper. It is a nice spacious mudroom about 8x10.

In this room we did everything half-assed backwards. Rather than stripping the walls and painting them first, we stupidly laid our new slate floors. This happened because my husband offered to lay the slate during the weekend I was going to visit my sister in NS. I didn't hesitate to take him up on his offer. It could be months till he found the motivation to do it again! I did a mental checklist of what could go wrong doing the floor first but my desire to get something, anything done...won!

I chose a less traditional black slate tile which is rough hewn and somewhat imperfect. Part of the reason why I chose a rough hewn tile was due to memories I had as a kid visiting an old abandoned house that had slate roof tiles laying on the ground in amongst the grass. I would drag home the old slate and use it as lap style chalkboards with my sister or friends while we played school! Plus, I wanted a bit of a scullery feel to the mudroom...nothing to fancy or perfect...rough and suitable for a house with three growing, messy boys!

I chose a cocoa brown grout which I love....but that has a story to go with it also. My husband had never laid slate...and in particular one that is imperfect and takes a loving hand and eye to get it right. It was a big job and quite frustrating but all in all I think he did a pretty great job! My only regret, is that we couldn't afford to lay the infloor heating which would have made the floor far more comfortable in the winter as I tend to not heat this room unless it is absolutely freezing! So, the tile is very cold!

My hubby used to much water in the grout and instead of having nice cocoa brown grout I ended up with white. I solved the problem by using tea bags dipped in water to stain the grout and in my humble opinon...it looks marvelous!

Before we could paint the walls we had to remove layers of wallpaper. Well, why not make the job harder. Andy some sort of sharp object to score the paper instead of the proper tool....well, once the paper came off so did some of the gyprock and he had damaged the walls with his heavy duty scoring. So, all that had to be patched and sanded!

We ended up painting the walls twice. The first time it was a lovely green colour which looked really pretty. But, the look was more pottery barn and I felt it was to safe and predictable. What I really want for this house is my own look...I have always had to consider resale and keeping it buyer friendly....so now I want my own somewhat eclectic taste to show through, I can show off all my bits and pieces that I have collected over the years! Most of all....I want people to smile when we open the door. I don't care if it is because they roll their eyes because they hate the colour or because it makes them feel happy! So, I chose a very bright almost tacky orange...and we love it! It is a small room and I will change the colour often I am sure...but for now....we get a kick out of the jolt of colour when you open the door.
In this photo you can see a small sampling of my vintage wicker bag collection. I have collected these for about 20 years now and my favourites are on display here. One isn't a wicker purse but one that my friend knitted and felted and the other favourite is one given to me by my friends Shane & Alli.

The light above is new and it is the rubbed bronze as are the new hinges and door handles. I really love changing out hinges as much as I do door handles. It is a small detail but it is something I notice and appreciate.

This room turned out to be
a lot of work...it took us over a
month to complete this job. But we are really satisfied with the job so far. We do plan to replace the back door with a new one when we can afford it. But first we will replace the steps and build a small deck leading upto the entrance.