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Our Humble Abode: Mudroom

Oh, mudroom – how I love thee! I desperately needed one at our old home and this place is no different. It’s amazing what gets swept up out there…thankfully, it doesn’t end up in the house.

This room wasn’t in horrible shape but did need a little TLC. The ceiling wasn’t finished and it definitely needed a coat of paint, but besides that we didn’t change too much. We had some boards to replace and some trim to put in, but we kept the floor in this room. Brown hides dirt, yes?!

Before:

After:

Fresh paint and our appliances... — Fresh paint and our appliances…

Wrexy built me a table to fold and sort laundry on (which I love)…as well as the missing sock clothesline. We ended up putting galvanized metal on the ceiling to tie it in with other pieces of the house.

Functional - just what I need! — Functional – just what I need!

I love my apple basket laundry hampers! — I love my apple basket laundry hampers, even if they’re always full…

We made a clothespin chandelier and I absolutely love how it pops in this room!

I made this chalkboard/note holder at our previous home out of an old window from the farm. I love it so much it had to live here…as well as the cool caricature of Wrex and I.

Wrex built a bench/cubby/coat rack – a necessity for us!

We have a few coats... — We have a few coats…

This room could’ve been in worse shape and us never have fixed it and I’d still love it just because it’s a place to kick off dirty shoes and undress and redress and house baby chicks and kittens and hairless dogs and keep all of those things out of the rest of the house! Our front door rarely gets used…and I’m totally ok with that.

Our Humble Abode: Stairway

We are smack dab in the middle of an outside re-do, so I’m gonna keep this short and sweet so I can help lay some sod. EEP! Pray I don’t get too much dirt under my nails before the baby shower I have to get to this afternoon. 😉

The stairs in our old farmhouse are steep. The last person that came to visit said, “I don’t think I’d call these stairs – I think I’d call them a ladder!” I wish I had a picture before I painted the hand rail and the wall, but I’m sure you can imagine that lovely purpleish color that’s been in the bathroom and kids’ room, yes?! The stairs in and of themselves weren’t horrible, just a little plain…and dangerous.

Before:

Not horrible, just nothing exciting... — Not horrible, just nothing exciting…

The first thing we needed was a gate of sorts. With Sawyer’s room being upstairs, we did not want her falling down those steep stairs so we needed it be sturdier than a baby gate…and more aesthetically pleasing.

Wrex found a pallet that was narrower than normal and had slats that were really close together. We added hinges and a lock and the gate was born!

After:

Isn't the awesome?! — Isn’t the awesome?!

It lays flat against the wall when not in use... — It lays flat against the wall when not in use…

We then decided to give the stairs a little pizazz using fabric and wall paper paste. Wrexy measured and cut all the rectangles and I “glued” them on to the stair faces. I absolutely love how they turned out!

I still hate those ugly black skid thingies, but alas, three years later and they’re still here. I’m kind of itching to redo the faces again with different fabric. We’ll see what I can get Wrexy talked into…after the sod gets laid.

Our Humble Abode: Bathroom

When the Lord provided our little house on the prairie here on the eastern plains of Colorado, we were thrilled to have a place to call home…but home needed a little work. Mostly paint. It’s so…what’s the word…interesting?? the paint colors people choose and the previous renters had chosen some interesting ones for sure. Ahem.

We painted every space, put in new flooring in three rooms and spiffied up the others, built shelves and got creative and just had a grand ole, exhausting time!

Today, I thought I’d give you a little before and after tour of our bathroom. It was the smallest and easiest for me to throw together this morning. 🙂

Before:

401131_10151093863015335_384611980_n — This flooring was just stick on tile…

377159_10151093863225335_793408659_n — See that nice paint job?!

379498_10151093862685335_1666869381_n — Yes, that’s duct tape…

As you can see, it needed a little work. We replaced the flooring, bath tub, sink and painted the walls. As weird as it may sound, it’s now one of my favorite rooms in the house!

After:

We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up. We chose a vinyl flooring that was water proof, not just water resistant. We kinda figured we might have a little splashing in here from time to time. This is my favorite flooring in our house, hands down.

We replaced the old sink with one with a much smaller vanity that takes up far less room and hung a new mirror.

We painted the walls a pretty, Tiffany blue and the wainscoting a soft, creamy white. I found these super cute printables and framed them and Wrex made the mason jar storage.

Our bathroom isn’t huge and there’s not a lot of storage so we’ve had to get creative. Wrex made these barnwood shelves for the short wall and I love this hanging system from Ikea; cheap, chic and functional!

We replaced the bathtub and then got to work on the shower walls…they are the best part of this room. I had seen one similar in a magazine one time and I fell in love. Thankfully, Wrex agreed to give it a try and we both love how it turned out. It was far cheaper (and easier) to install than tile and much more unique; it’s quite the conversation piece.

We are so pleased with how it turned out! It’s been almost three years and the colors and shower walls still make me smile every time I see them. Let me know what you think about it! Log in later in the week and we’ll take a peak at another transformation we made…there were a few! 😉