Faux Mud Room

Anyone with a small house knows having a mud room is a huge perk. We weren't lucky to have one, so we had to create one. After spending countless hours on Pinterest, we decided we like this style.

via

Some place for shoes, bags and coats and mail.  We had an old entertainment center that I thought would be perfect to make the cubbies with. Unfortunately, we after redoing the measurements, I didn't think it was safe to have a wood piece at the end of the staircase. In my head I see one of the kids falling down the stairs and going right into it.

We opt for hooks and shelving.  Just about the same time, our church starting sorting through old furniture for a yard sale.  There were doors, knobs and signs. I fell in love with the door knobs.  I also went to an antique store and bought old glass knobs.




These are the ones from church. Had to clean them to bring out the shine. They are so pretty.




These are the ones from the antique store. I was so pleased when the owner said they came with the plates. I didn't take a picture before they were installed.


Once I had the knobs, I went on Craigslist for small mirrors and found the perfect size. Every mud room/entry way needs a mirror for last minute check before walking out the door.

We didn't want to pain the wall so we covered it with  Wainscot panel, which doubles as spacers. The kids picked the colors of the shelf that DH made the wall. All paint are discounted ones from Home Depot.
         

 

DH hard at work installing the panels. I painted both the shelf and panel in one night. The kids were ecstatic when they saw it in the morning. Now it was on to installing the door knobs. I can't tell you I fully understand what DH was saying but it took him at least two weeks to get it done.

 

Here is a picture of the before and after. What a huge difference. I wasn't sure what I would use the paint for when I bought it, but this was perfect. Brings a nice pop of color to the neutral room. The baskets came from Hobby Lobby on clearance. At the base is two Ikea shoe bins for the kids.

 

 

 

We are really pleased with the outcome and is serving us really well.

Shower Update

Having one bathroom and two little children, a tub with glass doors was not the first choice. We immediately decided to remove them and clean up the grout. The tub is huge and we hope to have it resurface soon.

This job was DH's undertaking. Removing the doors were easy, sanding the grout, well that was another story. I'll let the picture speak for itself.




Small bath with glass doors

Welcome to happenings....Hard Wood Floors

Thank you for stopping by. This blog is created to capture things that we are/will do to our 1952 cape cod home. Eventually, we will combine our food blog with this one and just have one to update. We bought this "small" house a year and a half ago, and went straight into making it a functioning home for us.

My first impression of our house was, "oh my gosh, that carpet has got to go". Typically reaction of most home buyers, but really, the carpet had to go. My DS has mild asthma so we didn't want a house full of carpets.

We kept our old place while I rip up the carpet. My first experience ripping carpet. Would I want to do it again? I would shout NO at the top of my lungs. It was painful, but being a frugalister, I endured on. 



Removing nails



This makes me want to cry, but I took all of them out. One at a time



What the floor looked like after. Carpet in the back



Space between floor and base board after carpet was removed



Filled in with Great Stuff to prevent draft from coming in



Adding toe shoe

As you can see, the floors were sanded and stained by a professional. Removing the carpet is the biggest job I have taken on by myself, so far. I have no regrets at all.