Our Mudroom that Isn't A Mudroom

When we moved back to Hometown nearly three (!!!) years ago, there were two projects I really wanted done.  This of course, was in addition to the cleaning, painting, and new carpet that needed to be installed prior to us even moving back in.  Ahem. 

The first item I really wanted was a "built in" computer desk in our family room area.  We have a three bedroom house and with the little brother on the way, we would no longer have a dedicated "office/computer room" and there was this perfect little alcove in our family room that would allow ample space for a nice big computer desk with plenty of room for the computer, printers, and all the computer/office related stuff.  My awesome parents got most of the desk done a little over a year and a half ago and it's just as gorgeous as I pictured in my head.  And rumor now has it they are starting on the top portion (shelving above the desk, complete with trim and cove molding) very soon.  As I said, the desk portion turned out beautifully and it has been more than functional for our every day needs, so please know I am not complaining at all! 

The second thing I wanted was a mudroom.  Don't we all, right?  Well, with our current house, the gorgeous mud "rooms" that you can find very easily on Google or Pinterest are pretty labor intensive if you plan to do it yourself.  Which we did/do.  (And we all know by now, that I use the term "we" very, very loosely, right?)  Plus, there are several other things we want to do with this tiny little space (put in a pocket door for the laundry room, which will involve moving TWO light switches to the other side of the door, not to mention ripping out all the drywall to install/reframe for the pocket door) and those things just aren't in the cards right now, with being both short on time and money.  So in the interest of making this space functional for our comings and goings, having it be somewhat temporary, and still aesthetically appealing and cost effective, the Hubs made this for me as my Christmas gift. 

This is our main entry point through our home.  We rarely, if ever, use our front door.  We go in and out through our garage door that is located in our laundry room.  The laundry room has space for a utility sink and in the sink alcove we have a clothes rack above the sink that we used at one point to hang clothes that needed to air dry, etc.  It was a nice little space for that.  Plus, the sink was there and we used it for stain treating clothes, cleaning muddy boots, and all those other things you use utility sinks for.  But somehow over the last year and a half, that rack has become a coat rack for us all and with that, we didn't really have easy access to our sink anymore, because coats were always hanging in the way.  Plus, when we were in a hurry (are you ever not as parents of littles?) taking all those coats down always knocked down the spray bottles on the sinks edge, so that was always fun.  Or not.

So now I have a nice little coat rack thanks to my mom's design (she did the same thing a few months back in their laundry room at their house) and Hubs hard work.  And as with the desk, rumor has it from Hubs that he would like to get the bench built in time for my birthday this spring!

That would be awfully nice, my dear.  Awfully, awfully nice.