Mudroom/Rear Porch Makeover

For several months, I've wanted to spruce up our mudroom/rear porch. This space has always had a lot of potential: there are large windows on three sides and ample storage on the fourth side. The mudroom connects to our kitchen, and it lets in lovely light. This space is also the primary access to our home, so we see this space several times a day.

But for far too long, our mudroom was a cluttered, disorganized mess. There was so much extra stuff taking up floorspace that we barely had room to maneuver. I'm almost embarrassed to show you these pictures, but it's necessary for the full before and after impact. So here is our dirty laundry. This is the sight that "greeted" us every time we left for work in the morning or returned home:

 

Yikes! Some welcome, right?

And after a weekend of decluttering, organizing, and scrubbing, our mudroom is now a much more functional space.

There is a utility cart for things we like to keep easily accessible: reusable bags, barbeque tools, an extra vase, a citronella candle, etc. I love the cerulean color, the shelves, and the fact that it folds up for storage. The cart is metal, so it will be easy to clean. It also has wheels, which has turned out to be a handy feature.

The utility cart was from HomeGoods, and it was a great price. This gray caddy was another HomeGoods find. It has six compartments, which makes it perfect for organizing other outdoor items, like sunscreen, bug spray, gardening gloves, and small gardening tools. 

This pine bench was on the porch previously, acting as a catch-all for many of the things that are now in the gray caddy. I painted the bench a cheerful shade of yellow using a combination of Annie Sloan Arles and Annie Sloan English Yellow. 

 We usually keep our shoes on inside the house, with the exception of things like hiking boots and dirty "work" sneakers. Those stay out on the porch so we don't track mud and grime through our house.  (By the way, isn't that a great little doormat? It was on clearance at Lowe's!)

 Next to our shoes, we keep a couple of umbrellas so that they are easy to grab on our way out the door.

We are fortunate to have several different kinds of songbirds in our yard. Before, their birdseed was just kept in large bags on the porch floor. But the bags were cumbersome to move and once they were open, it was difficult to keep the seed from spilling. Now we have a much better way to store birdseed. This plastic container holds 40 pounds of seed, and it came with a matching scoop.The slim profile saves floor space, and the wheels are a great feature. Birdseed is heavy, so I like being able to roll this around on our porch. This was also from HomeGoods.

By the way, I swear that I mopped this floor...twice. It just never looks clean!

We hung a couple of quirky pictures to add some visual interest. These were things we already had on hand, but hadn't yet found a place for. I think the bright, cheerful colors work well out here. That horseshoe is a family heirloom. Fingers crossed that it will bring us some good luck (we need it, with all the work to be done in this house).

Our mudroom already had some built-in storage, and we're now taking better advantage of it.

In our general storage area, we have extra automotive supplies as well as most of our gardening supplies (fertilizer, soil acidifier, seeds, leaf bags, etc). 

One of my favorite features about this mudroom is that there is nicely-sized cleaning closet. This closet has plenty of space to hang brooms and mops. Plus, we added a shelving unit to maximize storage for cleaning sprays, sponges, brushes, microfiber cloths, etc. I don't particularly love to clean (does anyone?), but having a nicely organized and colorful way to store my cleaning supplies certainly makes the process more enjoyable.

The woven blue baskets were from Lowe's, and they are a great size for holding our various cleaning products. 

Last but not least...aren't these guys adorable? They're microfiber cleaning cloths from Daiso (it's a Japanese dollar store, popular near my parents' home in California). They're a great deal at $1.50 each and the quality is superb. Plus, dusting is a lot more fun with a lime green frog or a fuchsia hedgehog. Trust me.

 

Thanks for reading about our mudroom makeover, folks!