Low ceilings and dated paneling are about to be a thing of the past in this fixer upper mudroom. See the before tour of this room a much-needed makeover to this small former pantry.
MACTAVISH HOUSE | Updated October 29, 2024
The day has (finally) arrived.
Today begins the annual One Room Challenge for the spring season and I am excited to be joining in to show the transformation of my entryway over the next couple of months.
As with practically everything in life lately here in 2020, the ORC was postponed from it's original start date at the beginning of April. On top of that change, stay at home orders have made weekly Lowe's visits difficult, antique and decor shopping impossible, many online products have a delayed availability for shipment, and there is an overwhelming desire to just veg at home rather than start a new project.
Suffice it to say, this year's event is likely to be a bit different than normal thanks to the pandemic.
In case you've never heard of the One Room Challenge (ORC) before, it is a design event created by Linda Weinstein of Calling it Home that takes place twice a year and this season the media partner is Better Homes & Gardens.
Twenty designers are featured, but anyone is welcome to sign up as a guest participant. Although it normally takes place over six weeks, this year has been increased to seven to give everyone time to adjust to the changed life we've been living.
As mentioned, I've chosen to give a much needed makeover to what is used as the entryway of my fixer upper.
If this is your first visit here, I've been remodeling a 1900s coal miner's home that belonged to my grandparents. It is a very slow process as I'm trying to save what remains of the original house rather than demo it all. The best part really has been seeing a place with a dated interior in need of some love be transformed in to something worthy of a share on Instagram. There is a lot worth saving underneath layers of "updates" from 125 years.
I couldn't be happier with how things are coming together. The living room is complete, new siding, window, and doors are on the exterior, and I'm currently working on the breakfast nook off of the kitchen, which in later years had served as my grandma's bedroom.
READ NEXT: Click here to follow my renovation journey, starting with a before tour of the entire house.
Because of the delayed schedule, some of the work has already begun in this room. But I'll take you along through the makeover as originally planned and let you see how quickly ideas must change when working on a fixer upper and how I overcame the difficulties that arose while trying to renovate during a pandemic!
This room is positioned at the back of the house and is the door everyone uses to come and go.
When my grandparents lived here, it also served as a pantry area for storage of excess food supplies and appliances. The cupboards are to be removed and I'm going to transition the space into just a dedicated entryway or mudroom. The plan is to install a built-in pantry cupboard in the kitchen when that space in renovated.
There are a few challenges in this small space that I must take into account when making my design decisions .....
- The ceilings are VERY low in this room. There was no indoor bathroom when this house was built around 1900. Previously, this area was the porch leading into the kitchen, and the room was necessary when the bathroom was installed. The roofline is just inches above the doorway, so there is no option of raising the ceiling height without major structural changes.
The biggest problem with the low ceilings will be trying to find a stylish yet compact light fixture that doesn't hang down where someone can hit their head.
- This small space opens directly into the equally tiny bathroom. Given the way these two rooms join together, it is important when designing the mudroom to be mindful of what will also be happening in the future bathroom design so the two spaces can flow one into the other giving the illusion of a larger space overall. This means likely having one single floor surface, the same paint colors, and possibly matching light fixtures.
- The bathroom door opens out into the room (and also into the aforementioned light fixture.) For as long as I can remember, the door would scrape the linoleum floor as you closed it against the wall thanks to the floors not being completely level. And you had to be careful when coming into the house that someone else was not coming out of the bathroom at the same time because you'd be knocking the doors together.
- There is ductwork going from the furnace in the basement to the bedroom upstairs located in the corner beside the kitchen. The owners before my grandparents installed an angled wall to cover the duct, but I don't like how much extra space this eats up in the already very tiny space.
- The room is just overall small. I want to pack in everything that an entryway should have - a table for dropping mail and keys, a place to sit to put on your shoes, somewhere to hang coats, and a rug to bring in texture and color.
But that all has to be done paying special consideration to the size and scale of everything I choose, while also keeping decorative pieces to a minimum as to not overwhelm the space. Even though it is small, I don't want the room to feel closed-in when you enter into the house.
That wraps up my before tour of this main entry point into the home. Next week I'll be sharing with you exactly what I uncovered when I did demo to this room. I'm learning old homes have lots of surprises.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you're excited to follow along on this massive update with me!
More Posts in the ORC Mudroom Makeover Series
WEEK ONE: Entryway Before Tour - You are here!
WEEK TWO: Demo in the Entryway - See at what is uncovered beneath layers of dated paneling, linoleum, and ceiling tile.
WEEK THREE: Entryway Design Plan - An in-depth look at my original design and the changes I was forced to make.
WEEK FOUR: Cleaned Up and Painted
WEEK FIVE: Building a Console Table - Follow as I DIY a table inspired by Restoration Hardware using boards saved from my childhood sandbox!
WEEK SIX: Barn Door Project - Adding a track to an old door saved from this house for the bathroom
WEEK SEVEN: Mudroom Entryway Revealed
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