Mudroom Makeover

I am finally going to post photos of our mudroom!  I have been holding off because we have not updated the flooring. But let's be real, I'm too lazy to move the full pantry at this point to put in new floors. 

 

So...here we go!  Keep in mind I live on a farm and this is the real world, no fancy staging here (though I did de-clutter a bit before shooting some photos.)

 

BEFORE -unfinished bare stud walls






   

 

We moved this door to the right of the wall so that we could remodel the kitchen and put the fridge right here. We had intended to keep the door, but we loved how it seemed to open up the house without it so we just left a doorway.  Then we had spray foam insulation installed.

 

   I had some salvaged bead board that I brought with me from Idaho so I got busy installing it, all the way to the peak of the ceiling. 

 

Charlie helped out!

 

Well, maybe not but isn't he cute!

 

After salvaging a house from the 1850's in Wisconsin I stripped and stained the woodwork to put in this room.  I didn't have a long enough piece to fit above the door so I had to get creative with the rosettes and trim.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really wanted to put this sink that we salvaged from that Wisconsin house in the new bathroom (with a matching faucet of course) but it was vetoed by my husband.  So the pups have a new drinking hole!

The best for last...

I love, love, LOVE this gate because it comes in handy on rainy days like today!  I know, I know...poor puppies want to come in! 

 

 

 Thanks for visiting my favorite room in the house!  

 

Keep pickin'

 

Kelly

 

 

Updated Barn

This is what our barn looked like when we bought the property a of couple years ago.  It's actually a granary that was built in the 1880's with a corn crib on the far left side and nice open space behind the big door.  The right side had a lean to for shelter and a tack room under the loft in the middle.  Pretty cool right!

Upon closer inspection it was really in pretty rough shape on the outside (especially after our goats decided to eat the siding) but built rock solid in the middle.   We felt a need to try to save what we could and make it a more usable space for our current needs, mainly garage stalls and storage as well as a place for me to work on restoration of furniture during the summertime.  

So I drew up some plans, hired a builder and began demo.  We salvaged all the tin roofing and plan to use it on another building as siding. 

Next each side was removed in sections and hauled away. 

It looks a little tiny and sad with just the middle standing and though we loved how it opened up our view to the west of our property, it was not stable or of much use in this form.

Poles went in as support on each end as the new 20' x 22' garage stalls began to take shape. 

It was at this point I was a little concerned about the proportions and if we made the right decision. 

But it started to take shape and I was getting excited! 

It's finally done and I really do love it.  I am not really into metal sheds, siding etc because I love old historic homes and buildings, but it just made more sense to build it in this manner for Minnesota weather.  Plus as you will later see, we did get to keep some of the original.

This is the wide open space on my side of the garage and the other side is a mirror image.  Plenty of space for our vehicles and all the necessities for maintaining a hobby farm! 

I really love this part of the building.  Here you can see the old original siding of the middle section of the granary and it's in pristine condition! 

Can't wait to fill it up!

Keep on pickin'!

Kelly

Laundry Room / Bathroom

 We had a nice sized laundry room in our house, but only one bathroom.  

BEFORE

So I designed a combined space but made sure to include plenty or storage space.  It does make it seem much smaller, but it meets our needs here on our hobby farm.  This bathroom is off the mud room and easily accessible when you come in from doing chores.  We actually had to do some demo and building of walls to complete our plan.  And I am pretty happy with the final result. Take a look!

 I posted earlier about my floor problems in this space.  You can read about my creative solution here.  They were vinyl over the original wood floors. Here are some photos.

The finished product. 

I tried to use as much architectural salvage as possible in this house.  This door was a great find, thanks Jane, and so pretty after I refinished it.  It had a dead bolt hole that I had to patch and the doorknob seemed extremely high, but I loved it.  Turns out I needed the doorknob that height to avoid hitting the washing machine when opening the door.  I was completely unaware of that potential problem. I love when things work out!  

The oak moulding I salvaged from a local house built in 1900.  The house has been abandoned for years and will soon be gone. I'm glad I had the opportunity to save some of its beautiful woodwork!  Thanks Arlene!

 Below is the finished room.  You can see what I was talking about with the doorknob.  The pediment above the window was salvaged from an abandoned brick house in Wisconsin that was built around 1860 and the wood detail under the window is the original wood bridge that was in this house above the sink connecting the kitchen cabinets.

 I found the fabulous stained glass at an antique store and since this window faces the driveway it is the perfect screen as you exit the shower.

Speaking of kitchen cabinets, I reused some of them here in the bathroom above the washer and dryer.  I added some lath moulding around the doors to give a more turn of the century feel versus 1940 and the handles are from old window sashes. 

I searched for over a year for an antique medicine cabinet, any antique cabinet, and finally found one.  Well, I found 4 within a 2 week period!  This one had already been restored, YAY, but it was an in wall mount that needed a 2x6 wall.  So, I had to tweak my plan a little and put it on the shower wall instead of above the sink which is ony a 2x4 wall.   It made the nook a little tight since we needed to build a bigger wall, but what do you do?  Oh well.  It was a little strange to have 2 mirrors so close so I kicked it up a notch and added a third!  This allows you to see all sides of the head and hair...you know, cuz my husband really cares ;) 

I had the PeFeCT salvaged wall mount sink, but since this will primarily be my husband's bathroom he vetoed it due to the separate water spouts, boo!  So I had to concede to his wishes. 

 I also had to try to squeeze in a towel holder so I improvised.  I used the legs from a coffee table, my favorite repurpose                                      gone bad after I chose to drop it down the basement stairs versus dropping myself :(  

The corner blocks and woodwork in this room are also from the same house that had the oak trim. This woodwork was upstairs in the house and had several layers of paint that I had to strip.  Well worth all the work!

I love this tiny room!  Thanks for stopping by!

Kelly