Home Tour: Our Mudroom

The floors and doors of our little mudroom have gotten quite the use over the past few weeks. I’m constantly moving to and fro, from house to yard, working on various projects and so, I’ve come to know this small space of our home all too well.

I love taking a quick break and refueling with a big gulp of coffee or a refreshing blast of air conditioning here. I usually place my phone on one of its windowsills and let music, or a good podcast, stream into the yard while Rosie spends hours upon hours resting on the rug, watching out of the open door as I work.

For a long time now, this area has been a catch-all for things that need taken out to the garage, houseplants that have not yet found a home, and muddy boots and shoes and gardening tools – more often than not spotted here and there with little bunches of fresh earth and mulch and grass that have made their way indoors.

While it’s not a visible area to most who enter our home, it’s very much a central location for me; so a couple of weekends ago, between yard projects, I decided to show it a little TLC and breathe some new life into it.

I’ve been thinking about installing some floor tile in here, as well as repairing the wall with a more weather-resistant material, but I’m currently throwing my time and money into larger, more pressing projects. So, I was inspired to come up with a temporary, but equally fun solution.

I’ve loved Iron & Wine’s “Passing Afternoon” for well over a decade now. It’s a song fitting for all seasons and churns up images of gardening, and working and connecting with the earth, with nearly every line. Often when I’m outside working, I find myself humming this tune, and when I got the idea to commit to painting words on the wall, there was no question that I’d be using the lyrics to this song.

This project only took me a little over an hour (I wasn’t concerned with it being perfect, as so much of it is hidden away!) With those first few strokes, my shaky hands had me thinking I’d made the worst decision ever, but it got much easier as I went along, and in the end, I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

I’ll be honest… I didn’t do any measuring or much pre-planning at all. I basically just crossed my fingers and hoped that it’d work out. If you’re doing a more prominent statement wall, I would definitely recommend, at the very least, lightly drawing some straight lines to place your words on, unless you’re going for the freehanded, imperfect look. : )

I used the same paint that I used to update the mudroom doors a couple of months ago, and a small, flat lettering paintbrush to write with.

I love how unique this tiny space looks now! I had been especially stumped for the past couple of weeks on how to pull together this space with it having a bold, black door and everything else being so bright white. This totally did it. It’s definitely inspired me to treat it with a little more respect and keep it as cleaned up and as airy as possible moving forward.

Do you have any fun statement walls in your home? How about any rooms that deserve some extra love and attention for all they’ve done for you?  I’d love to see them and hear your ideas!

xo, Aly