How To Create A DIY Faux Mudroom

The Mud Room, it’s helpful wherever there’s weather.  In our condo, there isn’t such a room, to handle all of the rainy umbrellas and the muddy boots of inclement weather- but with some ingenuity, we have made one!

Honestly, in our little space, having a place for all of the muddy shoes, wet stuff and dirt we drag in, is  essential to keeping our place clean, and in fact, my sanity in tact.

It all started when we found this TV stand in an alley by our casa…

There is a phenomena is Chicago, that if someone doesn’t want a bulky piece of furniture and it’s a hassle to get it to thrift, you place it in the alley. I call this alleyway surfing.

You can find amazing pieces, simply by looking outside.  I’ve left an array of furniture items in the alley throughout the years that didn’t quite fit anymore in our home, and now, I found a great piece to fit the corner of our space. of course, it was puppy-chewed and the wrong color, but with the right paint and accessories, it ended up being a great cornerstone to our nest- the faux mudroom.

Of course, this great piece didn’t look like it originally.  When the neighbor scooted it out, I asked, if it was up for grabs. He replied it was.  Boom! Ripe for the taking.  Since then, we’ve swapped pieces.  I knew though, that this piece needed to be revamped from its scratched up orange, and puppy chewed pieces.

The right paint can transform anything from alleyway piece to cornerstone piece.  Finding a color that resonates with your style and fits into your home can transform what you’ve got into what you flaunt.

My fiancé was a bit skeptical that we could save this orangey, puppy chewed & rickety piece into a mudroom- but it didn’t take much time to change his mind. We picked up some Glidden Paint®‘s Cranberry Zing which had both primer and color in it- so it provided an easy to apply, and great-to-repair coating in a bright shade of matte brick red and brushed it over the wear, tear and puppy marks- and created something we both love.

We also invested in some cute dark wicker pieces that would transform this piece into both a space saver, and a sanity saver.  A good wicker basket will help camouflage the less than photogenic muddy shoes to be presentable when company is present in a tight space.

We have plenty of running shoes, coincidentally, in close proximity to where people hang out when they come to visit. So, as much as we love to show off our shoe collection living in tight quarters, it’s a good idea to keep things both practical, and also, snug as a bug in a rug.

Check it out- we were able to build a little “mud room” from a TV stand that includes sensical areas for our outgoing mail, keys, library books, dog leases and tons and tons of running shoes- that aren’t obnoxious in our dining nook with some gorgeous, vibrant color and some conscientious camouflage.

This mud room serves a purpose- when I head out the door, I need some serious signals to make sure I collect my thoughts.  I was able to turn this tv stand into something really helpful- a station for mail, keys, library books, dog leases and all the shoes I could need for a literal errand run.

Also- I have a quite actual fear of leaving the curling iron and/or straightener on, so I leave a handy little reminder that before  I leave the casa, it’s important that the heating products are off.

We installed a bath towel rack  in order to hold those watery, unruly umbrellas.  With a good floor mat you can purchase at a hardware store, you can have a slideable mat that will catch both drippy umbrellas and also, some muddy boots or shoes.

The whole project with Glidden paint’s Cranberry Zing, towel rack, floor mats and accessories, cost us less than $50 and we’re so excited to have a great spot in our home that keeps things tidy!

We may not be able to have a mud room in our little nest, but we can make one that works for our tight quarters.  We really wanted a place to hold our assortment of shoes without being an eyesore- a good coat of paint in a beautiful shade and some quick hardware hacks, made that possible.

For this project we used Glidden Paint’s  Cranberry Zing which made the color choice and the repaint project as easy as possible, with a primer and paint color all in one. There weren’t a zillion paint colors to choose from, so we found one that worked for us, and were happy to knock this DIY project out in an afternoon- it was great.

If you need a practical cornerstone of your home, you’d be surprised where you find the inspiration for it!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Glidden paint through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Glidden paint, all opinions are my own.