Home Improvement: Mud Nook!

Ever since we looked at this house the very first time, we said we planned to rip out the wet bar in the family room, wall it off, rip out the other side and put in a mud nook. We finally got that project done! Ben designed an AWESOME mud nook! He worked all Fall to get it mostly done (and it was a good thing it was done back then since his thumb injury in January curtailed all projects the rest of Winter!) and then I finally just found hooks I liked about a month ago (we found out that we are basically hook snobs, or at least we are picky- we wanted a certain look and just couldn't find it, but World Market came to the rescue with some beautiful colorful ceramic hooks that I just love!) so now we can finally say it's done! And it's getting some GREAT use! I just LOVE having this mud nook! The kids' shoes go in the shoe cubbies in the middle, their hats and gloves go in the bins to the left and right (Daniel on the left, Annabel on the right). And the cubbies are all deep enough for TWO bins, so we actually have a summer/winter switch-out, too. No more finding a place for it all come season switch time and no more hunting and trying to remember where we even put it either! I also love that my reusable and drawstring bags are all in bins on top, too, handy for daily trips to the park and our library trips. I even have a bins for my summer/winter gear on top as well. And the kids have a central place to keep any outdoor items, such as binoculars, magnifying glasses, etc. We just have such awesome storage and the shoes no longer take over the garage entryway hallway! Coats and backpacks go on the hooks. We can sit on the bench and put our shoes on. It's just an amazing space for us!

And...wait for the kicker!!! We have a secret about this mud nook...
Take a look and see...

Ta-da!! (Well, minus hooks.) 

Doesn't it look awesome??!!!

 

Now for the reveal of our secrets...

Here's a behind-the-scenes, making of a mud nook...

Old wall ripped out, new wall studded in!

Our family tradition...drawing on the inside of the dry-wall before walling it in!

Annabel drew lots of pictures! ("a scenery of 3," in fact!)

Daniel...wrote his name. To each his own!

Getting there...bench being installed and Daniel helped!

Looking more like a mud nook now!

One more look at the finished project!

Here comes our secret!

That wall...is a door!!

We have shelves for our shoes inside the mud nook!

Isn't that genius?!

I LOVE this hidden space for our extra shoes and boots!

The shelves are all adjustable, too.

(And yes, that door did get painted white on the back, it just hadn't been done when I took this picture.)

Then we finally found hooks! 

Here's what they look like, since you can't tell in my pictures at all...

Aren't they awesome?! Love the pop of color.

The kids were SO excited to be able to hang their things when they woke up one morning and it was all done!!

We sure love this latest home improvement project!!