Our colonial saltbox in Mystic has a lot of charm, but one major thing it lacks is a functional entryway. There are two entrances: one from the garage (which I envision as the casual entrance for family) and one in the front (which I envision as the formal entrance for guests). The front entrance is tiny and I literally have to stand on the steps to fully open the front door. However, I don’t know what could be done about that, since I can’t rationalize moving the stairs (but maybe the front door could be changed to french doors?? not sure that is a good idea in cold New England). Anywho, today I am choosing to focus on the entrance by the garage. In New England, they call them mudrooms for a reason. You need to have a place to put muddy boots, umbrellas, and heavy winter coats – we usually end up with two per person: one nice wool coat and one casual puffy coat that can get dirty. Then you also need a place for gloves (which I like to store in the pockets of the appropriate coat, but the rest of my family refuses to get on board with that), hats, and scarves too! Even with only four people, this amounts to a LOT of winter stuff to keep by the door – to say nothing of boots and backpacks, and, you know, JUNK. There is currently a tiny little room that is kind of a connecter between the garage and the house, but it’s not heated, and nobody wants to go out in the cold to put on a freezing cold coat. I have been thinking of sacrificing a portion of the deck to extend that little room back along the side of the garage and make it an addition to the house (i.e. heated). I think it would be an awesome laundry room – my piles wouldn’t be visible to the main part of the house, but it would still be super convenient to be doing laundry all day, which I do, every day.
I also think it would be awesome to make that my craft room and give it a lot of counter space. I wouldn’t really need a lot of storage for craft stuff in the mudroom, because I would probably store most of my glitter, paints, papers, etc. in a large dresser in the main living part of the house (for the kids to use at the island in the kitchen). I would probably want my fabric in the mudroom, but I could always store that under the desk area. I love this idea more and more when I think about it, because if I need auxiliary counter space (which I always do when I’m in the midst of a huge quilt project), then I can use the dining room table or large kitchen island which would be nearby, and I can still be near the family instead of upstairs all alone.
So, to sum it all up, I want a space that is near the main living space, but not visible from main living space (for the inevitable piles of dirty laundry), has storage for coats/bags/boots/hats/launchpad/etc., houses the washer and dryer, and also a sewing area with some fabric storage. And, lots of light! Nobody will want to go in there if it is dark and depressing.
Of course, my main inspiration for this imaginary room is from Edie. She calls hers the Work Room, and it’s LOVELY! Her whole house is gorgeous, but I am especially envious of this room. And it’s directly off her kitchen, just like my imaginary mudroom/sewing room/laundry room will be. Hers is also a homeschool room/library and not a mudroom, but I think it could still work.
I don’t know if all these things (laundry, craft room, and mudroom) can fit in one tiny room, but here’s the rest of my inspiration from, where else, Pinterest.
And, a caveat, we do not know where we will be stationed next year. We expect to find out by Christmas, possibly the beginning of December, but we have no news yet. However, it is possible that we will be sent back to Mystic, and since we have a house there, that is what I’ve been dreaming about renovating. I would LOVE to get the chance to renovate a completely different house in California, or elsewhere; but, since I don’t have any other houses, this is the one I’m focusing on, you know, with Pinterest dreaming.
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