DIY // The Kitchen/Mudroom Renovation - What We Love & What We Don't

It's been a good 6 months since we finished our Kitchen/Mudroom renovation, so I thought I'd share a breakdown of what we have loved and what we kind of don't.



Let's start with the positives and a good ol' before and after as a refresher of how much this space has changed since we first moved in back in December 2011.

What We Love // While there are lots of little things that we love - here are three of the big ones.

1 // The Open Floor Plan - Absolutely the best part of this whole reno was opening up the mudroom to the rest of the kitchen.  The natural light that it brings into the room is amazing.  The ability to see outside is both refreshing and makes me feel a little more comfortable when I send Luke out to play.

2 // The Built-In Benches - Perfect for storing bulky kitchen items like our crockpot and things we don't use on a regular basis like our fondue pot.  They are also great for storing family games.

3 // The Mudroom // Laundry Closet - Not revolutinary or particularly exciting to outsiders, but having a designated place to dump all our junk when we walk in the door has been so nice especially in a home that lacks a lot of space and storage.  The laundry closet is another one of those things that's not too exciting but has given us piece of mind by quieting our noisy machines and hiding the not so eye-pleasing stackables behind closed doors.

What We Don't Love // What We'd Do Differently - Funny that three of these items are also in our love rundown!

1 // Cork Flooring - We love the warmth it brings to the space and the cushion of the cork nice to stand on but the super dark espresso color SHOWS EVERYTHING.  Dust, food, cat hair - nothing stands a chance of hiding on these floors.  They have to be swept and cleaned every single day which probably is fine for those that like their homes super clean but I'm more of a laid-back cleaner that thinks tackling the floors every few days is good enough.

2 // Mudroom & Laundry Closet - Funny that this ended up on our love list but it's one of those spaces that works but kind of doesn't.  The mudroom, while perfect for tossing our coats and shoes, is an eyesore and is constantly overflowing with stuff and since it's open to the rest of the room it is pretty annoying.  On that same note, the laundry closet is pretty great but you know how stackables kind of get that musty smell if they're closed up?  Yeah that's the issue with having a shallow laundry closet - you just don't have the space to let it air out without having to keep the closet door open.  A slightly deeper closet would have given us enough space to keep the washer's door open.

3 // The Half Wall - Okay, love that there's separation between the dining nook and the entry BUT it is too long.  We went back on forth on how long to make it and I won out - and now I see that the husband was right.  :)  The length of it makes the nook feel a little too confined and makes it hard to get in and out of the space.  We're hoping that a new table (which we were planning all along) will help alleviate the issue.

So that's our 6-month in breakdown of what we love and what we don't.  Only time will tell if there's more that need to be added to each list.  For all the before/after photos check out our Home Tour page and for all our DIY projects be sure to check out the Project Gallery.