We have finally finished renovating our mud room and den. Here’s a collection of photos from the project which took a ridiculous 14 months. The delays were caused by two things: 1. I kept taking on other projects so I was was spending time on those and 2. When I wasn’t working on those other projects I ran out of steam to finish this one. But it’s done now!

This room was originally a single-car garage underneath the living room of the house. It featured modern amenities of a 1960s home, like a milk door for milk deliveries, and a dumbwaiter to take the groceries up to the kitchen. My understanding is it was later turned into an artwork framing workshop, and then before we purchase the house it became a rec room.

We divided it into two spaces by building closets in the middle of it, to create a mud room in the back, and a TV den in the front. This mud room space features a coats and boots area by the door to the garage, closets for camping supplies, countertop and cupboards with a set tub sink, our networking cabinet and an enclosed electrical panel, and a raised platform at the back door leading to my studio office and the hot tub, with cabinets for hot tub supplies.

Here’s what the space looked like before we bought the house.

One of the first things we did was to build a landing at the back door, to eliminate a dangerous drop as soon as you entered the room from outside or from the laundry room.

Then there was a lot of framing to do, including the walls and closets separating the new mudroom and the new TV den, as well as a whole bunch of build-outs and bulkheads for electrical, plumbing and storage.

Then, the drywall.

The crack filling was outsourced… that’s an art and I am no artist.

And then of course everything needed fresh paint. And I’m a millennial, so… grey.

New cabinetry for additional storage and functionality in the mud room.

Shaker-style doors for the closets.

Finishing up the steps.

Stained wood shelves, and coat hooks.

New cabinet doors for the build-outs.

And finally, the finished result, a lovely, spacious and functional multi-purpose mud room space…

I’ll post photos of the transformation of the den side in a few days. Thanks for following along!