Making It Your Own: The Mudroom

When we bought our home five years we were drawn to it because of its location, neighborhood, school district, and price. We were also just thrilled to move back to my hometown! And, since we were moving from another state, we were very anxious to get settled into a home. Sometimes I wonder if we were too anxious! After we moved in we quickly began to realize that we would need to do some tweaking to make it our own. Today I'm going to show you the mudroom we added to our home-- which has become one of my favorite spaces in our house!

In the original layout of our home, from the garage you basically walked straight into our dining room/living room area. There wasn't a convenient place to put items like coats, backpacks, and muddy shoes. Not to mention the garage was so small that it barely fit two cars, with nothing else in it. The house really needed some sort of mudroom, but it just wasn't there. We lived with it for a couple of years, and then when we added a third car garage (that will be another post), we decided to make a mudroom happen.  Now we have a 2.5 oversized garage and a much-needed mudroom. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! Here's a look at the transformation:

Making progress. We lost a little garage space, but it's completely worth it!

Drywall is up and flooring installed!

The finished product with built-in cabinets. We were extremely blessed that a retired friend of my Dad's, who is an amazing cabinet maker, took a picture I found online and made it a reality for an unbeatable price.

He also made a great broom closet in the mudroom. His attention to detail was fantastic!

We've gotten so much use out of this room-- whether it be entertaining...  

...or, simply having a place to put winter weather gear when the little ones come in for hot chocolate. 

I really couldn't imagine our home without this practical, cozy space!

 I guess that's the joy of making a home your own!

I'm linking up with A Bowl Full of Lemons' One Project At A Time and Fall into Fall. Thanks for stopping by!

Making it Your Own: Minecraft Room Makeover

For our son's 10th Birthday he asked for a Minecraft-themed room. So, while we were stationed in Pensacola this summer my parents graciously offered to roll up their sleeves and help update his room within our budget. They make a great team! What a labor of love! Here's a look at how it turned out.

The showstopper of the room is the wall mural that my Mom and her friend, Debbie, created. They started with a Minecraft decal and painted the rest.

The fantastic finished product:

A cozy space...

Love the hand-painted creeper lamps and framed poster...

Looking good!  Even a real Minecraft treasure chest...

My Mom found a guy online who makes these unique wall mounts for Minecraft toy torches. Another huge hit!

Mission accomplished with a VERY happy birthday boy!

Thank you for sharing your talents with us, Mom and Dad!

Today I'm linking up with Remodel-aholic's Beautiful Room Makeovers.  Thanks for stopping by!

Making It Your Own: Kitchen Update

Today I'll share how we updated our kitchen to make it more of a warm, inviting space--the heart of the the home--on a budget. We bought our 15-year-old home about five years ago. Since then, we've continued to tweak things throughout the inside and outside of our home to make it our own.

Here's what the kitchen looked like when we bought our house. Notice no refrigerator, and the outdated appliances and lighting (that fluorescent light had to go!). We had just bought the house and didn't have a lot of money to completely change the kitchen, so we were thankful it had good bones. We loved the layout, hardwood flooring, white cabinets, and back splash. So, with a little tweaking- we made it our own.

Our first line of business was to update the counter tops since there was a large burn mark near the stove top. We chose one of the cheapest granite styles we could find--and I really liked how it paired with the white cabinets. While we were at it, we updated the sink and faucet.

Next up: adding more contrast to our white-on-white kitchen. We sold the white appliances on Craigslist and bought stainless steel replacements at a local appliance store where you can purchase products with minor cosmetic damages for a great price.

Finally, we tweaked the lighting. Great lighting is one of my favorite ways to create a cozy space. We bought the supplies and found a great electrician on Craigslist to install three small recessed lights, under cabinet lights, two pendants, and updated the existing fixtures. I really love how the kitchen turned out!

What are some ways that you've made your kitchen space your own?

I'm linking up today with the Shine Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things, and Fall into Fall Party. Thanks for stopping by!