Bird doo, snow, and icy windshields, were all just a part of life. When we were looking for a new (30+ years old) house a little over a year ago, I wasn't too concerned about having a garage, but boy am I enjoying it!
I love the privacy, I love the extra storage space, and pushing the button is fun, too.
A nice aspect of our garage is that there are 3 large storage closets in front of where we park our cars. They have sliding doors and deep wooden shelves. We use one for garden supplies, one for sports equipment, and one for party supplies such as vases, platters, ice buckets and tubs. There is a ton of storage!
An area of the garage I want to improve is the right side that leads directly into our kitchen eating area. I told myself I would not buy another home with a kitchen all on its own in the front of the house, and certainly not one where you walked directly into the eating area, but here we are.
And even though there are only three of us here now, we still seem to pile a lot of stuff on the floor right inside the kitchen door. This house also does not have a coat closet, which is kind of strange, but that's because they removed the closet a long time ago to add a desk area in the kitchen during a remodel.
We have a few hooks right inside the kitchen door for coats, and we TRY to use the garage for the rest. Shoes are a crap shoot.
I was going through my blog and found a post from 2009 where I presented some of my small-space solutions for houses without mudrooms. Looking back at that post now is poignant, and I saw a cute pic of Jack that I'd forgotten about.
Here's how that wall in our garage looks now. I love my old church pew from my house growing up:
It functions pretty well for us, but I got a wild hair a few weeks ago. If I did not have a house with a mudroom, why not outfit this area like a pseudo-mudroom, with built-ins and everything?
I think it will add value to the house and look oh so pretty. Here's some inspiration from Pinterest. Those big windows could pose a problem, but we'll see.
http://www.pinterest.com/aninchofgray/mudroom/
The work crew is getting here in 5 minutes, so I'll report back later. I'm so excited!
9 comments:
Holy moly, your garage is clean!
I am also new to a garage in my new house and I also love it very much. Mine opens into our basement though, so it is less ideal for a mudroom. (We only use that entrance about half the time.) I love your idea for your garage though. I can't wait to see how your redo turns out. Especially considering how really pretty all right the before photos are. :)
I had a proper mudroom at my last house and I miss it so much. Didn't have the built ins though. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
And yes, your garage is unbelievably neat!
Oh, I am so excited for you!
A word of advice. Leave the area under the bench open so the shoes stay out of the way. We have cabinets under our bench so the shoes just pile up in front of the bench to the point that they are almost in the middle of the room. Plus now you can't open the cabinets unless you move all the shoes. I have trying limiting the number of shoes allow to stay in the mudroom but well, you know girls and their shoes. Good luck!!
Garages are great for storage but not very fun to clean. :)
Can't wait to see what you do!
Wow! Your garage is SO clean and tidy! Ours is a big fat piled mess of items to be donated, items to be yard-saled (lovely made up word there) and items I sincerely wish my girlfriend would come and remove because they're taking up most of my available garage space (I'm looking at you, Bowflex!). Eek!
Built-ins would be utterly delightful! :o) I can't wait to see how things shape up!
Well I think it looks great but I can't wait to see what you do!
Well, I see that Steve Finnell is spamming your blog, too.
Anyway, that's not why I'm here. I'm not sure where the right place to leave this comment is, so I just started at your most recent entry. I read your book last Friday. Yeah, pretty much in one day, as it was almost impossible to put down. Then I strongly suggested to my wife that she read it. It is an amazing book, and may be one of the best books I have ever read. The honesty that you have displayed in Rare Bird is overwhelming. I lost count of the number of times that I found myself in tears. But most importantly, I latched on to what you said about loving the child you have, rather than the child you thought you should have had. That was a jewel packed in the midst of all the turmoil you expressed in the book. I've never lost a child, but I have an autistic daughter, and there have been times that it is very difficult to love the child that I was given. (Please don't think I'm comparing that to losing a child, because I'm most definitely not!) Thank you for sharing your life with us. I'll be following An Inch of Gray, going forward. God bless you and your family!
Jeff Bickley
Wow. It already looks pretty good! And all that space! But I'm excited to see what you guys do with it though. Looks like it could use more shelving and organization. I can't wait for the after!
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