Evolution of the Mudroom/Kitchenette

With Gabe working his day job every other week, we were able to accomplish more on the house than we ever dreamed!  Honestly, I had felt like the house to-do list was impossibly long and didn't think we'd get near as much done on the basement as we did.

First, let's talk about the mud room. The vision was to create a space that functions as a mudroom and a kitchenette so that when we have visitors down there, for a night or two or a short term stay, they can have a little bit of independence and privacy. We want to provide countertop space, a microwave and functioning sink. There is a fridge/freezer right outside the basement door in the garage as well.

We can start with a look down memory lane at we found the space in 2014 (after the furnace had been moved to the other end of the house--one of the first things we did when we bought the place in 2013):

The furnace would have been next to the door to the left

Let's go through the evolution of the mud room.

From the get-go, we had a large open basement space split up by this staircase that came straight down. Near the end of 2015, we worked to turn the staircase so that we could enclose a sizable bedroom in that area, with the stair entry and discharge shooting straight towards the basement/garage door.

More efficient, see?

In mid-2016, Gabe moved the water heater to the other side of the basement, to be enclosed in a utility room:

An old freezer was put in its place for temporary. Always nice to have extra freezer space!

As it can be seen, we housed our washer and dryer down partially behind the stairs. It was down there until around August 2018, when we had built a space for it upstairs in the hallway next to the master bedroom.

Before (10/2016) and after (9/2017) the doorway to the bonus room was built:

By Thanksgiving of 2016, we had moved downstairs to the basement bedroom and it would serve as the master bedroom until our major addition was done (we moved in to our new addition master bedroom Thanksgiving of 2018!) Zoe was downstairs in that room with us. It was a blessing that the room was large enough for all of us to be in there comfortably. We went from a 10'3" x 12'9" bedroom space to a 12'6" x 16'6" size room!

From the doorway of the mud room looking into the finished space:

Back to the mudroom.

It remained unfinished though, for quite some time! Through our major additions upstairs, from the end of 2017, through spring of 2020, we basically did nothing in the mudroom, besides infrastructure like plumbing and electrical which are hard to photograph into something meaningful :)

Finally, in the spring of 2020, when Gabe had some time off due to the Coronavirus pandemic shutdown, we had an opportunity to tackle the space and get it up to speed.

Here's the mudroom in March 2020, in all it's red lights and baby chick housing glory:

Not to mention housing (more or less organized-ly) shoes!

First order of business is to get the extremely heavy slop sink out of the space so we can drywall the back wall (he had already managed to put polystyrene behind for insulation).

Gabe keeping all the plumbing straight--I don't know how he does it!!

The metal base the sink sits on crumbled under the weight of the sink--thankfully it didn't land on my toe! --as we managed to set the thing on its side to get it outta there:

A little sweetie posing in front of the newly framed wall:

Another cutie "helping" daddy attach drywall to the stud wall:

Apparently I didn't get too many pictures of the process of insulating, drywalling and mudding the space. Here's one awkward one, and you can see some of the constant shuffling around of the furniture and tools in there until the flooring was down and cabinets were in to house all the things that were in there that needed storing.

We did the next part slightly out of order--we put vinyl planks down first and then painted. Chalk that up to my impatience to see how the flooring would transform further what had once been a dingy, dark, dank little intersection of a space!

Flooring going down as shown on the sink wall:

Panning right, you can see how Gabe handled the framing of the doorway/hall under the stairs:

First he put a header in under the stairs and cut away the triangular part that was jutting down into the walkway. There is a slight bulkhead in the ceiling where the supportive header comes down and panels cover it (the ceiling panels/trim are not entirely finished).

Stairs wall:

And then paint!

And then looking at the wall to the right, the door to the guest room:

Panning to the right again, looking at the wall adjoined to the garage:

We painted some panels to stick up on the ceiling:

Here's where it gets really fun! I have been staring at this UGLY window for a long time (over 5 years!) and it's super inefficient energy-wise. SO, imagine my excitement to get to REPLACE it!!!!  YAY!!!

Remember?

From the outside, before the deck covered it up:

It's not even glass--it appears to be some sort of shoddy plexiglas that will never fully clean off it's been scratched so much.

YESSSSS!!!!

Woo hoo! And that embarrassment of cords and wires in the upper left corner are our ethernet connections and routing for the entire house. Once Gabe wired the outlet that will go up in that corner, they will get neatly tucked inside a wall cabinet, as soon as we get it (it was backordered a few days).  You can also see the panels installed on the ceiling--just know the seams will be covered with a trim detail, in time, in time.

We picked up our cabinets, from our contractor friend who got them cheap from a wholesaler, in August (all except the backordered one), all for less than $1500. We had a few cabinets we re-used from the kitchen we tore out upstairs, but honestly, the base cabinet we were really counting on wasn't savable. Back in the throes of our major additions it was left out in the garage when we'd had a few floods in there before the drainage was taken care of properly. The cabinet got all warped and moldy on the back. So, it will be used in my pottery studio shed someday, but until then, we got a new base cabinet instead.

It's plain to see that we mis-aligned the cabinets and window, so that was a bit of a bummer. It will become more clear when the sink and faucet are in place on the sink base. I kept telling Gabe throughout the project down there whenever he'd fuss over some detail, "it's just a basement!" so we could get a move on and now, after I have harped on the mis-alignment, he likes to remind me of my statement, "it's just a basement!" Oh well. You live and learn. And you learn to live with your mistakes.

We bought a 12' walnut butcher block sheet at Lumber Liquidators mid-August and gave it a quick cut at 5' to transport it and will cut off the excess when Gabe's ready for the final install. For now, they are just resting on the surface, accumulating tools and junk. It will be a wider opening for circulation through to the bonus room, in time, in time.  The walnut butcher block choice is intended to be a more cost conscious nod toward the materials we have upstairs without upstaging them. I think it will come out beautifully once it's oiled and sealed up.

In the picture looking down the hall to the bonus room, you can see the slight drop in ceiling to accommodate the support piece that enabled Gabe to cut out part of the stairs.

Here's a little better picture of what the closet under the stairs looks like:

Looking back towards the door to the garage we installed a bench, some hooks and shelves:

This bench, Gabe worked to give a built-in look. Eventually, I'd like to replace or recover the cushion since white in a mud room is proving to be a baaaaad idea. The wall mounted shelf and hooks were not a matching set with the bench, but I think they marry nicely. The chrome hooks might get some spray paint at some point, but for now that's not high enough on the priority list.

Gabe installed some of the under cabinet lighting as well. One of the overhead can lights is flickering so we took it out and it's nice to have a bit more light on the subject! The sink will go right there in the middle and the bar with hooks will hold the fake herbs from Ikea :)

It's coming together!

And one more with the rug I bought! It's jute and should hold up nicely to the dirt and mess of a mudroom. The color is pretty homogenous to the flooring, but it doesn't bother me and feels like a subtle design touch without being showy. I am going to add cobalt accents to the space in the form of my pottery from college that have been in storage for waaayyyy too long ;)

You can see that the last panel that was missing on the ceiling above the shelves is now in place.

Gabe had to go back to work abruptly at the beginning of September so our plans to finish the countertop slowed down considerably.

First, Gabe filled a few small voids in the butcher block countertop with black epoxy. Then he sprayed them with shellac. Lastly, he painted on the polyurethane coating and they took up space in the garage for a week or so:

Did I mention we got baby chicks?

To say the kids are enamored would be an understatement ;)

Next, Gabe cut the hole for the sink:

And dropped it in!

You can see how wonderful the walnut looks here.

Getting the sink faucet and water hooked up were the next order of business:

We sorta buggered up the caulk around the sink by waiting to long to wipe it off the surface of the wood, so it's going to take some time to figure out what product to use to get it off, besides painstaking fingernail scratching!

I also requested the hooks bar to be installed so I could add some greenery to the space and liven it up from all the white on white on white!

There's still handles to install, light switch plates to install and ceiling trim to finish, but it's usable and very handy for when we need to wash hands after handling the chickens. Goodness, there are a lot of uses that come in handy that we took for granted when we were without a slop sink down there for a couple of months!

Not completely finished, but good 'nough for now!

One more close up of the chicks now they've matured a few weeks:

Their names are Maple, Flower, and Lacey, from left to right.

There are more projects accomplished this past summer that will be detailed in separate posts. 

And that's a wrap for the progress in the mud room!

And so the basement story continues...

For a reference on our previous progress renovating our basement, go here.

A few things have happened since I have written last.  One, we had a daughter!  Isn't she cute????!??

She is now 3 months!!  My my, how time does march on.

Little miss has slowed down basement progress some.  Juggling new baby and creating a room for said baby to live in at the same time is no joke!  I don't recommend it.  We intended to have it done before she came but it just didn't turn out that way!  Finding time to do (loud) basement projects in-between the naps of a toddler and infant (a sensitive, colicky one at that!) has proved to be quite tricky.  We couldn't have done this without the help of my generous parents!!

At this point, the space is really taking shape!  There was a lot that took place behind the scenes down there...so many details to think about before closing in the space!  Here's a recap on plumbing work we have done: Gabe re-routed/replaced almost all the in-efficient copper plumbing with PEX, we moved the water heater from one end of the house to another, and added a bigger water pump.  And Gabe did it all--minus the initial pipes that were added underground for septic.  I was very impressed with his thoughtfulness, planning and ingenuity in the whole process.  We now have better water pressure and a quieter, more updated system thanks to Gabe's research and dedication.  Here's Gabe in action with a blow torch:

Here he is moving the water heater:

And then installing the new, bigger water pump a week later:

Mind you, this work was going on the week we decided to try and potty train our toddler boy.  THAT was an interesting week!!!

So many pipes!

Gabe was forever adding things to the list for what needed to be done before we could schedule the drywall guys to come and work their magic.  On top of the plumbing work, Gabe also did most of the electrical himself, with me being consulted on location of boxes, type and size.  He put in all the vents and we added an exhaust fan in the bathroom--that will be nice, there isn't one in the upstairs bathroom, so we have to open the window in the middle of winter ;) We had to cut into the exterior wall, through brick to fully vent.  That was a noisy day!  Also, I must add, our 2 1/2 year old son is pretty sensitive to loud sounds--he doesn't yet love the sound of his daddy's drill.  It seemed like there was always one more spot to frame (having something on which the drywall would attach!  Just another thing I wouldn't think of!!)

For a good 6 months from the time we started framing in February, there wasn't a whole lot to see--minus minor details only a specialist would notice!!  At the end of August, Gabe and my dad worked on insulating the space.  This was an exciting step since it starts to feel like an enclosed space.  The sound started to deaden a little bit--in a 1960's home with squeaky wooden floors this will be much appreciated!!  The insulation was placed around the exterior wall and in the ceiling, upon my request.  I'm so glad we did!  Here are a few pictures:

After installation, we needed to have one more inspection before we could drywall.  Almost there!!

The night before the drywall guys came, Gabe was rushing around finishing last minute things.  It will be easier to add a light fixture to the stairwell before the drywall goes up, so he took the opportunity to go up to the attic crawl space (yuck!) and do a little guess work on where the fixture would be dropped.  He got it right on the first try!  That's ma man!  :D  Our son was so excited daddy was going up the ladder to an unknown, un-explored space--he wanted to come too (he couldn't--too messy with insulation).  I was rushing to make room for all the little things that were in the room outside of the room.  Gotta be organized or it gets chaotic real quick!

Pics the night before d-day:

Just to note--we have no general contractor.  Gabe and I source and gather materials before the guys come and make sure they will be as efficient as possible.  In this case, we bought 38 sheets of drywall and buckets of mud.  I'm sure there are more details, and we have additional help from my mom and dad too.  My mommy brain spins at times!

Three weeks ago is when we were able to schedule a couple days for the drywall guys to come out and get the job done.  It ended up being a 3 day process stretched over a week timeline.  He came on a Tuesday, with a buddy, and hung the drywall, taped and mudded.  He was here another time over the weekend to sand and mud again and then one final time the next Monday after that to do one more mud and sand.

We had 2 sheets of drywall left.  Better too many than not enough when you are paying someone else for their time and labor.  There was just enough time to take back the last few sheets in Gabe's pick up truck before we sold it to fund more of the project :)

Pics of drywall!

in the mud room from the basement door

from the bathroom

looking into the bathroom

The bulkhead looks a little rough because the guys didn't put drywall there.  Gabe wanted to clad it with something different so he could access the pipes in this trunk line.  So he put 1/4" primed plywood in it's place and we will do some sort of trim piece to hide the cracks showing at the top.  Not my favorite idea, but I guess it's a necessary thing.

Since I didn't get pictures of every. single. step. you can see that it has been primed (with a spray gun) and ceiling paint is already done on top of that.  It is Sherwin Williams "High Reflective White" in a flat finish.

We have since moved the freezer out into the "mud" room where the water heater used to be.  It just fits!  Although it is not in its final location--there will be some switching around of utilities to come.  Just not a priority right now like having a bigger bedroom so we aren't all tripping over one another and all our furniture in our current bedroom!

Freezer's new location:

Basement bedroom without the freezer in the middle:

Now for an especially fun part.  Finishes and fixtures!

Last weekend, we had another subcontractor come out (thanks for the reference Dad!) to tile the bathroom.  Know this, it kills my husband to have to hire someone out to do this.  He wants to do EVERYTHING!!  :P (i love you Gabey)

They came on Saturday, completing most of the shower/tub surround and flooring.  They were there until after 10pm that evening! And they came the next day around 8:30 until around 1pm and laid the rest and grouted.

I'm very pleased with my tile design:

The pink that can be seen around the edge of the tub is part of the waterproofing membrane and can be scraped off easily.

Here is a detail shot:

And the wood look flooring + vanity (uninstalled):

Few more shots:

You can see the paint color options I'm mulling over on the above picture.  I'm looking at some variation (lighter) of Behr "Dolphin fin", "Rhino" and "Sage Gray".  "Rhino" was used in the bathrooms in our first house flip.

Here are the color samples:

Dolphin fin

Rhino 

Sage Gray

Here is the tile on the floor in the bathroom:

I had them lay it in a wood staggered pattern with 3/16" grout joints.  The grout color is "Truffle" from Home Depot.

Here is where we ended up sourcing our wall tile since it went discontinued at Home Depot during our project and I had only bought one box as a sample!  It is a 4 1/2" X 10" matte white tile.  There was one box total out of 11 boxes (120 square feet) of breakage and they were kind enough to send us that replacement free.  This is laid in a brick pattern with a 1/8" grout joints.

This is the accent tile:

I had them cut it down to 4" wide for the band.  We had to do some planning in order to make it fall neatly where we wanted it in relation to the niche.

We haven't installed this yet, but here it is:

Here is the laminate (not my first choice!) flooring we ordered for the bedroom.  I guess hardwood and/or carpet isn't a good idea for a basement.

I made a mock up of the vanity mirror to see how it will fit.  It was tricky to find a mirror that will fit between the sconces.  It's up high because I have a tall husband :) and also because we are putting in a "chair rail" of tile on the north wall to act as the backsplash.

Here is the mirror we bought:

Here is a pic of the vanity sconces:

Here is a pic of the lighting fixture in the hallway of the bathroom, in front of the linen closet:

This weekend, we are hoping to install the doors and some trim.  Gabe bought them a couple days ago:

The floor trim we have ordered in keeping with the rest of the house:

We are also hoping to install the flooring in the bedroom.

Here's hoping it's done soon!!  We sure are ready.

I'll be in touch for the conclusion of the matter!