Mudroom - After, using vertical space


Mudroom - Before (composite photo)

Room to Breathe

Full of charm but low on storage, this 1892 home had only a few small closets which made it impossible to put things away. The 1970's addition to the house had an upstairs bathroom that hadn't aged well but was needed to serve all the bedrooms. The home owners wanted a less cluttered and calmer feeling home and a better functioning bathroom that fit in with the period of the house. In order to give these spaces some breathing room, we all concluded that both design and behavioral strategies were needed.

In three of the upstairs rooms we were able to carve out space to create large closets. The closet in a child's bedroom was designed to be flexible over time and serve as toy storage, a play area, and a clothes closet. Downstairs, vertical storage helped the hard-working mudroom and gave everyone, whatever their height, a place to hang their hat.

In order to relax the cramped upstairs bathroom the toilet and a second sink were moved and neatly fit into what had been an awkward closet. This move had the added benefit of making more of the bathroom available to those who share it. The owners and their young child love the walk-in shower. Classic subway tiles and hex floor tiles fit in with the old detailing of the home. The beautiful cabinetry used salvaged wood and low-VOC finishes and glues and was made by Bren Reis of Earthbound Industries, who also did the mudroom woodwork. The vanity was given legs to go with the older style of the house and to allow for a stepping stool for the kids. The countertops are PaperStone.

To make a west side room more comfortable the windows were replaced with new energy efficient ones. They will help keep the room cooler in summer and warmer in winter, and the double hung style goes with the house better than the aluminum frame windows that were removed. The bathroom also got new windows. This demonstrates that you can replace windows as you work on different parts of your home or where you will get the most benefit. No-VOC paint from Yolo Colorhouse was used in many rooms.

In addition to these changes to the space, the homeowners took it upon themselves to change the way they live in the house. They cleared out all the things they didn't love or use on a regular basis and gave them to friends, charities and recycle centers. Eventually everything found a place and the family is experimenting with systems to keep it that way. The goal was to have a beautiful and functional home by the time the new baby arrived. The transformation was so successful that the former "junk room" made a perfect space for a home birth and later an office.