After years of serving us well, our mudroom was in need of a little decluttering and refreshing recently. Here are a few little changes I’ve made in our home’s timeless farmhouse mudroom.
We’re at the point in our renovating/home updating adventure where there are several rooms that we still have barely touched, while there are others that we addressed early on that have already gone through several different updates, changes, and “looks”. I have to admit that I sometimes have a love/hate relationship with this whole process of going back over a room and making little changes as time goes on. Of course, there’s a big part of me that wants all of the things that I add to my home to be completely timeless. If I bring something in, I want it to ideally be something that I’ll love for at least the next 10-20 years and if I’m tired of something after just a couple of years, I feel like it’s a bit of a failure. The truth is though that this process of going back over a space and making little changes is also my favorite part. It’s amazing to see that with each “pass” of a space, there are things that you’ve added that you just love and want to keep, while there are always one or two things that didn’t turn out to be so timeless after all. Slowly, with each refresh, you start to uncover what “classic style” really means for you as more and more things start to stand the test of time. With this latest mini refresh, I’ve added a few things that I’m really happy about and this is a space that just makes me feel good, because it just works. Here’s my latest version of our timeless farmhouse mudroom.
Pictured above: Umbrella stand | Runner | Similar console table | Lamp | Black boots | Similar riding boots
What I Still Love About Our Timeless Farmhouse Mudroom
Along with a few things that I’ve been ready to change in here, there have also been quite a few things that I definitely don’t want to change at all. Some of the best choices we made were the long open bench design that allows us to sit down or toss things down easily, the heated floors that dry boots and snow gear quickly, so many hooks (we could use a few more, actually), and the classic demi-lune console table and arched mirror that make the space feel so welcoming and not completely utilitarian since this is the entryway we use the most. I also strongly believe that every traditional space can benefit from at least a little blue and white, so I’ll never part with my umbrella stand. 🙂 (Can someone please also notice how the light on the garage outside matches the hardware in this room? Quite proud of that. OK, thank you. 🙂 )
I had also painted the door between the mudroom and the kitchen black last year, which you’ll see in a minute, and I’m just so glad I did that. I love it so much that I actually just painted one of our back doors black as well.
Adding Permanent Solutions
My goal for this update this time around was to switch out a few things that I considered to be the “cheap and cheerful” temporary solutions in here to more permanent, sturdy items that would stand the test of time a little better, both in durability, and in style hopefully.
I had kind of a fun blue and white lamp in here on the console table previously. It was honestly starting to feel a bit more tacky than fun to me, and it was just a bit too big for this corner of the mudroom table. I switched it out for this classic seeded glass bottle lamp with a bit of a taller, thinner shape and I think it’s a great neutral piece that I could instantly use in a number of places around the house.
Our cubby baskets were really bugging me. I had bought some cheap fabric bins when we first finished the mudroom. They were very nice as far as fabric bins went, but we pull these baskets out daily and they were definitely falling apart and losing their shape. I switched them out for these sturdy seagrass baskets (and a matching tray for the jars on the counter) that will be truly timeless and just something I really won’t have to think about again for a very long time. I’ve been so thrilled to find that they were worth the extra cost and have really stood up to our pulling them out and tossing them around every day. No shedding at all. I’m going to be ordering another set for our back hall mudroom soon.
Pictured above: Water hyacinth baskets (These have gone down in price since I bought them!) | Tray | Jars | Washable runner
Our boot tray situation was always a sore spot for me too. I had grabbed a couple of ugly black plastic boot trays at Walmart years ago and despite trying to find an upgrade to them for years, had never been able to replace them. It was clear that we needed something for boots in that spot so I couldn’t get rid of them, but they made our entryway look sad and neglected during the wet and muddy months. Plus they slid around all over the place and that just made me cringe. My old favorite indestructible LL Bean Waterhog mats to the rescue, of course. I used a boot mat, a small doormat, and a medium doormat all in the “camel” color to fill the spaces around the door where we line up our boots and they’re just a little something that works and I know will last forever without starting to look sad and worn out.
Pictured above: Boot mat | Bean boots | Black boots | Similar riding boots
I’ve had a Ruggable runner in the mudroom for a few years now and I’ve absolutely loved it. Ruggable rugs are machine washable so you just take the cover off of the base layer and toss it in the washing machine when it needs a refresh. The runner I had in here held up beautifully to all the daily traffic and really still looked great, I was just feeling like it was time for a different look. The neat thing with these rugs is that you can keep the base layer you have and just order a new cover when you want a different look, so that really makes a room refresh a lot more affordable. I love this new Verena Dark Wood cover with its traditional style, but very neutral coloration. It even has the tiniest hint of a a color that ties in so beautifully with the brick wall we exposed in here when we first built this room. Ruggable does such a good job of designing rugs that will work so easily with a lot of different styles and color schemes and I feel like this rug fits into that category, just like the one I have in my living room.
Pictured above: Water hyacinth baskets (Have gone down in price!) | Tray | Jars | Washable runner | Market basket | Scarf
And those are the few little changes I’ve made in here, along with a good bit of decluttering for spring, of course. 🙂 I just love this process of going back over a space and updating a few things, while deciding which favorite things can stay. It just seems to feel more and more like home with each little refresh.
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.