The Dappled Willow

Hey-o! If you’re new here, my name is Lydia; I’m a freckled, ginger, mum of 4, slowly but surely making my house a home one DIY at a time.

I’m currently on maternity leave so, naturally, I have nothing to do.

Kidding!

My children, ages 6, 4, 2 and 8 months old, certainly keep me busy. After being on and off with remote learning, no daycare, and little social activities due to the pandemic I decided we should at least try to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors as much as we could. This year we’ve taken on the 1000 Hours Outside challenge and it’s been great to get out there and enjoy nature. Even in winter.

Reality check: It’s April and we still haven’t hit 100 hours outside so we’re not really on pace to hit 1000 hours. But I’m hopeful with the warmer weather arriving we’ll be out and about much more. And if I can make getting outside easier for myself and the kids, then who knows? Maybe we’ll make it by New Year’s Eve!

All that leads to the space I have chosen for this Spring’s One Room Challenge; our sidedoor entrance!

What is the One Room Challenge™?

But wait! If you’re not familiar with the One Room Challenge™ (aka ORC), it’s an online interior design event that happens biannually (Spring and Fall). There are Featured Designers, as well as countless Guest Participants, who will each transform one room over the next 8 weeks. Every week I’ll share an update on the progress of my room here on the blog, but I’ll also be posting video updates on Instagram and Facebook stories too. If you want to watch it all unfold more closely you can follow along there and please help me make some of my design choices! I’m an amateur and need all the help I can get.

If you haven’t seen my past projects, just know I’m super frugal, thrifty and budget conscious. I’ve been going room by room in our humble home, trying to create beautiful spaces for my family for as little as possible, often with recycled or upcycled materials. I always learn something new in the process and I try to honestly share my ups and downs along the way. I’ve done some Budget Room Refreshs where I try to makeover a room with a maximum spend of $500. My first ORC was my family bathroom all for less than $500. My second ORC was a living room makeover which was a little more expensive but also full of super saving DIYs.

This will be my third year as a Guest Participant for the Spring One Room Challenge™ and I hope you follow along until the end. This may be my most challenging yet!

THE ROOM:

Our main floor has a small entrance at the front but the sidedoor from the carport is our main point of entry.

It’s a major pain point for our family of 6. Soon after we moved into the house I took the bifold doors off as they were often getting hit by the sidedoor. I’ve dreamt of having a proper mudroom setup for such a long time. When it’s tidy it’s not too bad and the bench in the closet is nice but so close to the door it causes a bottle neck and we can’t all get in the door as others are holding up the line.

After this winter with piles of boots, so many sweaters and snowsuits but not enough hooks, and baskets of hats and mitts out of reach and always in disorder, I’ve simply had enough!

I know this entry/hallway can be so much better. It’s time to make it happen!

THE VISION:

What do I see/want?

I primarily want to make this hallway functional for our family of 6 with designated storage for each family member. Secondly, I want room for guests to easily hang their coats and store their footwear when they enter as well. Third, I want seating. Fourth, I want to be able to hide the clutter.

I want it to be sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing as it can be seen through the archway to the living room and is even visible through the front window.

As much as I love bold and moody colour palettes, I think this space needs to be kept bright and airy to make the walkway feel as wide as possible. I plan on keeping the paint colour and wood tones of the adjacent living room in mind when making colour and stain choices but nothing is set in stone.

I don’t know if it will all come together but I’m excited to find out!

THE PLAN:

I do have a plan but I’m afraid that we need to do a little demo first to check if it’s structurally feasible. I’d love to be able to get the current pantry/broom closet in on this but there may be a load bearing stud and some duct work in there so TBD.

I’m going to do my best to keep the spending down, but with the cost of plywood these days I’m mentally preparing myself for the sticker shock.

To keep costs low, I’ll be using items and materials I already have on-hand or finding secondhand as much as possible . I plan on doing as much as I can myself (and roping Daniel into helping) too. I’ll be trying things I’ve never done before so here’s hoping I (we) can pull it off.

I’ll be back next week with an update for ya! Until then remember you can follow along on Instagram and Facebook and watch me succeed or fail AS IT HAPPENS! Every ORC I’ve done so far has had ups and downs so I figure I just need to get started to see how it all plays out. Are you with me?

Let’s make a mudroom!

Cheers,

Lydia

Visit each week of my One Room Challenge™ Here:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 |

Thanks for being here! See what everyone else in this challenge is up to at One Room Challenge™.