Bright White Mudroom Refresh with Wainscoting • Chandeliers and Champagne

When Aaron and I were designing our home, a functional mudroom was a MUST. We didn’t have one in our condo which made things quite messy during our long Alberta winters. It’s so helpful having a designated space to thump snow off your shoes, stash your gloves, and break free from heavy winter coats!

Mudroom Layout

We put quite a bit of thought into our mudroom layout. It connects directly to the garage and is attached to our walk-through pantry and laundry room. This is ideal for my hubby, a construction land surveyor. On extra muddy days he can throw his work gear straight into the washing machine without dragging the mess through the house.

Our main floor is hardwood, but we opted for tile flooring in our mudroom – it’s durable and easy to wipe clean, making it the perfect option for this high-traffic space. Originally, we just had our builder put in a plain white bench (AKA the grocery dumping zone). Before adding cubbies or hooks or anything storage-related, I wanted to live in our house for a bit and see how we actually used the space.

Turns out we had ample storage in our front hall closet and garage for our coats, accessories and shoe collection, which meant our mudroom stayed nice and tidy.

That was, until we had Elle, and our mudroom became a hot mess LOL! Suddenly it was a disaster zone, littered with miniature shoes and coats and the one million items I carry around in my diaper bag each day.

And so I made it one of my goals of 2018 to give this rather bleak and bland space a bit of a facelift. Here’s what we added:

Custom Mudroom Bench Cushion and Pillows

When Elle started walking, I finally began using our mudroom bench as… well… a bench when putting on her shoes. I knew the first thing I wanted to do for our light bright mudroom refresh was to make the bench comfortable! I searched online and came across Patio Lane, a Florida-based premium fabric and textile company. One of their many specialities is offering custom indoor and outdoor pieces, from cushions, drapes and pillows to canopies, Sunbrella pool floats and even airplane cockpit covers!

I’m obsessed with the Sunbrella fabric on our outdoor patio furniture – it looks gorgeous but is so durable and stain resistant – and I knew it would be perfect in our high-traffic mudroom. I found a few fabrics I loved online and ordered samples. I’m happy to report they’re true to the photographs provided online.

I then used Patio Lane’s incredibly simple custom cushion builder to create my bench cushion and pillows. It was super simple – I got to choose my own fabric, dimensions and could even add welting! I went with the cushion in Sunbrella Spectrum Mist and the 18 by 18 pillows in Sunbrella Hybrid Sky.

If you’d like to create a custom piece for yourself – or purchase any of Patio Lane’s many offerings – I’m thrilled to have partnered with them to offer all my readers 15% off their order now through December 31, 2018, by using the code “CHANDELIERS” at checkout.

Wainscoting and Coat Hooks

Using some of the wood and paint leftover from our upstairs living room transformation, Aaron quickly and easily built a bit of wainscoting above the bench to add some interest to the space.

I then affixed these beautiful crystal and chrome coat hooks I found at Home Depot. They’re pretty and functional – is there anything better?

Mudroom Wallpaper

If you’ve checked out Elle’s nursery or our living room, you’ll know that I’ve had great success using removable wallpaper and decals to add some serious wow-factor to our home. So when I was approached by Graham & Brown to try out their premium wallpaper, I was excited but, if I’m going to be honest, a bit daunted. I’d never installed permanent wallpaper before and my husband thought it was outside our skillset.

But (surprise, surprise!) I decided to browse their website anyway and immediately fell in love with their Honolulu White Ice Wallpaper. It was everything I wanted for my bright white mudroom refresh: a light, modern palm print embellished with glitter and metallic silver. It was pure perfection! And obviously, I was getting it.

I also came across three other prints that were major contenders: the white and silver Volare Dove Wallpaper and the eccentric yet beautiful Chinoiserie Pink Linen Wallpaper and Chinoiserie Jade Wallpaper. I ordered samples of each to see them in the space, but ended up choosing my original favourite – the Honolulu White Ice.

I should also mention that any apprehension I’d felt about the installation melted away after watching Graham & Brown’s wallpaper hanging tutorial and reading a FAQ. The Honolulu White Ice design is a paste-the-wall paper. To hang it, you simply paint some all-purpose wallpaper adhesive straight to the wall and then smooth the wallpaper overtop, one section at a time.

I kind of love proving my husband wrong (I know I’m not the only one!) and recruited my sister, Alexis, to help hang the wallpaper in secrecy. My girlfriend Laura joined in too and the whole process was super easy! It took us an hour and a half, mainly because we were major chatty Cathys. It was super rewarding seeing our finished work…. and seeing Aaron’s shocked yet impressed expression when he returned home from work that day and saw how amazing it looked!

Artwork, Rug and Wall Organizer

I completed the mudroom refresh with a gray wall organizer I found at HomeSense Canada. It’s attractive and perfect for storing mail and receipts.

My mother-in-law gifted me these beautiful astrology canvases. I always admired them in her old home and she passed them along to me when she moved. I’ve always been interested in astrology and love how the colours tie into the mudroom.

And given our snowy winters, a durable rug is a must. This white and gray combo works great in areas that see a lot of dirt and dust.