Mudroom wall project (in progress)

Progress as of May 20

Finally jumped back in November 2012

 

This winter, I finally got fed up with the slew of coats, umbrellas, etc. that collect in the corner by our front door. Because the front door opens right into our kitchen/dining area, and this is pretty small house, we could not cordon off an area for a proper mudroom. When I built the cubby benches (see previous post), I was at least able to give people a place to take off and stow their shoes when they come in. However, jackets and a plethora of bug sprays, sunblocks, keys, mail, etc. still collect inside the door -- and while I tried to put hooks on the wall, the crumbly 1940s plaster wall has not been cooperative. 

Front entry dumping ground that has been driving me nuts

Despite purchasing two stud finders I get haphazard readings, and the plaster crumbles even with mollies. One set of hooks ripped out several months ago and I decided we need a new solution.

I would have probably purchased one of those mudroom wall racks if we were not so space-constrained. I could really only justify taking up the depth behind the door, approx. 8". Nothing that is commercially available seemed like it would fit. And as usual I had sticker shock when thumbing through catalogs like Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn.

Decent-grade plywood fit our 8' ceilings almost perfectly

My plan: affix a decent-looking piece of plywood to the wall and use it to build out the hooks, shelves, etc. that would give us the essentials of a mudroom. We discovered just how powerful construction adhesive is when we removed a bar last winter, so that is what I planned on using (I do not plan on moving this piece and it's going to occupy a dead area of the room so I doubt this will hurt resale value if we part with this home).

I snuck out to Lowe's one afternoon while my husband was napping with my kids. I asked their staff what thickness plywood would meet my needs, if my plan to use construction adhesive made sense, etc. The man who helped me suggested that I screw the board onto the wall in the center to keep the board tight while the glue cured, even if the screws didn't actually grip into a stud. Note: if you're making a solo trip to Lowe's, ask for help when it comes time to leave... it was a bit of a fiasco, hoisting this heavy sheet of plywood into my minivan. Thankfully I'm strong and, well, have a minivan.

I waited until the family was gone the next day, and thought I could quickly squeeze some of the adhesive out of the gun mechanism the guy at Lowe's told me to buy. This looked super-easy, but not one-handed! When I tried to pivot the board away from the wall so I could get in there, it hit an HVAC vent cover about 6" out and would not go further. It was all I could do to crank out blobs of that adhesive all over the back of that board, then shove it in. I had already drilled pilot holes for the screws (did not want to gunk up my drill bit with adhesive) and that part went fast, thankfully. Then off to work with just a few weird smudges on my hands. I planned to leave the windows cracked all day but the fumes didn't seem too bad.

Added a top piece of molding and a mirror so I could start to see how this will look

I figured that I could then affix a mirror. I bought one at Home Depot that was less than $20 and seemed about the right size. Using the same tube of adhesive, I squirted on some blobs and then leaned against it, expecting it to grab. It was not instantaneous, and as I held the mirror I kept re-measuring the distances from the edge (could not find a level and had not drawn a straight line, darn it). So I did a lot of adjusting and re-adjusting. When the family came home I was standing there, leaning against the wall... my husband rescued me with duct tape.

Even in its awkward state, the mirror has really opened up the room. It's going to be a change, seeing myself before rushing frantically out of the house with the kids and a smear or two of oatmeal on my shoulder.

Hose holder that has been sitting in our garage for a year seemed like a good catch-all

It had been a few days since I removed all of our hooks, and we were hurting for a place to hang this stuff again. February might not have been the best time to tackle this project. I started drilling the old hooks into the plywood. With my daughter passing them to me, this went quickly. I also decided to screw in a wrought iron hose holder (for one of those spiral hoses) that I bought a year or so ago because it was on sale for something like $40 (www.plowhearth.com) and fit with the hacienda look I wanted in our kitchen. The jury is still out on this one, but it might work for gloves and hats.

Mexican tile I got on sale for about $1.50 each last spring

Next I started attaching some tile to the wall, again using that tube of adhesive. I've never grouted anything before and for some reason am feeling nervous about that... I figured the adhesive would work fine just to get these pieces in place. I love all the colors and patterns. While I admire the calm, neutral colors of other people's houses, I prefer my own to be warm, vibrant, eclectic! My husband and I met in Italy, we honeymooned in Portugal, and our last trip was to Spain. And what captures those places better than hand-painted tiles with a slew of colors and patterns?

(I noticed later that something was not level - either the tiles or the iron hose holder. After trying to live with it for a day, I was so irked that finally I unscrewed one end of the iron piece and re-positioned it. WHEW, much better, and my mistake was large enough off that the new drill hole was sufficiently far from the old one).

Tiles held temporarily in place with duct tape while the adhesive dries

There is more work to go, but I hit the end of my patience for now. It's been almost two weeks but I know the next wave of desire to create something will overtake me again soon. Still to come:
- Trim out the mosaic area (already bought quarter round)
- Grout the tiles (I'm thinking a dark gray grout so it does not draw attention)
- Add a top shelf with wrought iron brackets, and add key hooks (scoured for a sale and found some I like on http://houseofantiquehardware.com)
- Build a little box at the base for umbrellas
- Finish all edges with molding or trim
- Stain all of the wood so it is consistent with the other wood in the room (cubbies, table)

Tiles around mirror and one piece of quarter round molding (this is where I've stalled)

I'll update this post when I get that second wind!

Update July 21, 2012: a week or so ago, after work, I got a second wind and tackled two aspects of this project that were driving me nuts. That's one thing about slacking on an unfinished project: you stare at it long enough, and you will see ways to improve it before it's too late.

For some reason I thought I should stain the edge of the trim first...

In my case, the top molding looked way too puny. And it did not come together in the corner well. I wasn't sure quite what to do when suddenly I came across a pair of small corbels I bought over the winter when I saw them on sale for a few dollars each (www.vandykes.com). They would provide more heft. I wanted the molding to be a bit more pronounced, as well, so I dug in our pile of scrap wood and found a 1x4 that could be inserted beneath it. It was almost the right length, just short a few inches. After prying off the molding that I nailed up months ago, I centered the scrap piece under it, and re-attached both. I had a tube of wood filler left over from another project. I wedged some scraps in the hole so the filler would not simply fall back into the void, and then I shaped the filler so it was uniform with the 1x4. It's a patchwork of colors but once stained it should work. If not, I'll paint it a dark color. It's pretty high over people's heads so I doubt this nuance will get a lot of attention.

From the average person's vantage point, once stained, my amateur putty work should not be evident 

I also worked on the shelf. I'd found iron brackets on sale months ago as well, and assumed I'd drill away and be done with this project. But I couldn't find the battery charger, then I couldn't find our corded drill, then I broke a drill bit, then I abandoned the whole idea in disgust. Some days things come together but that was not one of them.


This time, I drilled pilot holes and screwed the shelf (another piece of scrap wood) onto the brackets. We needed this shelf to hold the array of sun blocks and bug sprays that we seem to collect as a family. It needed to sit low enough to fit cans and bottles and tubes, but the mirror is already quite high (so we can see ourselves - at 6' tall it's a pet peeve to encounter a mirror that requires stooping). The end result: rather than positioning the brackets below the shelf, the shelf needed to hang off of them. I realized as I started drilling that there brackets only had one opening for a screw, on the outer edge. The shelf would only be hanging on by a thread, so to speak. So I will need to brace it with another piece of wood near the trim around the mirror's tile border. A project for another night. At least the thing is up there. 

Shelf is hanging on to the bracket only at the edge

   Update November 24, 2012: Decided to go in a different direction than stain!

Shelf after reinforcement and a coat of paint (in the process of drying in this photo)

After a coat of dark wax, the blue recedes and this blends with other wood furniture in the room

I can't believe it has taken 6 months to feel any sort of home improvement inspiration, but this weekend I took up the torch again and surprised myself. Last night I tackled the basics: reinforce the shelf's brackets, add trim around the mirror, grout the tiles, paint the whole thing.

I've been reading about a paint that is super-easy to apply, does not require primer, can go over almost any surface... and it doesn't give off fumes so I can use it after the kids are in bed: Annie Sloan's chalk paint. These are all opaque colors, not stains, but after thinking about it for the past 6 months matchy-matchy did not make sense in a room with 3 different stain varieties. So I stopped by the local distributor (ww.stifelandcapra.com/AnnieSloan.php). First I chose an orange, but when I got home I realized the terra cotta floor would look like it was creeping up the wall. So I went with its complement, blue ("Old Violet"). I also bought the dark wax and a brush to smoosh it on, so this would have an old-world look to it.

I hadn't thought about the nooks & crannies... a sock worked well to wipe after broadly applying paint

Last night I got started, happy to finally cover the patchy areas where I cobbled trim, scrap wood and other random items together. Stain would have been less forgiving.

Dark wax is dabbed on,  then blended with a thick, stumpy brush

Dab away the excess as desired

This process was pretty quick. Last night I got the entire unit painted in about an hour and a half - and this is with a lot of nooks and crannies. Strangely, the little pot of paint that seemed expensive ($38 for a quart) was barely dented.

Today after breakfast I realized I didn't need another coat so I started with the wax. I was able to do this while the kids messed around with Play Doh nearby, because I knew I could stow it quickly if need be. This part of the process was really cool on the detailed areas, but bo-ring on larger expanses.

Here's the basic blue (ok but a little more colonial Americana than I had in mind)

But after I started dabbing on the wax, it began to look much more interesting

Still to go: Create a footer that looks substantial, as if it was holding this up. I have the feet, just have to get the board... and then affix it, paint it, wax it.