Mudroom Inpiration

We plan to turn our sunroom into a mudroom some day, and I have been browsing for inspiration photos since Meredith sent me one last week. This photo is probably closest to what I have been imagining, with some tall cabinetry (with doors) to store brooms and other messy stuff, as well as a bench, hooks and cubbies to store cute little boots, coats and mittens.

Source: http://stephenjmurphyinc.com.

I love the dark stained bench seats and change in bench heights in this room. We will only have about 7' to work with (our sunroom is about 10' long, but the 3' door needs to open on one end), so we do not have this much space to work with.

Source: http://thegatheringplacedesign.blogspot.com

This space has a nice clean look, but I think we need more storage than this (i.e. cubbies above the hooks). I think it would be great if we could make it so that shoes/boots can just slide underneath the bench. We have hardwood floors though, so winter boots might be an issue (but they would be an issue for cubbies too, right?).

Source: http://blog.connorbuilding.com

V-groove panelling appears to be popular in mudrooms (see Chris K's current project for another example). I think the door is my favourite part of this room though.

Source: http://www.benchmarkcustominteriors.com

I saved this photo over two years ago and still like the look, but the dividers between the "lockers" would reduce the size of the space a bit, and the wood for the cubbies could be a bit thicker.

Source: http://integritycustom.blogspot.com

Sidenote: I love this last guy's work (wish he posted to his blog more); the bay window seat from this blog also served as inspiration for the back portion of Mackenzie's window seat (there is additional storage underneath the bench behind the cubbies).

The Odd Room Out

I find it fun to occasionally look back at photos from early on in our renovation. I was doing this a couple of days ago, and found that the photos from the sunroom are kind of fun because it is always the odd room out. Here is a look back at the sunroom over the last 20 months.

June 2008 - The calm before the storm.

June 2008 - Evaluating the obvious sag in the sunroom floor.

June 2008 - Demo in progress throughout the house; meanwhile, the sunroom is used for trim storage.

July 2008 - The sunroom is the last room in the house to lose its plaster.

October 2008 - The sunroom is the only room in the house not to get spray foam insulation, so Meredith temporarily installs batting to keep it warm during the winter.

October 2008 - Meredith's Mom and brother help install vapour barrier on the sunroom ceiling ... at least I think that is what is going on here.

November 2008 - The sunroom is the only room in the house not to get drywall, and is once again relegated to trim and door storage. That is one of our nephews napping on the dining room floor after what I can only guess was a hard day of renovating.

September 2009 - The poor neglected sunroom finally gets some much needed improvements.

October 2009 - The sunroom with its new patio doors to the backyard.

February 2010 - The sunroom is again being used for door (and junk) storage. However, it has a lot more fun serving as the waiting room for wet dogs, and as the sitting room for little girls who like to hang out with wet dogs.

Soundproofing Added to Shared Wall

When we tore out the plaster on the east wall of the sunroom (which seems like eons ago), we realized that our sunroom was separated from our neighbour's sunroom by just a 2x4 wall. In the photo below you can see the plaster poking through the lath on their side of the wall. This is obviously not great for protecting against sound or fire penetration.

I did not think to take "during" photos, so you'll have to just trust me on this one. In order to improve sound control on this wall, we installed sound control insulation between the existing studs. I then drywalled, taped and mudded the wall. Finally, I framed a new 2x4 wall on our side of this drywall.

When we're ready to finish the room, we will install more sound control insulation between these studs, and then install drywall. Who knows how much quieter this room will be, but at a cost of 4" of space, $50 of materials, and 2 hours of time, it was worth a try.