New paint and floors in the mud room

December 30, 2013

Well when I said I wanted to get my hands dirty again I meant it. I worked my TAIL off on the mud room yesterday! Seven hours straight – it feels like I’ve barely made a dent and like it looks like a whole new room all at once.

My hand is now a claw from gripping the paint brush so long, but there’s progress!

After I installed the new door trim my next step was to figure out what color to go with on the beadboard in the room. I shared the options I was looking into on Facebook:

peacock blue colors

I was deciding between a navy blue tone and a more peacock blue color and went with the latter – I’m a little obsessed with that color. I used it as an accent in the powder room, in the basement bathroom and I’ve used it in the living room too. LOVE.

Thing is – painting beadboard is a major pain in the tuckus. Seriously up there with the most tedious jobs ever. I start by using a roller over the whole thing, not worrying about getting into the grooves. Then I take a thick, angled brush and fill in the “beads”:

painting beadboardI use lots of paint, don’t be afraid to lather it on there. You have to go over it a few times to smooth it all out and get any excess paint out. THIS is why I feel like my hand is permanently in the claw shape. ;)

This time, for what I think may be the first time, I painted my trim before I installed it. What WHUT? Yep. I ALWAYS install first, then paint, and I ALWAYS complain about painting after the fact. I still don’t know if I’m sold on the painting before thing. It did make it a little easier – I didn’t have to worry about taping anything off.

But I still had to fill nail holes and touch up paint that I usually don’t have to worry about. Since I used such a deep color, I knew filling the holes would leave a white spot I’d have to paint over a couple times, so I mixed up a bit of my putty with some paint:

filling holes

That way it matched the wall color better. Even after it dried it was still a little lighter:

filling holes

I wiped it with a wet rag and then just touched up those small areas. So, the jury’s still out on the paint or install first, at least for me. I think it may be a bit easier to paint first though. Maybe.

So the blue color is called Reflecting Pool by Ralph Lauren. I’ve had an old paint deck for years from when they sold it at Home Depot (I would get it mixed in Behr paint). This time I took it to Sherwin Williams and got it color matched. I do love it but it’s more color than I’m used to, that’s for sure! When I’m in the room it feels deep and pretty. When I’m in another room and walk into the mud room it feels BRIGHT. :) But Lordy…I’m not painting it again for awhile so I’ll get used to it:blue beadboard

I did something a little different this time – usually the white is on the beadboard and the color is on the walls. I wanted to flip it around this time and I really like it! Now I’m not sure the door will stay that color though. It’s always trial and error for me – I just have to figure it out along the way.

It takes me eons to put a room together but that’s because I have to think through every bit of it: IMG_7789

I’ve had half of the walls covered with the beadboard for years, but never finished it up because I was too lazy to move the washer and dryer back in the day:

black and yellow laundry room

Next up I need to continue that around to the rest of the room that will be the built in bench and storage:

laundry turned mud room laundry turned mud room

Those holes are where we had the dryer vent and heavy duty outlet – still don’t think I’ll even cover those with drywall since I’ll be covering it all with beadboard.

Oh I almost forgot about my FAVORITE part! The new floors!! Our flooring guy put them in for a great price again, $300 for labor. Now that I’ve watched him do it a few times I feel like I may be able to do this myself. But they make it seem so easy – they move super fast and just two of them had the floor laid in a couple hours:

jacobean stain hardwoods

I still need to add some trim over by the utility doors – I was more concerned with how they met at the transition piece to the rest of the house than over there. We went with the Jacobean stain and a satin poly like we have on the rest of the main level. After living with hardwoods for a couple years now I would use them in just about any space – even one that gets wet shoes. They’ve held up incredibly well! Any time we’ve ever had water stand on them at all they may cup up a bit but then once they dry out they’re flat again.

You may remember I installed the peel and stick vinyl tiles in here years ago – and they held up OK. Not great, but OK. The “grout” area between the tiles easily discolored, which I didn’t like. And I don’t feel like they’d be great for an area that gets moisture – the water would easily get between them. But the tiles themselves looked pretty darn good, even after years of use. I just didn’t care for the way the the grout areas looked after all this time.

If you had told me a few years ago we’d put hardwoods in both a bathroom and the mud room I would have laughed – but I’m a convert. :)

Next up – finish up the rest of the beadboard (I was waiting to decide on the bench configuration), then figure out the trim that will go around the top of the beadboard: painted beadboard with colorOh and paint the door trim. :) Yay.

THEN I can start the bench! I’m so excited about that! 

I can’t wait to make more progress in this room – and to create more storage! I’m stoked.

I’m just glad the bright yellow and black is gone:

yellow-black-mudroomIt served us well but I’m ready for I’m ready for a change!

NOW I’m off to clean my entire house. When we’re all here 24/7 it’s so hard to keep up with it!! I want to start the new year with a clean slate! I’ll be back a couple more times this week, talk with ya later. ;)

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Comments

  1. I think the blue is really fun. I'm so like you, in that it takes me forever to make choices. So sometimes I do nothing for a long time, while I roll things over in my head. I installed beadboard in our basement a few Summers ago when my boys were gone on a guy trip and it is a pain to paint. Even white on pre primed white. Our kitchen back splash is beadboard and I've been successfully ignoring that it need fresh paint. Hope you're resting the claw today ;) It's looking really good in there. Look forward to seeing the built in bench project! Happy New Year.

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  2. Loving the blue Sarah!! It looks great!! And, I think the color on the beadboard compliments the color on the door - at least in the pictures :) Yay for progress!!

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  3. Those floors are truly dreamy. Okay, it all is. But those floors. Wow.

    And I love the blue you chose. I always stick with safe white for trim and woodwork, but you are making me want to go out of my comfort zone.

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  4. Blue looks great! Yay for progress! We all have projects that we put off until we get a little nudge of motivation.

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  5. Amazing progress, Sarah! In love with the different shades of blue! Happy New Year to you and your family!!

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  6. great job Sarah! The paint color is pretty deep and reflects on the other walls! Glad your happy with the change! CHEERS to 2014!

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  7. I love the look and the colour. We have bead board on the ceiling and 2 walls of our basement which was there when we moved in. I have painted it several times, always vowing to remove it next time. I painted the bead board on the ceiling white but my arm got tired so quickly, I didn't really fill in the cracks properly and it looks sloppy. Some day I'll do it properly and maybe it will look as good as yours.

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  8. looks great - what a great way to start off the New Year! Wish I had that much ambition!

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  9. Everything looks great. You did a wonderful job!

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  10. Isn't it freeing to find accidental ways to finish a project? After boring frustration I used the roller too for the first layer of paint. But reversed your process and rolled the small grooves which held enough paint to brush over the wide area. I swore that would be the last time to paint bead board, but now putting it in kitchen areas. Painting trim ahead of install is a major time saver and think it is well worth the process. It looks so clean cut when done

    Admission I have a love hate relationship with beadboard. Love the look, hate the upkeep. How do you keep it clean? All those little niches at the base trim? I used caulk to help on this one, but all it does is form to the beadboard. So I brush vacuum and then use a tooth brush for final cleaning. Or am I just dusty/dirty than most?

    And I need to get braver on color, love what you chose and looking forward to the evolultion of all.

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  11. Me likey, Sarah! I love the bold blue - such a great color, and the floors are fab. How lucky to have a handyman that works for such a reasonable price! I bit the bullet yesterday and tackled my teen son's bedroom, and I'm so glad I did. Oh, how I love the power and ease of paint!

    I'm with you - the house is such high maintenance with everyone home! It's like the Tazmanian devil is whirling around my house! ;-)

    Happy New Year!

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  12. I'm a big fan of your mudroom. I don't have a mudroom but I have a small laundry room that must be walked through the garage and it's in serious need of an update. Same as you, too hard to move the washer and dryer to get the work done. Don't fret about your blue color choice. It's striking and beautiful. Since it's in a relatively small space, it's a fun opportunity to try something out, too. Great color selection and I love the beadboard.
    Happy New Year!
    Dana

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  13. I LOVE the color, but lol like you I'm very partial to a peacock blue color. Although I do tend to lean towards Teal these days. Or blues that fall within the Teal to Peacock spectrum. And I've noticed that I put a bit of blue in every room in my house, it's my favorite color after all. I wish we had a mudroom. But alas our garage door takes you directly into the diningroom which is very open to the living room.

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  14. I love the color of your room so much and it looks terrific with your floors!! I love all the changes to your home in 2013 and am excited to follow your progress in 2014! Happy New Years!!! All the best!!!

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  15. Oh I hear ya re: the pain of painting beadboard - remember all too well doing our back landing. I have mixed feelings about painting baseboards. Mr. Frugalista is an adamant paint Before guy and I'm preferring the paint After (with the right tools to make the job easier). Your mud room looks great - love the color. Wishing you a Happy and Creative 2014 and look forward to seeing what you have in store for us this year!
    Marie@TheInteriorFrugalista

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  16. Mix the putty and the paint. MIND. BLOWN! (Why didn't I think of that?!)

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  17. I have painted bead board before installing it. The bead board warped like you wouldn't believe! This caused it to bow and pull away from the wall at the tops and bottom. And, I still had to do a lot of touch up on it, so I know I will install it before painting it next time. It can be very frustrating!

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  18. What color are your floors? They aren't too dark, or too light.

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THANKS so much for reading!