Mini mudroom makeover – heylilahey.

Hey people! When I moved from Germany to England, I had no idea how much the move would make me even more excited about interior design. Living here I was so inspired by the beautiful English interiors, particularly the typical wall paneling, wall paneling and picture rails. I’ve even started playing with colors and am thinking about venturing into wallpaper – all within my personal style of course, which consists of neutral tones with a touch of boho.

This inspiration led me to tackle a project that’s been on my mind since we moved in – our kitchen addition. The area leading directly into our garden had turned into a storage area for muddy wellies, jackets and tools, completely taking over the cute little coffee corner we had planned. With only about 3 feet of wall space available, I knew I had to get creative to transform this tiny space into a mini wall aka mini mudroom that worked and looked good too.

In this blog post I’ll show you how we turned this challenging spot into a practical and pretty corner. I’ll share all the steps, reveal what we used and of course there’ll be plenty of before and after snaps so you can see the transformation for yourself. Let’s go!

Before we start, here’s a photo of the area before we moved in:

Originally we didn’t plan to renovate everything – we just wanted to open up the wall between the dining room and the kitchen. But when we started, the craftsmen realized there wasn’t enough support for some openings in the kitchen, so we had to add more steel. They also discovered that one wall was not properly insulated, meaning we had to redo all the brickwork on one side. When this was all finally done, we had a great blank canvas to create.

First we put up a second hand wooden cupboard with rattan details which was great for storing lots of our kitchen bits and bobs. We also created a small coffee corner on the unused wall on the right. Our idea was to sit there regularly, sip a cup of tea and do some work. After a few years, the wooden cupboard was replaced with a large pantry cupboard because we needed more storage space.

By the way, we often used the corner to work and relax, but not as often as we would have liked. Because after a while it turned into a real storage room for rubber boots, bags, tools and what not.

That gave me this brilliant idea (if I do say so myself, haha!): creating a mini hallway wall or corner. We only had 90cm of space, but I was determined to make the most of this space and make it super practical and visually appealing too. Here is my inspo collage:

What we used:

• Tongue & groove paneling (L)2.4m (W)95mm (D)7.5mm
• Gorilla glue
• a nail gun
• a miter saw to cut the angles in the panels (because of our roof)
• Color from F&B but color matched from a cheaper company (Sulking Room Pink) in Eggshell so it’s easy to wipe clean
• Pine quarter bar as end piece
• Painting supplies of course

We also added:

• a vintage-inspired metal wire basket with hooks (exactly what I was imagining)
• a rubber boot rack for muddy shoes
• a shoe rack for wet shoes or other wet things

Here are all the items to shop if you want to do a similar project:

Facing options:

Other accessories:

If you just need straight cuts, you can always ask the nice people at the hardware store to cut the pieces for you for a small fee. This way you don’t have to fumble around with the saw yourself. We attached the panels with a nail gun and the end molding with some glue. Then we gave everything a coat of wood primer and applied our desired color: Sulking Room Pink from Farrow & Ball, but color matched to save a little. We added the metal basket with hooks, painted and attached the wellies rack, and voila! The project was in the can. Pretty simple and straightforward, but it made SUCH a huge difference for us.

Now the corner is not only useful and practical, but also totally chic, and I have finally managed to bring a new color into our home! It took a few swatches because I was SO unsure of what color to choose, but we finally settled on “Sulking Room Pink.” It’s a soft, slightly darker shade of purple, so it won’t be immediately noticeable if the panels get a little dirty. But it’s still bright enough to go beautifully with the rest of my color scheme of light, beige and neutral tones!

So, folks, that’s it – our mini hall wall! It just goes to show that even the smallest, most unassuming rooms in your home can be transformed into something practical and stylish with a little creativity and elbow grease.

I would love to know what you think of our little project! Have you ever attempted a similar transformation in your own home? Or maybe this inspired you to create a mini hall wall yourself? If so, I would love to see your projects – feel free to share them with me on social media or in the comments below.

And if you’re not quite ready to tackle a full renovation, that’s okay too! Even small changes like a few hooks or a pretty basket can make a big difference in keeping your space neat and chic. I’ve collected a few ideas for this here:

Thank you for joining me on this little DIY adventure. Until next time 🙂