Mud room & Home Office Redo {DIY}

My family and I have an old home with minimal storage space. If you or someone you know has an older home than you understand how "spatially challenged" these charming abodes can be. Sure you can stuff things into your dirt floor basement or inaccessible attic, but let's be honest you'd rather give your stuff to goodwill then to go into any of these disgusting areas. Older homes, however, have a major selling point: their tremendous sturdy bones and impeccable detailing. My office has stupid good natural lighting. It also happens to be the area where we store our jackets, shoes, and other miscellaneous items. Challenging right? How do you create a beautiful work space environment among dirty, smelly shoes?

I found a way. First, my wonderful mother-in-law found a storage unit for cheap around $20 to $40 that was used at a kindergarten or preschool to store children's jackets. The problem is the exterior is less than appealing AND it is wide open. Wide open to all eyes who pass through this little room to get to our teeny tiny bathroom{that is another issue altogether}. Then the big "Aha" moment*chin scratches*? Curtains!

Yes, curtains! So, my son and I walked down to the local  fabric store called the Finch Sewing Studio. They have an amazing selection of gorgeous fabrics and yarns to choose from. I picked a fabric with a muted palette of lavender and chartreuse with feather imagery. I have zilch sewing ability so I did what any good non-sewing skillZ girl would do. Eye ball it! Yep, I am all about eye-balling it and just cutting. That's what I did.

The big puzzle factor was how to get the curtains up. I decided to take the numerous curtain rods and hardware extras out of the closet to see if there was a potential winner. I found one of those twist n' fit{no tools required} curtain rods. It was a bit short so I jerry-rigged it with some string and screws. I secured string from the curtain rod to the screw and that affixed it into place. Also, I used circular shower curtain hooks with my curtain rod and simply knotted the ends of my fabric to the hooks. Easy. Done.

For added ambiance I used Ce Ce Caldwell's Eco friendly clay paint in Seattle Mist to paint the visible exterior. This took about 30 minutes. I love this clay paint and will do a separate in-depth post soon! Moving on and the piece de resistance is the floral centerpiece at the top. I will be getting permanent succulents, but a gorgeous bouquet will be a fine temporary solution:)

So what do you think? The mud room and office blend surprisingly well together, right!?