Tackling the back hall

My hubby now subscribes to my blog via RSS. Hi hon!

When I first started blogging he teased me. But now that some project is getting done around our house each week, I think he's made peace with it. That and I'm probably talking his ear off quite a bit less. Its funny how I didn't have motivation to do these things before I started "Tackle-it Tuesday", but whatever it takes, right?

So, along with our pantry, we have a great mud room. Or, as we call it, the "back hall". (I don't know why, really, its in the back of the house but its not really a hall.)

It was one of the many projects we have Jay has done on this house in the past eight years. When we bought the house, it contained nothing. Jay covered a window, put up drywall, insulated it and put in a light and a closet. And its great! If it were a little bigger I'd put in a bench where we could take off our shoes and boots, but its pretty darn great none-the-less.

I didn't get before photos, but trust me, it was yucky. (That's a technical term.) I put away all the miscellaneous crap that had gathered there, threw out the piece of carpeting that was serving as a rug (and unravelling), washed the floor and cleaned the tops of the garbage cans. I also put away the winter coats that were hanging on the hooks (except those of the boys...it may be 40 next week yet) and made a pile of man-crap that needs to be taken to the basement.

Here are my after photos - its a pretty small room so I couldn't get very good shots, but work with me...squint your eyes a bit and tilt your head to the left. You'll see it.

Coat hooks and garbage cans. See the wire on the floor to the right? Its wiring for a baseboard heater we've never installed. Maybe some day...

To the right of this is the door to the kitchen.

Our coat closet. The doors above enclose a big shelf where we currently store...what do we store up there?!? To the left of this is the back door.

My goal for this week is to pick up a new rug for inside the back door. Its safe to say that this is now the cleanest room in the entire house. What have you tackled?