Storage Room Reveal!

Before we pop into the storage room to see how it all checked out, I'll just say quick that it definitely isn't one of our more glorious reveals (I think this one still takes the cake), but there is still a pretty big leap from before to after.  It's another one of those budget-friendly makeovers that we hold firm to, coming in at just under $180.  It really helped that the large cabinet was a free hand-me-down, the shelves were already here, and the upper wall cabinet we moved in from the kitchen.  It was on the wall we took down.

So, let's just start from the very beginning - the day we got the keys - the blank slate.  If I told you I pulled this photo from a 1980s archive, you'd have no reason to doubt me.

We moved in in 2019 and this is what this functioning corner looked like for many moons:

(Ikea Mackapar hack here)

On down the road we stuck cabinets in the corner gaining us even more storage and function.  Oh, and we finally replaced the linoleum with something much better.

Paint and a few other things later (read this post if you missed the other things) and TA-DA:
 

(paint color is Retreat by Sherwin-Williams)

Hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll replace that Ikea shoe cabinet with wall cabinets that will fit better and that we'll carry up the wall.  It's just a matter of finding a good deal on cabinets.  Patience, patience, patience.

Here's another view of how we lived for a long time, trying out the "hooks" on the wall idea and before we moved some of the existing shelving around:

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We love, love, love the hooks.  This wall was made for them.  Above the hooks where the kids toss their backpacks and school stuff, I hung this calendar* where we note all of their upcoming tests and a pretty print made by my real-life friend Jenn (check out her shop here!)

Spoiler alert:  I thought I'd like the cafe curtains but *womp womp* I don't.  I'm going fabric shopping as soon as I can get to my favorite local store to make some roman shades.

In the low cabinets we store rollerblades, knee pads, and out-of-season shoes.

The other side of the room is where the "storage" part of this space really takes up residence.  It was boring before (and apparently very blurry):

Paint livened it up a little but it's still pretty boring holding recycling and a bunch of random things like tools, watering cans, the shop vac, plastic bags, extra plant pots, the window glass we still need to replace etc...

I think "better" is the word of the year for this little room of ours.  Even though it's not a room we hang out in or that other people who come to our house ever see, it still feels good to make it look somewhat pretty.

Speaking of pretty, when you step out of the room and look in at a distance from the kitchen...

This was a pretty sight in 1983:

And someday someone will say "this was a pretty sight in 2024":

As they make plans to gut the storage room to install their new, solar-powered teleporter.  It's the perfect spot for it. ;)

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