Cabinet Door Family Sign

Well, the mudroom is slowly coming along... and is also becoming the fanciest room in the house.  LOL  How did that happen?

I own almost nothing from Ballard Designs (aka Ballard De$$$$igns)... but that little floor mat is from that catalog-of-inspiration.  I guess a $19 rug is acceptable considering the cost of most items in that catalog!!  Geesh... those prices are not for the faint of heart.

It's hard to see in that photo, but do you notice how one door stop seems a little bigger (the one on the right)?  It's a magnetic one.  There is a metal circle on the door that will catch the magnet and keep our spring-loaded garage door open for grocery unloading.  So simple, but pure genius.  THANK you to whomever created that little invention.

 It's so rewarding to work in small spaces... they look more complete faster!  I painted the "hall" last weekend with a "Ooops!" paint color I found for $5.00 at Home Depot.  Surprisingly it was identical to one of the swatches of paint I was holding in my hand when I decided to take a look at the mistake colors... just in case.  I was worried that this color was going to look too dark, but I think it looks pretty neat against the off-white doors and trim.  The computers may not show it well, but the color is a sort of dark mushroomy taupey-charcoal grey.  

Like the newest addition to that wall?  The impromptu burlap white board is gone. 

For those of you on Facebook with me, you know I've been going crazy looking for cabinet doors.  After seeing so many great posts on a favorite blog I enjoy reading, The Little Brown House, I was inspired to make my own sign.  Here is Sharyl's sign.

Unfortunately our local Restore stopped carrying cabinet doors since they were not big sellers.  (I hinted greatly that one particular customer would buy a few!)  Unwilling to give up, I took a little longer drive to the next closest Restore... and wah-lah... TONS of cabinet doors!  Woo hoo!  They were technically $3 a piece.  However, I got three for $5.25.  Not bad.

Here is what I did with that simple maple (?) cabinet. 

It fit perfectly inside a frame we've had for awhile.  The larger frame used to house a thin layer of cork and we just weren't using it.  So, I spray painted both pieces (frame and door) with Heirloom White paint.  Then I pulled out my trusty Cricut and added a little family pride to our mudroom.  

Mr. Mike had a great idea.  He wants me to get more doors, paint them, and do various themes:  Christmas greeting, Easter greeting, Birthday greeting, etc. and make this a changeable piece of decor.  He may be onto something....

Confession time...

I'm not always super thrifty.  For example, I am totally crushing on four Garden District mirrors from Ballard De$igns for my dining room.  I am in LOVE with them!!  Unfortunately I've been dying for them for months now... and this month they are on sale (20% off).  Something tells me, I'm going to cave and actually buy them.  Yikes!  Wallet, you're about to take a beating.  Kids, you're going to love me... ramen noodles for all this month!  

So, since I just revealed my secret expensive tastes, I will also take a moment to brag about the thriftiness in the photo above.  That little bit of decor has cost me $41 so far:

$5 paint on walls (HomeDepot)

$5 spray paint for sign/frame (AC Moore)

$3 frame (yard sale, long ago)

$1.75 cabinet door (Restore)

$2 chalkboard (Salvation Army)

$3 chalkboard paint (for renewing, AC Moore)

$2 clipboard

$19 floor rug

Still have plans for more in that room... but I've gotta wait till the weather improves to do some of the work outdoors.  Stay tuned...