I’ve been enjoying the addition of the completed mud room to the house. It makes for a convenient place to kick off shoes, hang up jackets and other items that don’t clutter the house, create a better transition inside, and it gives us a tiny extra boost in the storage department!  Click ahead for a few photos of the final room.

The above photo shows just how small the addition is — no more than 3’x4′, or so. Our new exterior door is full glass so it lets in a lot of sunlight at this time of year, which has a nice warming effect on the room. Above that door is a shelf for storage of items that we do not access frequently.

April spent a number of hours creating this elaborate mosaic around the tiny arched window in the mud room. It’s beautiful in the morning light or with a candle placed inside the niche. There are two smaller niches within the window niche itself for small items. The sill is made of hand-planed black walnut (my new favorite thing to do).

Below the window are these two deep recessed shelves for shoes (which is really hard to photograph from this angle). There is actually a small vent built into the wall on the bottom half which should help air out damp shoes, too.

Installed on the edge of one of the two embedded hook boards is another mosaic designed by April – a bird’s nest with two eggs. I like it.

All in all, it sure is a tiny room but a useful one! I probably wouldn’t build another home without some kind of mud room.