Room Reno #100: Dog Room

Welcome back to Room Reno #100 here at The Sims Resource! What an amazing milestone we’ve reached together! Today we’re helping a Sim who wants to customize her mudroom to become a great space for her dog. Let’s meet the Sims we’re helping!

Meet Ella, Jasper, and Gus!

Ella is a Sim who recently moved to Willow Creek and she’s in the process of renovating her new home. She loves that there’s a separate mud room from the rest of the home when you enter from the backyard – there’s way less of a chance of mud getting tracked through the house with a mud room! And it won’t just be muddy foot prints that can be avoided, but muddy paw prints as well – her dog Jasper loves nothing more than rolling around in the first mud puddle he can find every time he steps outside.

She’s also got her lovely cat Gus, who needs a place for his litter box to go as well – Ella would rather not keep it in her bathroom like she has in the past! She wants to store Jasper’s various outdoor equipment in the mud room as well, so she can just grab his leash and head out the door for quick walks! That’s a lot to ask from one mud room – let’s see what we’re working with!

The Before

This is a very long, skinny room! While it definitely fits the standard shape of most mud rooms, it has a few things that set it apart. For one, most mud rooms are transient spaces within the home – you enter through the mud room, and then proceed further into the house on the end opposite where you entered. This one is a bit unique given that the entryway is on the wall next to the outside door instead of across from it.

This means that there’s a bit more space to work with than in a traditional mud room, since we’re not limited to just the two walls to furnish along – no need to worry about Sim routing issues here! The current styling of the room is a bit dreary and bleak, and the wallpaper makes it look quite formal – this is definitely going to change in the renovation so that Ella has a bright and happy space to enter and exit her home in. Let’s get planning!

The Planning

Planning this space was actually a little more complicated than I thought it would be! It’s such a small space that you would think planning out where everything goes would be pretty fast, but there are so many things that Ella requested for the space that I had to sort of Tetris everything in at the perfect spot for it to work and to have a good flow.

First, the litter box is going on the far right wall, but it’s actually going to be a secret, hidden litter box that doubles as a bench for Ella to sit down at to put her shoes on and take them off after working in the yard. She can also sit at the window bench along the exterior wall – it manages to add a bit of interest to the room while also leaving space for Ella to change shoes or for Gus to take naps in the sun. After that, I added a set of food bowls for the pets along the interior wall, and a toy bin for Jasper so Ella can take them right outside and play with him in the yard. Let’s get building!

The After

I think this mud room turned out great! I was really impressed by how much I managed to fit in this really limited space (not to toot my own horn or anything ;)). I think the two toned walls help the room feel larger than it is, drawing the eye up to the ceiling and preventing the claustrophobic feeling that the old wallpaper caused. Keeping a neutral palette also helped to keep the room feeling bright and fresh, as well as adding some bright new overhead lighting to increase visibility – no need for Ella to trip over a dog toy in the dark! Lots of cushions on the two benches help to tie the space together as a cozy spot instead of just a transitional one.

Thanks for checking out Room Reno #100! If you liked this blog, check out Room Reno #99: Neutral Dorm or our Barbie movie inspired lookbook. Looking for something else? Read about summer CC looks for the whole family or check out our Gilmore Girls inspired lookbook! Have a great day 😎