Sadly, we won’t have a mudroom in the new house (our seventh house), though I have loved the mudroom in our current home (our sixth house).
When we were working with the architect on the floor plan there was just no way to include a mudroom and still get all of the main things we wanted out of the layout. Something had to give, and sacrificing a mudroom ended up making the most sense.
However, I’ve learned from past experience that you don’t have to have an “official mudroom” to create a mudroom area in your home. Remember the hallway I turned into a mudroom in our fifth house?
I loved this space so much!
And I’m drawing inspiration from that project as I’m cooking up design plans to create something similar in our seventh house. My plan is to create a mudroom in the closet that is directly across from the entry door to the garage.
Coming in from the garage there is a small walk-in closet that could be used as a coat closet, but instead I’m going to turn it into a mudroom/study room/coat closet. Yes! This little space is going to do all the things! 😉
I’m all about making the most of every single inch of your home! Love me a multi-functional space. And I’m looking forward to making the most of this small closet.
What exactly is a mudroom?
And do you really need one?
As I’ve already mentioned, I don’t think having an official mudroom as part of your floor plan is absolutely necessary. But I do think having a drop zone is somewhat critical.
I’ve often referred to a mudroom as the “employee entrance” of a house. 😉 It’s not a space where you typically greet guests, but it’s often where the people who live in the home enter and leave. So it needs to be functional for everyday use and definite bonus points for adding form to function. Because who doesn’t love a pretty space?
Because I’m in the planning stages, I thought I’d walk you through my thought process. When we move, my first order of business, after unpacking of course, will be to whip the employee entrance into shape. Hopefully that will help to make the transition to our new home feel seamless for all of us. That’s the goal anyway.
Elements of a Great Mudroom
- First off, I don’t think size really matters but hooks do! Backpacks, handbags, dog leashes, coats, scarves……..you want to have hooks to hang up all of your things. I say add as many hooks as you possible can to your mudroom space. I’ve often felt like the four we have in our current mudroom isn’t enough, so I’m planning on bringing in more hooks (ideally I’d like 7) for the mudroom closet at the new house. I love buying hooks here because they’re as beautiful as they are functional!
- Next, it’s great to have a drop spot for things like keys, sunglasses, sunscreen, bug spray and gloves in the winter. Think of all those things you want to have easy access to when you’re leaving the house, and find a basket, bowl or tray to corral them in your mudroom. I’m thinking of creating a built-in coat rack that has a small ledge on top where I can set things like keys and sunglasses.
- Lastly a bench, stool or chair is helpful, but not necessarily essential. Truth be told we rarely ever sit on this bench in our current mudroom because we’re not the kind of people who take our shoes off at the door.
However, when we lived in Kentucky where we had actual winters, we used the red bench in our mudroom hallway all throughout the winter months. And it was nice to have a place to sit to take off wet, heavy boots.
All in all I think when it comes to creating a mudroom space that works for you and your family it’s so important to think about how you actually live. Creating a space that truly serves you is where it’s at!
And I can’t wait to make the most out of the closet next to our garage door at the new house! I’ll be sharing more soon as I’m already busy building a piece for that space!
Looking for more ideas on how to fake a mudroom in your home? Check out this post from Real Simple.
What do you think? Is a mudroom essential or unnecessary? Do you have an official mudroom or are you faking a mudroom somewhere in your home?
Your plans sound great – having some option (and one that works for how you & your family live!) is really important as far as I’m concerned. We have a mudroom/laundry room now (and pantry opens off it, separate door to kitchen). Husband often dirty – his work shoes stay in there, and if he’s REALLY dirty, his clothing can go straight into the washing machine 😉 In our previous house, we did not. We both used the main entrance and there was a laundry closet and a coat closet in that hall, and a big china hutch that was used for general storage – so shoes could go in the coat closet, the hutch had a counter for “drop zone” items. I love organization – we each have baskets for our winter accessories (hats, scarves, gloves) so we know we’re grabbing our own (I mean, we each have 2-3 black fleece beanies, so…) We installed hooks up to ceiling on one wall – summer & rain hats go there (and there’s a step ladder right in the pantry, just in case it’s needed 😉