After a day spent outside, especially in the rain, it might not be the best idea to come home and drop your muddy boots and rain-soaked jacket on a carpeted floor. While one solution to this is a small outside rug, it doesn’t compare to having an entire room to contain outdoor gear and other items. A space like this — called a mudroom — can be helpful to maintain a cleaner, more organized home and keep loose dirt at bay.
A mudroom can serve other purposes as well. For example, your family can hang up their coats and take off their shoes in this area. Or you can make sure to wash off your dog’s paws after he comes back in from playing outdoors. Taking into account all the uses mudrooms have to offer, optimizing space could prove to be even more beneficial. Take a look at these ideas for creating a mudroom with extra storage.
With mudrooms being such an in-between space, it’s easy to forget how useful they are. Mudrooms are for everyday use, and because they’re so practical, you have to be utilitarian in the ways you use the space. Whatever your current mudroom design is, there’s nothing to be lost in adding some more storage — and a lot can be gained. Here are six ways to add mudroom storage.
The first of your mudroom must-haves is seating. Providing seating for your family and guests is an efficient way to stop dirt from being tracked into your home. When you have a comfortable place for sitting, you’re more willing and able to remove your dirty shoes and dust off any grimy clothing. The flooring of a mudroom is also generally tile, linoleum or a different material that makes cleaning quick and easy. This way, any dirt from shoes and clothes in the mudroom can be conveniently mopped up afterward.
Your seating should be at a suitable height and depth to fit all the members of the family or any potential guests. You’ll also want to consider the aesthetic of your home and mudroom space when deciding on seating options. Tandem seats or benches could add an element of style to your mudroom with the right approach. You can even have a bench built into the design.
Clothing hangers work well for closets, but in a mudroom, you want to use your space more advantageously. Having a few durable, heavy-duty hooks are a good alternative. The hooks can be used as a coat rack for your family each day, as well as for guests. In the midst of a house party or event at your home, having a designated area for guests to put their coats and jackets can help them to feel more at home.
In addition, to coats and other clothing, children and adults of the household can also use the hooks to hang a book bag or purse. The same applies here as far as size. The hooks should be low and within reach of everybody in the household. You might also add a space for both low and high hooks if you don’t want them all to be on the same level.
When you have multiple family members sharing your home, or even if you have several pairs of shoes you like to rotate through regularly, it’s very easy for them to end up in a jumbled pile by the door. This makes it harder to find what you need when you’re in a hurry, and it makes the space look cluttered and disorganized.
A shoe nook provides an attractive way to keep your shoes together and organized. Perhaps not all your shoes will fit in the nooks, but you can always reserve the space for the shoes you wear most often.
A cabinet space integrates all the aforementioned design ideas. A large enough cabinet can serve as a locker of sorts. You can place your shoes, jacket and other items in a cabinet when you step in the door, and they’ll be easy to grab for later.
Cabinets can be more beneficial than nooks and crannies in some ways, too. One benefit is that a cabinet has doors to hide what’s inside. If you don’t want jackets or shoes to be visible, a cabinet may be an ideal solution. Cabinets can also create a cleaner and more streamlined looking space.
Cubbyholes have several advantages. One is that you can make them as small or as large as you like. They can also help cut down on a potentially cluttered look, especially if you have multiple people using the space.
Recessed walls operate like cubbyholes, but they are normally built larger in size. A recessed wall would be a space in your mudroom where a section of the wall is pushed back further than the rest of the wall, creating a hole — like a closet but minus the door. This large opening could be multi-purpose. You can have sections for each family member, for instance, separated by a frame or a partial wall. You could also give each person their own wall space with a hook, cubby and even a shoe nook.
A cost-effective way of building storage into your mudroom is to build shelves into your walls. Shelves don’t need to be installed during the initial mudroom building, so this feature would not require any extra remodeling efforts. You can simply purchase shelves online or at a store. You can place items like shoes or hats on the shelves directly, or you might purchase decorative bins as well. Place these on the shelves. Then you have additional storage space that gives your mudroom a finished and organized look.
Many people keep their washer and dryer machines in the mudroom as well. Utilizing shelves, cabinets, bins and more helps you keep your laundry items easily visible so you can grab what you need quickly.
Mudrooms are a household asset with many effective uses, but it’s important to be smart about your options. Design your mudroom based on what matters to you — add features such as cabinets or shelving that will give your mudroom both the look and the functionality you desire.
Wolf Home Products® has been in the business of transforming homes for over 175 years. You can find quality Wolf Cabinets to help you make your mudroom and home beautiful. To get started on making your mudroom one of your favorite places in your home, find a dealer near you today.
