In my fantasy life, I will print my official title on my business card as Head Mistress of the Mudroom. Clutter shall be tamed. None of my peeps will ask me where their snow boots are with as many as eleven seconds to spare before we must leave for school. One tranquil morning will follow another.
In this life, I'm satisfied to help another mom bring a measure of order to the mudroom chaos. She had reached her limit with the builder-grade room connected to the rear entry of their home. It was obviously a low-priority item when the home was constructed, as if the builder decided that something had to be placed next to the rear door. This is something, so let's do it. Shoes and coats overwhelmed the space. Hats and gloves went missing.
It was mudroom misery and time to rethink that default decision made years ago.
We started by demolishing a partial wall that interfered with the layout, redoing the electrical, and replacing the old floor with 12x24 porcelain tile to withstand the weather, dog, and an active family. We then installed custom cubbies along one wall with a quartz bench for durability and easy cleaning.
Each child has a cubby with space below for shoes, a drawer, coat hooks, and a backpack hook. The mix of open and closed storage provides easy access and flexibility for storing seasonal items. Each cubby also has an outlet with USB ports. Built-in storage boxes for tablets, phones, and laptops keep the electronic devices safe and in place while charging.
We needed to account for extra footwear for adults and kids, plus pet food and accessories for the family dog, so we looked to the opposite wall for a good storage solution.
Three levels of extra storage for footwear allow for quick rotation when the weather turns. The top drawer contains leashes, collars, and dog toys for Molly while the bottom drawer holds her food. The quartz countertop and placement near the rear door was designed as a landing zone to handle car keys, cell phones, and groceries.
Finally, we installed a full length mirror, baskets for homework, clock, and magnetic white board.
We framed the mirror and white board to match the cabinetry, each child has a school basket, and the whiteboard is a convenient messaging companion to all of the devices in our digital world.
A functional mudroom is an important feature for many families as we mentioned last year in The Humble Mudroom on the Rise. It might be too much to ask for one tranquil morning after another, but builder-grade blah did not rise to the challenge for this family. This mudroom is now set up for the kids, adults, and Molly, too. We hope it serves them well for a very long time.
