Tips and Advice

How to make a mudroom in your home

Article by Your Home and Garden

How to make a mudroom anytime, anywhere

With winter looming, a mudroom has become an important place to counter outdoor clutter creeping into your living space. From wet umbrellas and dirty shoes to sandy towels, a mudroom isn’t only a place to contain mess, it’s a place to put order into a household just as much as an entryway can. Sometimes though, you really need a dumping room where you can put things until you’re ready to deal with them, or at the very least, boiled the kettle for a calming cup of tea. Here’s how to make a mudroom in your home or incorporate one to your pre-existing laundry space.

The basics

A bench is a must for any savvy mudroom, bonus points if it’s got built-in storage. A place to sit down to put shoes on and off, check your phone, take a breather from the day. Add a squab in a nice colour or pattern for that all-important interior design touch.

Don’t skimp on storage. You’ve heard the expression save it for a rainy day, well, that day has come. You’ll want enough cupboards to make room for gumboots, raincoats, and umbrellas, all your wet-weather gear. These cupboards should be big enough to give these items proper room to air out. There’s nothing worse than a scrunched up, damp raincoat left to fester. Long, vertical cupboards with a built-in rack are what to have here, utilise them well. If you lack the space for cupboards, go for wall hooks as a cheap, easy alternative.

Make sure to include storage for outdoor play equipment, whether that’s tennis rackets or water guns. Encourage your kids to put all their gear away as soon as they enter the house, rather than leave a trail of items throughout the house – where you’ll inevitably find it hidden under the sofa weeks later.

Any extra recreational equipment, such as picnic mats, cooler bags, beach umbrellas and the like, should also be taken into consideration in your mudroom design. To cut costs, wicker baskets instead of built-ins are ideal for all kinds of storage and add a rustic glamour a la Cape Cod. Separate your baskets into summer and winter items, or by activity such as beach trips and camping. This way, you’ll have everything you will need all in one spot, and can tuck it away when not in season.

The extras

Just because mudrooms are spaces of practicality doesn’t mean they can’t be beautiful. Add an easy-to-clean jute rug to the floor and pillows to your bench seating to add soft, cosy touches.

Personalise a space for each family member with their own hook and cupboard. That way, each child has responsibility over their small spot, which they can customise with wall decals, name tags and other fun touches. Having the essentials of their school backpack, coat and shoes all ready to go in one spot will save you an endless amount of time in the morning rush.

Mudrooms aren’t just for humans, they’re for our furry friends too. Create a designated area for your pets with their water bowl, food bowl, leashes and toys all within easy reach. Laminate flooring is perfect for cleaning up muddy footprints, alongside being generally more scratch-resistant for pets.

How to make a mudroom our of a laundry

If you have a spacious laundry, the most obvious thing to do is incorporate your mudroom into your laundry space. That way, there will be less trips to and from the washing machine with all the muddy sports uniforms. Plus, laundries are already built with easy-care, easy-clean surfaces that lend themselves perfectly to mudrooms, alongside access to a sink for rinsing off dirt from a long day’s gardening or dirty footwear.

If you’re short on space, a ceiling-mounted rack is perfect for making the most of every square centimetre. Not only is it a godsend for your usual washing but a ceiling rack is perfect for hanging beach towels, raincoats, and other wet gear.

If you don’t have the room or budget for a built-in bench seat, even a chair will do to help define the space between mudroom and laundry. Add a shoe rack, a few hooks for coats and bags, and away you go. Make sure to remember a door mat to keep the mess to a minimum.

No laundry? No problem. The concept of a mudroom can be extended to an entryway, an under-the-stairs nook or even back porch. It’s all about making space for those messy parts of life, so you can keep the mud off your nice carpet. Any little thing can make a big difference.