Mudroom Makeover

I start with a pain point, then find a solution, one that infuses the hopes of home and functions well so we can connect with less stress and more joy. The mudroom came about when the addition was added onto the garage to have a game room and the sellers made it the best they could for what they needed…a polo club rack and coffee bar. The shelves felt like an afterthought and while they may have worked for someone with one or two kids, or no kids, they definitely were not working for my four kids.

So we made a plan and ripped it out. What we had: backpacks, shoes, winter clothes during that season, school papers, lunch boxes, all over the cubbies and open shelving for medicine, cookbooks, miscellaneous spilling out above. Every time we walked through the back door coming and going, it was right there in all its mayhem staring us in the face.

What was needed: enough cubbies for baskets for shoes, hooks for backpack, a few drawers for keys and wallets, and closed storage. We have always loved buying modular pieces and putting them together in the way that works for us, then making them look built in. We’ve done it with the IKEA Billy and Pax systems in the past and this time we did the same.

We wanted these to sit flush against the wall so we removed the baseboards as well. Once we had everything in place we could measure and plan out the new baseboards and crown molding to give it the built in look. We cut the trim for the walls keeping in mind our kids accessibility to hooks.

The other backdoor by our mudroom goes out to our pool, and we had a summer season before we redid this area so we knew we needed towels, sunscreen and beverages close by. We also knew during winter we needed blankets close by. The big opening at the bottom we planned for a mini fridge and the shelves above baskets for towels, outdoor toys, etc. The drawers inside hold our medicine, first aid, vitamins, herbs, and tinctures. The shelving above them has a space for school papers to file away, and then stores our extra paper towels and toilet paper.

On the other side of the cubbies and hooks are two closed storage area that keep vacuum, mops, swiffer and cleaning supplies, then a coat and rain boot closet for when they are not in season.

It is 100% more a space that serves us and everything we needed that 4.5’ x 18’ space to be.