Spruce Up Your Mudroom With These Ideas

Mudrooms have many practical uses from keeping out snow and dirt to keeping out sand and dirty pets. It is also one of the first rooms your guests will see. For this reason, you will want a clean, updated and modern mudroom for guests to use and walk through. Try out some of these ideas to spice up your mudroom.

Get Hooked

• Instead of your traditional hooks, install large sewing spools to a painted board for a unique way to hang your coats, hats and purses.
• Attach hooks to a piece of salvaged wood for a barnyard look.
• Place a few low-hanging hooks in the mudroom to make it easier for kids to hang up their own coats and bags.

Use Your Creativity

• Use reclaimed barn wood to create a bench for the kids to sit on while unzipping their coats and taking off their shoes. Take your bench a step further and place bins or build storage underneath to store shoes.
• Is there a ledge in your mudroom? If so, display collectibles or vintage items to add some creativity to the space. Attach hooks to a piece of salvaged wood for a barnyard look.
• Add an oversized basket to the entryway to hold umbrellas, tennis rackets and other items that won’t fit into a cubby.
• Protect walls from getting dirty and scratched up by putting paneling up.
• Brick, slate, bamboo and concrete are all great flooring options.

Personalize It

• Put cork board on a portion of the wall for a spot to leave messages, reminders, artwork or important phone numbers.
• Build a cubby for each person in the family. Each space should have hooks for coats and space for shoes and other accessories. Customize each space with the name of whose cubby it is on a basket for additional storage.
• Brighten up your mudroom with a bright backdrop. Paint it red, blue or green to make the space pop.
• No “official” mudroom? Try staggering shelves and cubbies along a stairway or by the doorway to create a faux mudroom.

Make Some Room for the Pets

• Put a doggy door in.
• Make room for pets by having space to clean wet pets, house food and water as well as dog crates or litter boxes.

Do Double

• If there is enough room, let your mudroom double as your laundry space.
• Install extra counter space for folding clothes.
• Use baskets for a decorative look, but also for storage.
• Add a sliding ironing board that is hidden in a drawer but easily pops out for ironing. If that doesn’t work, hang your ironing board on the back of the door.
• A sink can be used as double duty for laundry and to clean muddy pets.
• Not enough room for the mudroom to double as a laundry room? Try a craft room. All you will need are some drawers, cabinets, desk space and a chair.

Leave photos of your mudroom or your own ideas on how to create a functional mudroom in the comments.