Let’s not “Fall” (ha, get it?) into an argument here: when it’s rainy season, you can lay down all the rugs you want in front of your door, behind your door, you can require anyone entering to take their shoes off – there will be mud. And it will be everywhere. However, as it turns out, there is a solution! A mudroom with hooks to hang your dripping clothes, shoe cubbies, and even towels will be your carpet’s savior this pumpkin spice season. Without further ado, here are our four top reasons for adding a mudroom to your home.
Think of a mudroom as a divide between the muddy outdoors and your cozy indoors. Use tiles or linoleum on the floor, because you use tiles and linoleum in your bathroom and kitchen, and this room’s floor will get just as wet. If you add a utility sink, then your mudroom has the added ability of rinsing off mud; it can also be used to wash off sports equipment, floral arrangements, pet baths, the list continues. Towels and floors rugs can help wipe off stubborn mud, and your pets’ feet and fur. A mudroom helps keep heat from leaching out of your house, too, if it’s got its own door into the home. Having a kids’ birthday party, or got a crafty child in your household? When it’s too cold to have your child do messy crafts outdoors, set them up in the mudroom on newspapers or a tarp. If you don’t like having pets sleep in your bedroom with you, make the mudroom the Designated Pet Room.
This small room can provide so much space-saving storage, because the outer clothing layers you’re using it for can be organized by high, medium, and low. Seasonal storage can go on high-up shelves for the rest of the year. Hooks are for coats, scarves, sweaters, and hats. Open cubbies store your shoes; depending on how many cubbies you have, they can also store guests’ shoes when they visit. Now these items are no longer strewn all over the floor by your front door. They also are all in one place and at a convenient reach for getting out the door in the morning, and have air and room to dry out. Similarly, keep your keys and sunglasses in a basket on a shelf by the door for quick pickup on your way out. Put a bench in your mudroom for putting on shoes and boots; installing a bench with a flip-up seat provides additional storage for gloves.
A mudroom is a great place to let your least-important items accumulate … hobby items like crafts-in-progress, clothing you’re patching up, donations you are collecting to drop off at the thrift shop, even laundry – this last option especially works if you decide to install your washer and dryer in your mudroom! A combination mudroom/utility room is great for cleaning supplies and utility storage.
Think of what else gets thrown on the floor by the front door normally: kids’ backpacks and empty lunch boxes, sports equipment, house slippers, purses, you name it – a mudroom would keep it out of your “main house,” and allow your living room or hallway to be the relaxing respite you wish it would be, without messy, stressful reminders of the day-to-day. If you add outlets, you can charge phones, iPods and computers in here, rather than letting them clutter up the kitchen counter.
Does your home open with a hallway anyway? Consider putting down tiles or linoleum, and start building your very own mudroom before fall is in full swing! Does your front door open into a very large living room? Maybe you should wall off a section around the front door – try all different fun shapes for your mudroom! – to make your mudroom. As mentioned before, walled-off mudrooms with separate doors can help keep your home heated efficiently. Or, have an open mudroom in one corner of your home – by the door, or by a closet – with a rug on top of linoleum or tiles, an set of shelves, a full-length wall mirror, coat hooks … ideal for a household without kids; very relaxing and atmospheric. Add potted plants, keep your musical instruments, cute curtains for a window, a sofa instead of a bench, and you’ve got yourself a sort of second-den/salon.
