Entry areas are more often than not under-utilized, which is a shame as you can actually turn it into a stylish yet functional place of your house with just a little effort.
At the same time mudrooms are gaining popularity as more people realize how badly they actually need such a practical space in their home. Especially with kids around it’s nice to have an area where you can just drop your shoes, lose the bags and dry your wet clothes without ruining the floor and making a mess all over the house.
If you’re looking for ideas on how to organize a mudroom, we’ve got you covered. For this article we gathered some of the best ideas found online, so you can start planning a neatly organized mudroom for your home.
Set up individual lockers
Setting up individual lockers allows for a bit of personal space to all members of your household. This is a great idea for families, as kids can have their own locker for sports equipment, backpacks, and other things they need when heading out during the day.
Storage lockers are perfect for organizing a mudroom, as they make for neat spaces with doors that you can close and hide the mess away. You won’t notice what’s inside a locker after all, and you don’t have to spend a lot of time dusting things off as they’re hidden behind a door.
You can get many kinds of lockers for your mudroom, and they’ll all help you keep things organized. Some storage lockers even come with a shoe compartment as well as a garment rack, while others have a more traditional look and design. Most of them are robust and durable though, so they’re able to withstand a bit of everything.
Store things in baskets
Baskets are great. They contain your things and divide them into different sections, so that you can always find what you’re looking for.
With a couple of baskets sitting on a shelf or on top of a bench, you can easily store all kinds of gloves, hats, bike helmets, outdoor toys, tools, and whatnot. The possibilities are endless.
We recommend going with baskets that are either made of metal or plastic, but for metal you should pick one that isn’t susceptible to rusting.
Make a sturdy seating area
A seating area is a great addition to any well organized mudroom. Not only does it offer you a place to sit while you put on your shoes or boots, but it usually offers additional storage space under the seat.
For a mudroom we recommend going with a proper, durable storage bench with cubbies or drawers to keep things organized.
Combine with a pair of boxes if you want, and you’ll be able to sort your belongings into different compartments.
You can also get a hall tree for your entryway, which is a great 3-in-1 solution for those who want to make the most of their mudroom.
Don’t forget the umbrella bucket
This might sound like very basic advice, but we’ve often found ourselves in a place where we missed an umbrella bucket.
Let’s say you have a dog that needs regular walks throughout the day, and it starts raining once you get outside. You pop up your umbrella, and it starts pouring soon after.
With a mudroom you have a great area to enter with a wet dog, but what about the umbrella? Even though it’s been shaken outside, water is still dripping off.
With an umbrella bucket you can easily stick your umbrella in, without having to worry about water forming puddles on your floor. Even though your floor is able to withstand a bit of water, it might get slippery. So it’s better to keep the water inside a bucket, inside of leaving an umbrella dripping onto the floor.
Umbrella buckets are available in many shapes and sizes, and you’ll certainly find one that suits your preferences.
Use wall hangers to utilize more space
Wall hangers are great for utilizing more space and keep your mudroom organized. Your favorite jacket, your purse and your keys could all go on wall hangers to be easily available whenever you need to head out in a hurry.
We’ve bought a dozen of solid hooks and mounted them in our mudroom, in order to make use of the walls wherever we don’t have any furniture.
You can get all kinds of wall hooks made of wood, metal or plastic, and you can get really creative by mixing and matching the ones you like the most.
Get a tray for dirty boots
An important part of keeping your mudroom organized is to make sure you’re prepared for anything.
If you’ve just been outside with your family and it started raining, your shoes and boots could’ve gotten dirty or muddy. Would you want to drag dirt and mud inside your house, and then have to clean the floor right after? No, of course not. And you don’t have to.
With a shoe tray you can easily keep your dirty shoes on a waterproof surface, while they’re drying. And once it stops raining and they’ve dried up, you can easily brush the dirt off outside.
Shoe/boot trays are extremely cheap and available for purchase both online and in some hardware stores, and they’re basically made of a single sheet of plastic that’s been shaped into a tray with a raised bottom pattern to promote proper airflow under your shoes.
You can easily hide such a tray on top of a cabinet or locker if needed, or keep it under the storage bench.
Make sure you check these practical mudroom shoe storage ideas if you’re looking for more inspiration.
Install protective covers over walls
If your mudroom has regular wallpaper that’s been painted, you might want to consider adding a protective cover. Especially if your walls are white or a bright color, as they could easily get dirty or scratched when kids enter the home and are in a hurry to get off their shoes and jackets.
You could either install wall panels of your own choice, or opt for an even easier solution with self-adhesive wall stickers. Just have in mind that these might not come off easily, and you’re probably going to ruin your wallpaper as well as paint if you decide to pull them off at some point.
Regardless of what you choose, protective covers or wall panels can be very decorative and add a beautiful twist to your mudroom. Make sure you look through the many exciting options, before choosing your favorite.
Use cubbies to organize the mudroom
Cubbies are the best way to organize the mudroom into different sections for different purposes. You can either keep each cubby open and use it for storage of large items that you need to keep easily accessible at all times, or you can store small things in boxes or install doors to keep your belongings out of sight.
Cubby shelving is available for wall mounting as well, so if you want to keep your floors 100% clear you can easily mount cubbies onto your walls. Some are modular as well, so you can build a custom solution that suits your needs to perfection.
Keep it cozy with a little green
A well organized mudroom needs a few green plants if you want to make it cozy as well. Although a mudroom isn’t usually seen by family or friends coming over, it’s still an area inside your home. And it should be beautifully decorated like the rest of your house.
Green plants don’t necessarily require much, and they’re a nice addition to a room that’s mostly made for practical purposes.
We recommend opting for a tall plant stand, which is not only extremely trending right now, but very stylish as well.
You could also opt for hanging plant pots, if you want to keep the floor clear without having to compromise the style of your room.