Room of the Day: This Mudroom Is Just Plain Hot
http://www.decor-ideas.org 03/27/2014 22:25 Decor Ideas
To be honest, saying a mudroom is swoonworthy is a bit like saying Uggs are sexy. Like a fleece-lined boot, the mudroom does a job, but seldom does the utilitarian space inspire a second look. But we challenge any parent out there to gaze at the mudroom in the home of mother and interior designer Cory Connor and not feel faint. Her ideas for storing all the stuff of a busy family, and keeping it out of view but close at hand, are just plain hot.
The story of this mudroom is a tale of inspiration born of frustration. Connor was annoyed by the piles of books, boots, coats and sports equipment by her back door. “There were backpacks, lacrosse sticks — everything — dropped just inside the door. It was a dropping zone,” says the mother of two (her daughter is 10; her son is 7). “I hate stuff everywhere, so I decided to use every inch of the space we had.”
Now utility and good looks characterize this Chatham, New Jersey, space. Ceramic tile printed with a realistic wood grain is tough and attractive. A vintage sandwich board that once advertised specials outside a restaurant was cut in half and outfitted with hooks to become a message board and backpack center.
But the real genius lies behind this storage wall. On its face it looks like an open coat closet, with hooks for jackets, a bench for removing footwear and bins for boots or sneakers.
Craftsman-style paneling makes the area fit in with the rest of the house — only the handles in the center give a clue that something else is going on here.
Pull those handles and piano-hinged doors swing open to reveal a secret room that will look like the treasure trove of Midas to space-challenged families.
“We had a lot of dead space in the garage; going out there to get anything was a pain,” says Connor. “So I borrowed space from the garage to build this storage closet and connected it to the mudroom.”
The 7- by 10-foot space stores a multitude of what would be sins if they were strewn about the entry. Upper shelves hold bulk goods and seasonal servingware. Racks hold coats not currently in use ("It’s so much easier than stowing them in the attic or basement,” says Connor). Slide-out bins keep sports equipment visible but organized and contained.
The lower shelves, accessible for the kids, hold sports equipment. “My son plays ice hockey; my daughter plays lacrosse,” says Connor. “They are really active. You wouldn’t believe how much equipment we have.”
When asked if this is the only storage closet in America where nice plates are stowed just above helmets and baseball gloves, Connor allows that the space is probably unique. “We only get these plates out when we have parties,” she says. “Since the mudroom is next to the kitchen, it just makes sense to put them here.”
The drawers in the closet serve a very specific purpose and eliminate one of Connor’s pet peeves. “There’s nothing more annoying than leaving for a game and having to hunt down a uniform,” she says. “The washer and dryer are in the mudroom, so as soon as those uniforms come out of the dryer, they are folded up and put in these drawers — problem solved.”
The stacked washer and dryer sit conveniently outside the closet’s doors.
On the opposite side of the room, Connor made a homework area with storage; it works like a family command center. “It’s unusual to have a homework center in a mudroom,” she says. “But it’s good to have a desk that’s close enough for me to help them out while I’m in the kitchen, but removed from the action of food prep.”
The storage wall has cubbies for mail, school papers, a printer and the chargers that accumulate in a family of four. The lower shelf holds food for the family dog.
On the same wall, next to the back door, is an overflow food pantry and a locked liquor cabinet above. “It’s not an issue now, but we have a lot of kids in the house, and I don’t ever want it to be an issue,” says Connor.
Between sports and laundry, homework and food storage, this is a room that gets busy. “When I was planning it, and I tried to explain it to my husband, he just didn’t understand how it would be used,” says Connor. “Now, although it’s the smallest space in the house, it gets used more than any other.”
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