Transition Zone: How to Create a Mudroom

If you live, or have ever lived, in a house where there’s an immediate transition from the main entrance into the living area, you know how this can make it hard to keep your house clean and organized. You often end up with a big fat mess dumped unceremoniously around the entrance — shoes, hats, coats, whatever anyone casts aside while walking through the door — as well as mud and dirt spread through the home. Mudrooms are a common solution in rural areas, but even in suburban areas, there is often a porch or foyer that can perform that function. Wherever you live, it can be useful to create a dedicated transition zone between outside and in.

What Is a Mudroom, Anyway?

A mudroom is a small room or entryway in a house where wet or muddy footwear and clothing can be removed. But it can be so much more.

Mudrooms are traditional in country homes, where it is necessary to clean up after coming in from fields covered in mud. They can be a secondary entrance or a back entrance. Some mudrooms might have a sink, a spare toilet or even a shower for cleanup. When I talk about a mudroom, I really mean any space between outdoors and in where you can take off your shoes, bags, hats and scarves, and deposit mud and dirt, keeping mess from the main part of the house.


What Do You Want It For?

Think of everything you might put in this room or space — every last thing — before you plan it. Consider how you and your family live, including kids and animals. They might all want to leave their stuff there. These are some of the things you might want to store in this space:
CoatsHatsShoesScarvesHandbags, backpacks, shopping bagsKeysMail (including a recycling bin for tossing junk into immediately)Strollers, baby carriersDog bowls, leashes, other pet itemsSporting equipment, cleats, rackets, balls, yoga mats


Find Space for a Mudroom

Adapt your entry. If you’re not lucky enough to have a dedicated entryway, look closely at your home and see if there’s a space that could be turned into a functional area to organize that transition between outside and in. It’s really all about practicality, but if it’s the immediate entrance into your home, you may want to plan for pretty elements as well as practical ones. Make it bright and appealing, but also think of ways to help your family keep it organized. You could even have a color-coded basket for each member of the family if you think that might make them more tidy or more inclined to put their things away.


Combine it with the laundry. If there’s simply no room for an additional space, try to create a mudroom from an existing part of the house. One way is to fit out a hallway, even if it’s a narrow space. Here a hallway is both a long laundry area and a mudroom, with lots of seamless storage in uniform cabinetry for a clean and functional area, and lots of space to put things.


If you have a laundry space that has direct access to the outdoors, you can convert this to a multipurpose space that can also act as a transition zone. Even if you want to keep your front entrance for visitors, you can tell family members, especially dirty ones, that they have to use the back door.


Combining a laundry and a mudroom is a logical and effective use of space. It’s ideal for taking off muddy sports clothes or outdoor gear and putting it straight into the wash.


Keep it outside. If there’s absolutely no space to create this transition area inside the home, is there an area on the outside you could use? If you’re lucky enough to have a porch, cordon off an area for everything from soccer shoes to surfboards. The owners of the home here have made great use of a vintage cupboard for some undercover storage and a place to put those dirty boots.


Add on. If you don’t have an existing space that can be converted, could you consider adding on a specially designated vestibule to use as a transition area? If you’re renovating your home or building it from scratch, think about this in your floor plan.


Practical Considerations

Storage. If you do have the space for a mudroom, build in as much storage as possible. Having lots of space here for shoes and coats will take pressure off other storage areas in the house, too.

Once you’ve determined who is using the mudroom and what you’ll need it for, plan for all the various shelves, hardware and storage items you’ll need. You’ll need hooks for hanging, perhaps drawers for storage, or open spaces and baskets for easy access. If you’re intending to store keys and mail, consider some small pigeonholes, such as the ones in this mudroom. These can store those things you need to find in an instant as you walk out the door, such as keys and wallets.


Here’s a great example of how you can use every scrap of space by building storage from top to bottom. These handy cubbies for shoes, and lots of built-in benches, make use of all the available space.


Use storage baskets to help you organize the various elements of the mudroom. A well-organized mudroom could have open shelving for shoes under the bench, with baskets on higher shelves for items you access less frequently.


Even if you have only the smallest of spaces, see if you can add elements that will help you to organize it.


Think about any items you might need as you rush out the door. For a beach house or a home with a pool, a handy basket filled with fresh towels at the door would be a welcome and colorful addition.


Seating. We’re often seeing bench space in mudrooms with pretty upholstered cushions, encouraging people to take off their shoes before they tread all over the house in their muddy boots. This light-colored upholstery would get very dirty in my house; decorate your space according to your needs and how your family lives.


If you have an inviting entrance area but not the space for masses of built-in storage, use freestanding elements, such as a lovely console, bench, and hat or umbrella stand, as well as attractive baskets to deposit shoes in and keep them out of the way.


Flooring. Think about what will be on the floor of this area. This might be a good way to zone this space as separate from the rest of the house. Opt for sturdy and easy-to-clean surfaces.


Add a rug for color and a welcoming touch. It will be easy to frequently shake out the dust and dirt outside.


Tailor Your Mudroom to Your Needs

Add a mirror. As well as being able to check yourself as you leave the house in a rush, ensuring your sweater isn’t on backward, a mirror is a great way to create the feeling of extra space in a small area.


Add a desk. Imagine filing your mail as soon as you receive it — tossing the junk mail immediately and emptying your purse as you come home, filing the important receipts and tossing the rest. All this will save you lots of time later on.


This desk comes complete with a corkboard, ideal for reminder notices, kids’ school stuff and urgent bills — things that tend to gather, annoyingly, on the kitchen counter.


Add a shower. A space has been created at the rear of this home where people can even shower off as soon as they come through the door.


Add some color. Your mudroom might be the first thing you see as you walk through the door, so consider painting it a bright, happy color, like this one. And add a beautiful potted plant.


Tell us: Do you have a special area that divides outside and in, like a mudroom? Please show or tell us in the Comments.

More:
Mudrooms That Really Clean Up
How to Make Your Mudroom Shine

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