Hi Reader,
There’s a high-traffic room in every house that almost no one plans out properly and everyone overlooks: the mudroom.
Whether you have a separate room with lockers for each kid or a postage-stamp-sized landing pad just inside your doorway, in my experience parents dream of a tidy mudroom… while the reality is a tornado.
They imagine little Johnny coming in from the park, taking off his shoes and putting them away, closing the door, and saying “Mommy, what’s for dinner?”...
… when actually Johnny comes in from the park, throws his backpack on the floor, throws his shoes off to opposite sides of the room, and proceeds to scream into the kitchen demanding to know what’s on the menu and how soon ‘til it’s ready.
And then later, when Johnny’s in bed, you go into the mudroom and it looks like a tornado rolled through.
That’s the reality of that space. It’s going to look like that all the time.
I know because I have a mudroom just like it.
In our mudroom, we have a bench, and the bench never gets used. In the 20 years we’ve raised kids in that home, I don't think I've seen one butt cheek sit on that bench for longer than 5 seconds.
On the other hand, the afterthought that got thrown in at the last minute is a wall rack for hanging coats with a shelf on top.
It’s the simplest L-shaped structure — you can put crap on top, and you can hang a row of jackets right there.
It has been the most used thing in the entire house… and also the bane of our existence, because it collects 15 layers of coats and they fall off onto the floor, even though the locker for that person lies 3 feet away.
Why? Because it’s so much easier to come in, coat on the hook, put my crap on the shelf, and walk down the hall.
So how do you properly plan a mudroom?
Well, first, be real about how your space will be used and what you can actually be comfortable with. Design for reality, not aspiration.
Next, think through your landing zone. When you walk into the house, where does your stuff go? You can’t take off your shoes without putting your stuff down… so where does that happen?
Have a plan for storage and cleanup. Recognize that stuff will be strewn all over the place despite your best efforts. What is the easiest way to get that stuff put away with a minimum of fuss and tears?
Experiment before you commit. Maybe (just maybe) a bench in your mudroom will get more use than mine did. Still — test that theory out with a $40 removable one from Amazon before you spring for a built-in. Same goes for hooks vs cupboards vs shelves.
In other words, design around what actually works for your family instead of what you wish would work.
What are your mudroom horror stories… or the simple wins that make it work? Tell me about them! I reply to every email and would love to hear from you.
Have a great weekend,
Gerald