The mudroom is located in the entrance of many homes so it’s the first place that people see when they enter your home. It’s also the first place you see when you return home from a long day and the last place you’ll see when you leave in the morning. A messy mudroom can give a bad impression of the rest of your house and leave you stressed out by not being the functional room that can save you time and energy that is so often spent looking for things that should be in plain sight.
A place for everything and everything in it’s place. A simple concept for a large problem. There always seems to be more everything and not enough places for it. Here are some solutions for common storage problems in your mudroom.
You need to look and see what your specific needs are based on what you leave in the mudroom when you enter, and what you lose in it most often. Common problem clutter is coats, shoes, bags and backpacks. Then there are the easily misplaced items like keys, electronics (cellphones, ipods etc.) and mail especially bills. If you have kids and pets there’s even more stuff dog leashes, lunchboxes, homework and the list goes on. Making a spot for each of these items can be easily accomplished with the following storage additions.
Add large hooks to the walls for coats and bags, two for each person and a few more for visitors and other items like the dog leash and reusable shopping bags. If you have more people than room for hooks you can tuck a coat rack into a corner. Put a bench near the door where you can sit to take off coats and shoes. A couple of large baskets can be added underneath the bench to put shoes and other things that can’t be hung up like sports equipment in.
A shelf installed above the bench is a great place to keep electronics and a good spot for their chargers. Add a small bashet or bowl as a catch-all for small items you find stuffed in your pockets. A bulletin board hung on the wall below the shelf can hold all the smaller objects. Tack a mail sorter on the board along with small hooks for keys. Any paper can be posted on the board for easy access to homework, grocery lists and a calendar so you will see any important appointments before you leave the house.
To keep this area organized label all the spots where things go. Each hook can have a persons name above it. The bulletin board can be sectioned off with ribbon so everyone has their own small section. The baskets under the bench can also have labels like shoes, soccer gear etc. Be clear to everyone that these items need to be put in their proper spots. file outdated papers from the mail holder and other papers from the bulletin board often so it doesn’t become a problem and keep things from piling up on the floor and bench. Soon everyone will be in the habit of putting everything in it’s spot.
