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There are those rooms in homes that are very well used and often filled with things in life that sometimes we can’t stop to appreciate. In our house, the mudroom is one of those places.
Mudroom And Entryway Renovations
You may remember when I started the Sugar Maple Farmhouse blog a year and a half ago, and when we first moved here, we started renovating two pairs right away. Well, dirt was one of those places that we changed right away.
How To Design A Family Mudroom — The Little Design Corner
The previous owners used a room for their mud room, which is now my office, and just called the space between the back door and the kitchen the back door. It didn’t make much sense to me. There seemed to be a lot of wasted space for the spaces leading into the home, but none of the spaces were very functional. Both rooms had black floors and bare walls. No hooks, no messy closets, nothing to help me organize our love.
We decided to make both spaces very functional. We converted a space into our office, which I will show you later. Another space, our “back” room, became a useful space that made sense for our home.
The first thing we did in both rooms was remove the floor. The floor was a strange tile that didn’t match the house. It was big, shiny and dirty. We can never tell if it’s clean or dirty and it drove me a little crazy.
When we first started looking for a house to move into, we became enchanted with a house in Illinois that had a brick floor in the entryway. It was completely beat up and falling apart, but it was charming.
Diy Mudroom & Home Office Makeover!
Instead of adding real brick flooring, we decided to go with porcelain tile flooring. The problem with using real brick is that it had to be sealed (not once in its lifetime for maintenance) and it had cracks where mud would stick…probably forever. I didn’t like the idea of our boots always being part of the floor.
Porphyry Brick gave us the look of brick without the maintenance. We use Chicago tile from Virginia Tile and use a grout mix for a more natural look.
The floors in this room (and my office) are now my favorite in the whole house. You can see a detailed post on the floor with close-up pictures.
The wall on the south side of the dirt gave us the perfect place to put closets to store coats, bags, and other miscellaneous items that randomly come in from outside.
Coastal Style Mudroom Entryway
I worked on designing closets that had room for each of us. We couldn’t build a full wall of closets because there was a window on the west side of the room that I didn’t want to remove or cover. Instead, I worked on a design that would have a cupboard for each of us, a small cupboard for recycling and umbrellas, and space for a broom and mop.
I wanted to make sure there was a broom to sweep because I hate keeping it in storage or anywhere else. They get very dirty and I don’t like the idea of keeping cleaning products with my food.
I also know that we tend to pile up recycling by the door or on the counter in the kitchen. To avoid this, I would like to have a place for it in the dirt. Designing the recycling area and making sure we didn’t destroy the window really gave us a perfect edge for our keys. You can find the Welcome Home sign.
In each lock space we added two hooks. They each had a spacious room and I wanted to give us as much space as possible. Also, this is Michigan and you might need winter coats, a raincoat, and a fall coat all in one day. The hooks are from Target and you can find them.
Renovations That Will Change The Way You Live In Your Home
Baskets under each individual closet hold several pairs of shoes. Even my husband can fit about four pairs of shoes in his basket. You can find similar baskets. It looks like our exact ones are no longer available, but they are very close and the right size.
Baskets and cubbies above each cabinet hold hats, gloves, scarves, and sometimes children’s lunch boxes. When designing this space, it was important to me that it was really functional, so planning a place to store all these items was important. You can find these baskets.
Even the cubbies above the broom closet with white woven baskets became the perfect place for dog harnesses and dog seat belts. You can find them.
The top row of baskets sometimes holds the tools Kevin uses, random garden tools, and other odds and ends. The top center basket now has masks so we can grab them before we leave the house. Note: Boxes labeled Utility are household goods.
Best Mudroom Ideas
We decided to stop there and not take the guys up to the ceiling because the spacing wasn’t working properly. Also, I’m only 5’2, so I can’t reach the top level of the shelves without standing on the Butcher block. I just wish they were tall enough that we couldn’t hide dust bunnies on top of the drawers.
When it came time to decide on seating for the closet area, I knew right away that I wanted to go with the Butcher block because it is so durable. My kids can be really rough on things and I wanted to make sure that whatever we used would be able to stand up to that and the test of time.
We had a “Butcher Block” counter in the dining room area (which we’ve now turned into a coffee table) and I love the way it looks. The two spaces are right next to each other, so I liked the continuity of it all. Not only that, but that area has a brick backsplash and I was really confident that it would all tie together well.
This also worked perfectly as a shelf above the recycling cabinet. Butcher block is a material that may have been used throughout the history of this house, so adding that touch was really special to me.
Entryway/ Mudroom Organizing Ideas
Next to the closets is another wall where we added a vintage chair and some hooks. It’s a great space for guests to leave their things when they come home, and we use it year-round as a functional place for egg and vegetable baskets. We really use baskets in this space, and I just love that they not only work as useful household items, but also when not in use for decoration.
On the last mud wall we added a weekly calendar that includes a few more hooks. (Can you really ever have enough hooks?) The calendar is a great space for us to keep track of our weekly activities. It’s also a great place to record your planned meals for the week as well.
Overall, we love this place so far. We really took it from an empty room to a functional and beautiful space for our family. What do you think about it? I’d love to hear your thoughts below! If you liked this article, please be sure to check out our modern coffee table review and our fall table!
Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! We hope you will come back to visit us at Sugar Maple Farm again soon. Our farm is finished! This space was an awkward back hallway, an eyesore from the day we moved in in 2016. But after a few months of work and lots of white paint, it’s now a bright mudroom full of drawers, shelves and space. It’s all functionality and a relaxing country atmosphere. Take a look…
Mudroom Renovation Tips
Awkward ahead. Above the ceilings were these amazing cupboards (could any human reach them?) and a half-height wall surrounding a very creepy basement hatch. The wood trim has been badly damaged by pets and mdf board has replaced the original base. The whole space was rough.
We didn’t really plan to start this project this year, but a whim got us started and I’m so glad! This space checks a lot of boxes that weren’t there in this house, mainly a place for everyone to walk in, put their backpacks and swim bags and shoes in the closets. We are at that stage of parenting where we want half of our children