What does a mud room bring to a home from a functional perspective?
A designated space that is finished with durable materials for dirty muddy items that can be discarded before entering the house
Where is the best place for a mudroom to be located?
What if you don’t have a spare room to use what other creative ways can you make space for one?
It should be located at an entry point before entering your home
If you don’t have an allocated room for a mudroom, you could add some components of one like loose boot store, hooks for raincoats, wetsuits & dog leads etc at the front or back door.
How can you make a mud room feel personal?
Firstly, Ask yourself, what activities does the family do?
surf, have a dog –– wetsuit, surfboard covers, dog leg, leg rope, goggles, dog bags, thongs, plastic bucket
horse ride, garden, muster –– gardening gloves, mat, riding boots, crop, riding hat, whip, sun hats, boots
mountain bike, hike – bike helmet, hiking boots, pump, wrist & knee guards, water bottles
Secondly, look at the size of each item and what it would be best stored in – on a shelf, hanging to dry on a hook or rail, in a basket, in a cubby hole etc
Thirdly, if the items need drying or are muddy what kind of finish or material works best with this. i.e brass is best for wet items like towels and wetsuits, but muddy and dry can hang on a steel hook, wet boots could dry out on floor or wall mounted boot racks, or are cubby holes needed for dry store items like school bags & shoes
Ideas for colours, textures, detail and styling.
Mudrooms should use durable materials that are compatible with wet weather gear, mud, sand etc. I design my mudrooms with durable humble materials such as hardwearing reclaimed flagstone or recycled brick on the floors, recycled timber for shelves, hardwoods for boot store, brass for hooks, and wipe-down satin finish paint colours, and outdoor canvas for upholstery
Where to store items like keys, boots, coats, wallets and mail. Eg:
Hooks/shelves/cupboards/under seat benches/cubby spaces/
For wet items like raincoats or wetsuits hang on all-weather brass hooks from The Society inc, like the Plainspoken Hook
Towels could be dried on a Sheila-Maid suspended from the ceiling from Heaven in Earth or George&Willy
For shoe store, source floor or wall mounted hardwood boot racks, boot jacks and scrapers, for example from The Inspired Paddock
For goggles, snorkels, flippers use wet buckets from The Beach People
For sunscreen, keys and smaller items suspend canvas bags or Caps from Butlers Hooks from The Society inc
For school bags, dry boots, shoes, helmets make cubby holes from recycled timbers sourced from your local timber merchant & brackets to suit from the range at The Society inc, like the Clinker Bracket or Panhandler Bracket
Items used rarely store under seat benches
Make high shelves for seasonal hats and helmets or use vintage style luggage racks like the Steadfast Rack or Compass Rack from The Society inc
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