A Mudroom Makeover | A place for everything
When we renovated our home seven years ago, our focus was on the main floor which included our kitchen. In addition, we changed out all of our baseboards, casings, interior doors, and flooring on the second floor. The mudroom received minimal love. It's now time for a makeover!
Our First Home
When we purchased our lot in January of 2002, we knew there were certain items we wanted in our new home. We were going to be moving from a bungalow home to a two-story home. In our bungalow, we had the laundry room just off the front, attached garage. This space was also the mudroom. Having two toddlers (our son was five and our daughter was three), I detested that space. Our vehicles were always parked in the garage so we always went through the mudroom to go out. With the washer/dyer in the same space, it made it so tight to get on boots, snow pants (in the winter), etc. It was so damn crammed. While I no longer have the plans of our bungalow that we built, the below layout is pretty accurate.
Our very first bungalow with crowded mudroom and laundry roomA
When we developed the basement for this bungalow, the first thing we did was create a laundry room downstairs!
As Is
For our new home, the same design was planned. The washer and dryer were planned to be in the mudroom. We knew that we were going to change that for this home. Having the washer and dryer on the second story, where the bedrooms are located, was not an option. Just like in our bungalow, we designed them to be downstairs. And while we absolutley got some push-back from our builder (you're going to hate the laundry room in the basement), we proceeded with our plan. We also had to convince our builder to install a laundry chute. While they struggled with the idea, we designed it, presented it to our builder, and then proceeded to get it built (yes - I can be pretty convincing).
mudroom makeover
The current mudroom that is getting some love
With the laundry room downstairs (which I still love to this day), this left for a great mudroom space for our growing family. At the time, we did not install custom built ins as we allocated our money elsewhere. Instead, we purchased a storage bench, hung some hooks, and viola! We had a functional mud room.
What's not working
As the kids grew, the space became unorganized. If you know me at all, you will know that being unorganized stresses me out! As the kids grew into the teen years, shoes became our issue. I mean how many shoes does one person need?
mud room makeover
The
we used.
Part of our little update six years ago was getting rid of benches for shoe organizers. For our coats, I purchased an old school window and strategically placed coat hooks (old school hooks) for our jackets.
As you can see, I've let go of the organizing because I knew we were doing this project.
We temporarily purchased a unit that would house our brooms because I did not want them to be out in the open.
The Plan
Now that we are empty nesters, it seems kind-of funny that we're working on a mudroom makeover, but truth be told, this is a space we use every day as we park both of our vehicles in the garage. Plus, it's become a bit of a dumping ground. Can you see my shoulders lifting past my ears? The photo below is the ugly truth of what it's become (and I have let it totally slide prior to the start of this project).
I purposely did not tidy up as our work has begun. As you can see to the top left, all the charges. The bins are a temporary house for mitts, hats, gloves, etc.
With the help from our carpenter, I designed the space with re-sale in mind but also around being functional.
mudroom makeover
Elevation Drawing of long wall | Sheri Bruneau, Designer
The Cleaning Closet
When we reconfigured a kitchen cabinet to make room for our Plum Wine Dispenser, I had to remove our cleaning cabinet. Yes - I chose wine over a broom.
Our integrated Plum Wine dispenser.
The 12" wide tall cleaning cabinet will be wide enough for my floor broom, my mop, and my stepping stool. It will also be 24" deep so plenty room for what I need.
Bench/Shoe Storage
I have LOVED our shoe storage so changing this out is going to be an adjustment for me. The 'rule' in my home is that if there is not enough space for your shoes, you need to take them to your room or get rid of them. I'm a hard-ass when it comes to keeping things tidy.
When I worked on designing this space, I went back and forth with storage for shoes. In the end, I opted for open storage (I hope I don't regret it). I plan on lining the the bottom of each shelf with a heavy duty mat so that the water from snow and rain will not damage our new cabinets.
As I get older, I think I'm going to love a place to sit and take on/off my shoes. This will be a treat!
Upper Cabinets
The joys of living in a four-season area is that we have four seasons of clothes! Mitts, touques (hats), scarves, ball caps, etc. I'll be using baskets in these top cabinets to house all of this seasonal wear.
Coats/Jackets
We are adding in hooks to the custom built-ins and will also keep the old school window frame for our coats/jackets. There can never be enough hooks for jackets and coats when you live in Calgary, AB. I often joke that we are the menopausal capital of Canada. One day it can be a balmy +10 degrees Celcius and the next day it can be -18 degrees Celcius. I'm not kidding!
mudroom makeover
Elevation Drawing | Sheri Bruneau, Designer
The Drop Zone
In our current mud room, the Mister takes over with all of his 'tools'. We have the snowblower charger, the drill charger, and any other kind of charger you can think of for a tool. For this new drop zone, I wanted to create a little bit of a taller cabinet to allow for the following:
We each will get a drawer like we currently have with our shoe storage unit. In my drawer, I plan to keep my keys, sunglasses, mail key, etc. For the Mister, he will most likely keep every bit of tiny crap he can find (don't tell him I said that). Hey, he gets this space so he can knock himself out.
The bottom cabinet will be for all of those chargers and tools (that should be in the garage) to be housed. When he needs to charge them, he can take it out and charge it.
Some Extra Touches
This wouldn't be a Sheri project without a few little extra touches. I've got a few things planned for this mudroom makeover, but I'll share those when it's time for the reveal. You may see a little snippet in the elevation drawings of the colour and a little something -something that will be going on the walls.
With every renovation including my own, I'm looking forward to seeing this come to life so that we can enjoy it!
Organizing | Shop the Look
When it comes to organizing a space like a mud room, custom built-ins may not be in the works. I've rounded up some very pretty options that you may find helpful your mud room.
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