Even the smallest entryway can become a valuable space with the right design approach. If you’re tired of shoes piling up or not having a place to hang your coat, it might be time to rethink your setup and include a thoughtfully designed mudroom in your house.
Traditionally, the function of a mudroom is to provide a kind of drop zone to leave dirty shoes and clothes before going into the rest of the house. While a mudroom is great for that, it can also be a more all-purpose space for storage and organization. On top of that, a mudroom can add an element of style when entering your home from the front entrance, back door, or garage.
In this article, I’ll go over some small mudroom ideas that demonstrate how you can convert your entryway into a more dynamic space. With these examples in mind, you can start to generate your own mudroom ideas to suit your home.
Mudroom Idea #1: Long and Narrow Mudroom Design
In this mudroom, the space is long but relatively narrow, which runs the risk of making the mudroom feel cramped. We helped counteract that with furniture that has a large open space for hanging up jackets and coats as well as a ledge for seating. The opposite wall includes a coat closet to put away items that you don’t need immediately.
Another benefit of this mudroom is the laundry area with a large utility sink at the end of the entryway. This type of layout helps get dirty clothes cleaned up without having to carry them through other parts of the house.
Mudroom Idea #2: The Mudroom Wet Bar
It might seem a little counterintuitive, but the combination of a mudroom and a small wet bar can actually be extremely functional. In this smaller mudroom space, we remodeled the back entryway to have a usable sink and a built-in mini-fridge. This design is especially handy if your kitchen isn’t adjacent to your back door but you like to host people outside around the grill.
Other design elements that help make the most of this small space include wall-mounted coat racks, cubbies and baskets, and drawers of different sizes, all of which enhance organization in the mudroom.
#3 Small Space, Big Mudroom Storage
If you’re looking for storage solutions for things like outdoor gear, sports bags, and heavy coats, this mudroom design is definitely your speed. It includes multiple sizes of mudroom cabinets, giving you ample space to store key items that are best kept by the door. In this project, we also included a built-in seating area with coat hooks that is convenient when coming or going.
#4 Turning a Corner
Carefully selected furniture can optimize the design of a small entryway. In this example, that meant fully taking advantage of the corner with a wood bench and locker-style storage with open shelving. The mudroom wall is visible behind the furniture and includes mounted wall hooks. A similar design could work with floating shelves for extra visual interest.
The locker-style mudroom works great for families with kids as everyone can have their own space to store shoes, clothes, and other items in an organized way.
#5 Built-in Bench Seating
Even in a small area, a designated space to sit down and take off muddy boots can make a mudroom feel much more functional. The design doesn’t have to be complicated. In this mudroom, a sturdy wood bench creates a handy place to sit down, and the open space under the bench allows you to tuck away your shoes. Tall cabinets on either side create useful storage space. If your mudroom is smaller than this one, you can install just one set of these cabinets.
#6 Handy Back Door Laundry Room Design
In this entryway, there’s a mudroom bench with storage underneath for shoes and boots. The wall space behind the bench has built-in hooks to keep coats off the ground. And despite being a small mudroom, the design is appealing thanks to the adjacent laundry room. Instead of having items lingering in the mudroom drop zone, they can be quickly moved to the laundry. As an added benefit, the stone floors are easy to clean, so there’s no problem if some dirt gets tracked between the bench and the laundry.
#7 Stylish Built-In Storage and Seating
It’s common for style to get overlooked in a mudroom, but that’s not the case in this example. For this entire room, style is a priority. From the tapered, built-in furniture to the textured wall and picture window above the door, this entryway is designed to be an elegant, stylish space.
At the same time, this mudroom has tall cabinets to create plenty of closed storage where you can keep items like sports equipment or winter clothing that would otherwise detract from the aesthetic.
Finding the Right Ideas for Your Mudroom Remodel
As these examples demonstrate, there’s no shortage of options for creating a compelling mudroom, even if you only have a small mudroom to work with. At Hazley Builders, we pride ourselves on custom remodeling that is tailored to your space and your family’s needs. To us, the details matter in every phase of a project, from initial design to construction to the finishing touches.
If you’re fed up with a makeshift mudroom that’s really just a cluttered and unsightly mess, we encourage you to contact us today to learn more about our team, how we work, and how we can make your remodeling ideas a reality.
