Mud Room Makeover

We moved into our home about a year and a half ago and we’ve slowly been decorating and adding ways to make it more functional for our family.

Off the garage door entry was this space intended for a mudroom type area (in bad iPhone picture format because no one thinks to take a good picture of the before space, right?).

We bought our house as new construction, but opted to not have the builder finish off this space because those upgrades add up quickly and I wasn’t in love with the options they offered.  It got added to the list of things to do “one day”, but the coats and shoes started piling up everywhere and the clutter was making me crazy.

I knew I wanted a bench, hooks and lots of storage.  Basically a drop zone for all that crap that gets hung on the backs of chairs or the kitchen table.  I couldn’t find a plan for exactly what I wanted, so I sort of combined all the ideas into one to make it work for us.

Originally my husband was going to build it.  He’s super handy and was more than capable of doing this, but with his work schedule and two kids, we decided it would be best to just hire someone to do it.  We found a local contractor who was amazing at working with my last minute tweaks.  He got it done in just a weekend and it’s exactly what I wanted.

I love how it looks built in and like it belongs, rather than just a few hooks hung on the wall.

Underneath the bench is enough room for shoes.

A hook for each of us…so I guess the baby shop is closed. HA!  We used these hooks for the jackets and these hooks for the hats.

This shelf is the perfect height because it’s tall enough that if you push stuff all the way back, you won’t see it, but you can still add a few decorative pieces closer to the edge.

Buuuut, my absolute favorite feature is the hidden bench storage.  I stole the idea from Ana White who is the queen of all things wood working and design.  We’ve used her plans for a few other projects around the house and they are so thorough and easy to follow.

This hidden storage area is perfect for out of season shoes and coats.  We have a two story, so shoes tend to stay downstairs and just pile up near a door and never make it into a closet, but now I can just stick them in here!

The bench is the perfect depth to have enough room to sit and still hold a bag or two.  Or the basket of kid shoes to keep out of reach of the puppy  baby who likes to chew on them.

On the opposite wall I tried to create a space for all the stuff that I’m always scrambling for when we’re trying to get out the door.  A wall organizer to hold all those loose things like sunglasses, sunscreen and random junk (Fine, mostly pizza coupons.).

I also love this little spot to display all the art that gets sent home from school.  I hate throwing it away, but also don’t really want it piled up on the desk or taking up real estate on the refrigerator, so this was a great solution.

black frames | white frame (Home Goods) | wall organizer (Home Goods) | Growth Chart | Art Display Board

I really love how this little spot in our home came together.  It’s a space we use so. much. and now it’s functional and pretty.