Everything You Need to Know Before Designing a Mudroom
Looking to squeeze a space into your home to stash shoes and outdoor paraphernalia? Take a look at these design ideas
Victoria Harrison
9 October 2021
Editor, Houzz UK and Ireland
Mudrooms are essentially a buffer between the outside world and the interior of your home. As well as offering somewhere to leave shoes and coats, they can be a space to store anything you frequently take in and out of your home, keeping the rest of your space clean and tidy.
You don’t need to have a large home to find the space for one, either. As these photos from UK and US homes show, they come in all shapes and sizes. Here’s how to plan yours.
You don’t need to have a large home to find the space for one, either. As these photos from UK and US homes show, they come in all shapes and sizes. Here’s how to plan yours.
Write your wish list
At its most basic, a mudroom can be a simple storage space by the door to tidy up shoes and coats. However, with a bit of thought and planning, it can also become a bespoke storage space that can help your household run smoothly, as with this example in London, UK, by Hughes Developments. The key to designing yours is to think about which elements of outdoor life you need to find space for indoors.
To help you work out what you need, write a list of everything you frequently take outdoors and bring back inside. For example, do you need space for muddy sports equipment and kits, or do you have a tangle of dog leads and damp umbrellas that are asking to be organised? Are you at the school-bag stage of family life, or do you still need space for a muddy pram?
Once you have a wish list of the elements you’d like to include, you can start to plan your space.
At its most basic, a mudroom can be a simple storage space by the door to tidy up shoes and coats. However, with a bit of thought and planning, it can also become a bespoke storage space that can help your household run smoothly, as with this example in London, UK, by Hughes Developments. The key to designing yours is to think about which elements of outdoor life you need to find space for indoors.
To help you work out what you need, write a list of everything you frequently take outdoors and bring back inside. For example, do you need space for muddy sports equipment and kits, or do you have a tangle of dog leads and damp umbrellas that are asking to be organised? Are you at the school-bag stage of family life, or do you still need space for a muddy pram?
Once you have a wish list of the elements you’d like to include, you can start to plan your space.
Try bespoke
Bespoke doesn’t always have to mean expensive, and when it comes to storage, having cupboards custom-made for your home can often be the smartest option.
By having storage made to measure, you can maximise every last bit of floor and wall space, overcome any tricky corners, and get tailor-made cupboards that work for your household.
This scheme by reDesign Home in Chicago, USA is a great example of how different-sized cubbyholes and cupboards can create space for specific items.
An interior designer or carpenter will be able to help you with this, so look for a local professional to help bring some stylish order to your home.
Bespoke doesn’t always have to mean expensive, and when it comes to storage, having cupboards custom-made for your home can often be the smartest option.
By having storage made to measure, you can maximise every last bit of floor and wall space, overcome any tricky corners, and get tailor-made cupboards that work for your household.
This scheme by reDesign Home in Chicago, USA is a great example of how different-sized cubbyholes and cupboards can create space for specific items.
An interior designer or carpenter will be able to help you with this, so look for a local professional to help bring some stylish order to your home.
Combine with seating
When you’re pulling shoes on and off, seating is obviously helpful. Shoe benches, like these by Woodstock Furniture in London, combine lots of storage with a useful perch and will help upgrade a hallway to a mudroom.
This corner seat makes the most of the space, especially when combined with the coat hooks above.
Keen to incorporate a mud room into your home? Find an interior designer near you on Houzz for expert help
When you’re pulling shoes on and off, seating is obviously helpful. Shoe benches, like these by Woodstock Furniture in London, combine lots of storage with a useful perch and will help upgrade a hallway to a mudroom.
This corner seat makes the most of the space, especially when combined with the coat hooks above.
Keen to incorporate a mud room into your home? Find an interior designer near you on Houzz for expert help
Utilise shoe drawers
If you like to keep everything tidied away and your floor space free, shoe drawers like these by Guild Anderson Furniture are a brilliant idea.
Double the height of a regular drawer, they can take several pairs of tall boots, then simply glide shut to sweep them out of view.
If you like to keep everything tidied away and your floor space free, shoe drawers like these by Guild Anderson Furniture are a brilliant idea.
Double the height of a regular drawer, they can take several pairs of tall boots, then simply glide shut to sweep them out of view.
Choose mop-clean flooring
A mudroom area will get a lot of wear, so tough, easy-clean flooring is key. In this London design by Field Day Studio, a stone floor provides the perfect mop-clean surface for muddy boots and shoes.
If you don’t have a hard floor, a thick, natural-fibre doormat will offer an extra layer of protection and can be used to cover any type of flooring.
A boot tray is also a good investment, as you can stand any wet or muddy boots directly onto this as soon as you walk through the door, then leave them to dry.
A mudroom area will get a lot of wear, so tough, easy-clean flooring is key. In this London design by Field Day Studio, a stone floor provides the perfect mop-clean surface for muddy boots and shoes.
If you don’t have a hard floor, a thick, natural-fibre doormat will offer an extra layer of protection and can be used to cover any type of flooring.
A boot tray is also a good investment, as you can stand any wet or muddy boots directly onto this as soon as you walk through the door, then leave them to dry.
Use a tough paint finish
This London mudroom by A New Day – Interior Design Studio is a practical space for a couple who frequently take their dog for muddy walks in nearby woods. The walls are painted in emulsion at the top, but gloss at the bottom, so they’re easy to wipe down; you can just see the dividing line if you look closely.
Choosing a similar paint finish will help your walls look cleaner for longer.
Browse more marvellous images of mud rooms to inspire your own
This London mudroom by A New Day – Interior Design Studio is a practical space for a couple who frequently take their dog for muddy walks in nearby woods. The walls are painted in emulsion at the top, but gloss at the bottom, so they’re easy to wipe down; you can just see the dividing line if you look closely.
Choosing a similar paint finish will help your walls look cleaner for longer.
Browse more marvellous images of mud rooms to inspire your own
Turn up the heat
In many climates, mudrooms really come into their own in the rainy winter months, when wet and muddy shoes need to be dried out. In our country, however, they can be ideal all year round – from dry, dusty summers to wet winters.
If you can incorporate heating into this area – either a wall-mounted heater or an underfloor system – it will help to speed up the drying process and keep your shoes and clothes toasty warm.
In this design by John Young Furnishings of Keswick, a simple boot shelf has been built in front of a small radiator heater to dry out walking boots, while a plastic tray is ready to accommodate any muddy footwear.
In many climates, mudrooms really come into their own in the rainy winter months, when wet and muddy shoes need to be dried out. In our country, however, they can be ideal all year round – from dry, dusty summers to wet winters.
If you can incorporate heating into this area – either a wall-mounted heater or an underfloor system – it will help to speed up the drying process and keep your shoes and clothes toasty warm.
In this design by John Young Furnishings of Keswick, a simple boot shelf has been built in front of a small radiator heater to dry out walking boots, while a plastic tray is ready to accommodate any muddy footwear.
Tuck it into a cupboard
Mudrooms can be messy; with several family members shedding coats, shoes and bags numerous times a day, it’s easy for this area to get into a tangle.
By tucking your mudroom into a cupboard, as shown in this scheme by Ashdale Projects, you can avoid looking at the worst of the mess by simply closing the doors when it’s not in use.
An understairs cupboard could be requisitioned for this use, although ventilation should be considered if you’re going to use this area to store damp shoes, umbrellas and coats.
Mudrooms can be messy; with several family members shedding coats, shoes and bags numerous times a day, it’s easy for this area to get into a tangle.
By tucking your mudroom into a cupboard, as shown in this scheme by Ashdale Projects, you can avoid looking at the worst of the mess by simply closing the doors when it’s not in use.
An understairs cupboard could be requisitioned for this use, although ventilation should be considered if you’re going to use this area to store damp shoes, umbrellas and coats.
Tell us
Is a mudroom on your wish list? Tell us what you’d store in yours in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Want more great design tips? Read this story: Small Garden? Be Inspired by This Year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Is a mudroom on your wish list? Tell us what you’d store in yours in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Want more great design tips? Read this story: Small Garden? Be Inspired by This Year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show
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Location is crucial, too. There's little point in having a mud room anywhere except where you normally enter and leave the house. As you'll probably want to clean your muddy outdoor boots and clothing there too, a sink is useful. For me, the ideal mud room is a warm, busy entrance hall with one door to the living room and the second one into the kitchen through the laundry.
Having moved from Germany (where most houses have such a room)
to New Zealand many years ago, we definitely wanted a "mudroom" in our house, when we built a new house here 7 years ago. It is just so practical! Everything you need when leaving your home has its place here. Keys, shopping basket and bags, scarfs, sunhats, jackets, shoes (they are in the tall cupboard), umbrellas, handbags, sunscreen, outside toys and sunhats for the grandchildren and much more!
A house we built (literally we built it, no builder) back in the 80’s we had a back door leading straight into the laundry/mud room. The room had one door directly into the main bathroom, so handy when coming in wet and muddy off the farm (which both adults and kids did regularly). A second door into the kitchen which meant drink/ food could be grabbed without trooping through the house. Best decision ever. All I would add now I’m much older would be seating.