Historically, the mudroom was an overlooked space in the home — but today, we know it has so much potential. This versatile room can provide much-needed storage, keep your family organized and make daily life just a little easier.
As Jade Lewis, sales director at Dream House Dream Kitchens, explains, the mudroom is typically a main thoroughfare that family members pass through several times a day. In the past, if a home even had a mudroom, it was often small and not well thought-out — maybe it was a narrow hallway with a coat closet and a couple of hooks on the wall.
“Since mudrooms are some of the hardest-working rooms of a home, we design them carefully, and craft them with attractive, durable materials,” Lewis says.
A mudroom can serve many functions and the needs of multiple family members — so these days, it’s grown bigger in size. As Lewis explains, in addition to providing a designated area for removing and organizing shoes, coats and backpacks, mudrooms often incorporate laundry zones with utility sinks and drying racks. It typically has organized drop zones for purses, groceries, mail and keys. Depending on how big it is, it might even have storage for sports equipment, pet and craft supplies, and cleaning products.
The Dream House Dream Kitchens team often recommends that a homeowner incorporate some unique elements to make their mudroom truly shine, including charging stations at drop zones, built-in laundry hampers and pull-out trash cans.
“Some other key elements in today’s mudroom include ample, closed storage like drawers and tall cabinets to hide clutter, a custom-built bench to use when putting on or taking off shoes, bins or baskets for wrangling all the loose items like hats and gloves, and designated storage for each family member,” Lewis says.
Durability Is Key
A mudroom serves as a transition space between the outdoors and indoors, so it needs to be designed with durability in mind. Lewis recommends homeowners select hearty flooring like porcelain tile or luxury vinyl tile, cabinets and shelving with wipeable finishes, and countertops such as quartz that are easy to clean and can withstand kids and pets.
“Function isn’t the only thing we focus on when designing a mudroom. We also design them to look as beautiful as the rest of the house,” Lewis says. “People want to feel good when they enter their home, so we incorporate elements like custom cabinets, floating shelves, tile backsplashes, beautiful plumbing fixtures, wainscot walls, decorative lighting or other features that connect the aesthetic of the room with the rest of the home.”
Dream House Dream Kitchens
608.204.7575 | 5117 Verona Rd., Madison | dream-kitchens.com
