Homemade Mudroom

Psssst… this post *might* contain affiliate links: see my disclosure here.

Remember that one time I built something and lived to tell about it?! This is the time, guys. I did it! When we moved into our new house last April, we left behind the awesome mudroom at our old place and all we had was this.

mudroom before

Granted there are fun built ins under the stairs, but the bulk of this family’s clutter involves coats and backpacks and shoes. And this back hallway had nowhere for any of this stuff. So I got my organizational storage thinking cap on (it’s a very cool cap, incidentally) and came up with a plan.

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I wanted a place for shoes. Specifically each kid’s individual shoes. We also needed hooks. ALLLLLL the hooks. And finally… something for miscellaneous storage. Here’s what I came up with and spoiler alert: it’s awesomely awesome. (Try to ignore the dated green floors… that’s next on my hit list.)

Mudroom after the makeover

It all started with an industrial lab cabinet I grabbed for $60 from a favorite salvage joint. I love the sliding tempered glass doors and the overall vibe of the thing.

close up salvage lab cabinet

Below, I mounted a strip of 1×3 pine into the studs and hung as many hooks as I could fit. I’m using these ones from Home Depot (affiliate link).

detail of mudroom hooks

Under the stairs, I repurposed this fun wooden bench with leftover upholstery fabric from our family room chairs. The bench actually has storage inside too so bonus!

bench

repurposed storage bench

Okay. Onto the creme de la creme… that custom bench!  (Did I mention I built it? Like from scratch… it was just boards and screws. Like, whoa!)

coats hanging in mudroom

5-bin mudroom storage bench

All I can do is show you the pretty pictures, because it takes me about a week to build one rectangle with online building tools. BUT… thankfully, one of my blogging besties is a building GENIUS and can make plans like this with the snap of her handy fingers. Jaime from That’s My Letter is here for an assist, so head on over to her blog for all the amazing instructions and FREE step by step plans for this mudroom bench.

detail of mudroom drawers

looking down hall at mudroom

Like I said, I wanted 5 cubbies for shoes. To save on space, I made bins on casters that just slide in and out. The drawer pull is from Home Depot (affiliate link).

drawers in custom mudroom

A seat is important for all these little guys who are still learning to put on socks and shoes. It’s also a handy place to drop a purse other than the floor.

detail of mudroom bench

Lastly, when I saw these plans by the incomparable Ana White, I decided to incorporate the flip top storage in the seat of the bench! Easy and so great!

Top of bench opened

Just to remind you of how far this space has come… here’s how it looked right after we moved in!

mudroom before paint

And here’s how it is now! (You’re noticing the fresh new coat of paint, right? I’ll post about THAT soon too. Benjamin Moore’s White Dove and it’s given me a new lease on life in this space!)

handmade Mudroom after

salvage cabinet and mudroom bench

And another view from the family room so you have a sense of how the two spaces relate!

mudroom next to family room

Homemade mudroom with free plans

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15 Comments

  1. The floors definitely scream 80s! But I love what you’ve done so far. 🙂
    Curious:
    – What do you plan to put in the glass-doored cabinet and shallow bench storage?
    – And what is that super intriguing storage on the stair landing???

    1. HA! OK, so I’m not totally off base in my floor-opinion. 🙂 No idea about the cabinet. There are 2 shelves in the garage that I haven’t gotten around to popping in… I figure it can be a dumping ground for stuff that might need to go back out to the garage? Or sun block/ bug spray in the summer? The stair landing is a shoe caddy from Ikea! I should have mentioned! Right now it holds hats/ gloves for the kids, but… come summer maybe ball caps and shoe overflow? I just LOVE that I have so many options!!

    1. Come on over! And thanks!! I say it all the time… how fun would it be if we could all actually VISIT each other’s spaces!!! Right now the Ikea bin on the stairs has hats/ gloves for all the kids. In the summer, it might hold ball caps, etc? It’s meant to be for shoes, but I liked the skinny profile of it! Good luck with 40B40D! xx

  2. AHH- I am making Ryan read this and go to the link for the plans right now! We of course will have to adjust the size with out lack of mudroom or make it to be right inside the garage! Love it!!!