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Coming home should be a welcoming experience, not a series of tripping over dirty sneakers, fumbling with tote bags, or struggling to stow away a sopping umbrella. If you have the square footage, a mudroom will be your transitional space savior, but a tiny one could leave you with more frustration (and shoes) piling up when not designed just right. If you’re stumped on how to create a stylish—but most important, efficient—threshold, here are five small mudroom ideas to control your family’s clutter from the first step.
Try a Magic Mudroom
Jen Brake, creator of Half Painted House, couldn’t live with her cat Aslan’s litter box being on the floor for another minute. She and her husband were constantly tracking litter around the house, and their dog never gave Aslan enough potty privacy. An ingenious cabinet DIY was her all-in-one solution. What looks like just another Shaker-style pane is actually a hidden door to the kitty’s personal bathroom. The cutout is mounted on hinges, so it swings open and—voila!—its weight magically brings it back to the vertical position.
Borrow From the Kitchen
This entryway was so uninviting that designer Rashida Banks didn’t even stick around long enough to kick off her shoes in the 4-by-4-foot space. Her footwear and bags ended up all over the house, so she finally decided to transform her existing closet into what now looks like a built-in piece of furniture by taking a cue from her kitchen. Banks slid a standard 30-inch-wide cabinet into the entryway alcove, but to keep it from seeming out of place—read: not an extension of the actual kitchen—she opted for a butcher-block shelf instead of tile or stone. Now scarves and other grab-and-go gear have a home either in the top drawers or a row of wall hooks, and Banks is happy to stay a while to conceal coats, sneakers, and purses behind the vintage-looking door.
Play Hide-and-Seek
This tiny utility room was not an afterthought. According to London-based designer Lizzie Green, it’s an example of how even the smallest of spaces can be transformed with meaningful design. In this case, a grooved floor-to-ceiling cupboard (painted in Farrow & Ball’s Arsenic) keeps everything out of view, including a full-size washer and dryer. Meanwhile, the industrial-looking steel bucket sink is prominently displayed as a friendly reminder to wash mucky hands or shoes before going any further.
Take It to the Top
Situated just off the kitchen and steps away from the garage, this small mudroom idea proves that a little rearranging can go a long way. When this Vancouver family of four first approached Shift Interiors, they were convinced there was no room for a mudroom, but with a bit of reorganization to the floor plans, the design team made it work with sleek floor-to-ceiling cabinetry taking center stage.
Kick Out the Appliances
Since the side door is the entry this New Jersey household used the most, it was a natural place to carve out a proper mudroom. For functionality, New York–based designer Kate Gray put a closet where the fridge used to be, lined the wall in peg rails, and added a built-in bench where the couple’s two kids can sit and tie their shoes. In lieu of wood floors, Gray leveled out the transition into the kitchen with a wavy Aimee Wilder cement tile that’s easy to wipe down, just in case.