The Sunny Side Up Blog

My new organized mudroom!

SO excited to share my new mudroom with you today!  This is such a beloved space for me that I can’t believe we’ve been in the new house six months and I haven’t posted pictures of it yet!  Must be because of the post traumatic stress from moving my family of five.  ;)  I took way too many pics so I’m warning you that this post is a novel.  You might want to grab a snack.  I’d suggest pretzels.  Or yogurt.  Or both.  That’s what I’m snacking on right now.  Ok!  Enough rambling.  Time to talk mudroom.  Most of you know that in our previous house my garage worked as my mudroom… 

And it worked great.  But I always had dreams of a real mudroom.  With lockers and drawers and hooks.  A place for our family to dump all of the shoes, jackets, and backpacks that wasn’t next to the garden tools.  :)  So after much planning and thought this is what I came up with:

Ta-da!  Lockers and drawers!  With hooks inside!  I have to pinch myself every time I’m in this room.  Which is a lot!  The door on the right is off of our garage.  It’s the door we are in and out of the most every day.  I decided to go with closed lockers and drawers vs. having everything open because I have issues with visual clutter.  I wanted to be able to close the cabinet doors and have this space always look clean even if it wasn’t.  Like magic.  :)
There are five lockers so that each of us can have our own.  Soon after we moved in I bought these fun nameplates for each person in our family (from Pottery Barn).   Love the rustic look of them!

 

Then I found these fun baskets from Pottery Barn to put in the top cubbies.  I initially had a hard time finding baskets that were wide enough to fit the space so when I landed on these I was thrilled.  They have a lid like a picnic basket and not only were they the size I needed, but the black hardware on them worked well with the hardware I chose for this room.  I wasn’t originally planning on dark brown woven baskets, but they also coordinated well with the wood floors and the bench.  Finally some keepers!

When we were designing this space I told my architect to extend the drawers a bit so that I could add a small mini bench above them just in case my kids ever wanted to stand up on it to get to the top of the lockers.  Then I had it stained figuring white would show marks from the kids standing on it.  Guess what?  My kids don’t stand on it.  Sometimes I over think things.  :)  But I like the way it breaks up all of the white regardless and I love the deeper drawers.

To the left of the wall of lockers is our downstairs laundry room.  My kids come in the garage door, unload their things in the mudroom, and then head to the laundry room to wash their hands and unload anything that needs to be washed.  Half of Kole’s wardrobe most days.  :)
A lot of you have had questions about my floor plan so this pic shows where the laundry room and powder bathroom are located (both close to the mudroom).  If you keep walking past the powder bathroom you come to our stairs and main living spaces (kitchen/family room).

Here is a view of my mudroom from the other side of the room.  On the other side of the door I added additional locker style cabinets to the ceiling with drawers below them for extra storage.  (Extra storage!  It’s so strange to have extra storage.  Wonderful strange.)  :)  Then I had a small bench made for the space under the window.

This little bench was fun to design.  It’s a nice place to sit to take off shoes or to set things on.
Remember this work in progress picture?  :)

Here it is finished!  You also might remember an older post when I talked about my decision to add the dutch door back into the plans.  So glad I did!  It was in the plans in the beginning, then I took it out of the mudroom and added another window and a longer bench.  But I couldn’t stop thinking about my dutch door (I have loved them for so long) so back in the plans it went.

I decided to paint it black.  We have three doors that are visible from the front of our house (front door and two side doors off the porch) and they are all painted black to match our shutters.

A view of the porch with my hanging lanterns.  I love to leave the top half of this door open to let in our coastal breeze.  Someday I might be courageous enough to paint all of the doors and shutters a fun bright color, but for now I love the classic contrast the black makes with our grey paint.

I went with a clear glass fixture for this space (similar to a lot of my other lights).

 

The little white door (which I lovingly call my hobbit door) is a small closet.  We had so much room under our stairs that I made two little walk in spaces out of them for storage.  I keep our luggage in this one off of the mudroom.

Ok.  Are you ready to see what’s happening inside of the lockers?

Are the heavens opening and angels singing!?  :)  Oh the joy of organization and having a place for all things!  A few close ups…

I love actually having a place for my purse other than the kitchen counter.  My locker holds often worn jackets and I usually have my gym bag hanging along with them but it was getting washed when I took this picture.

My kids backpacks are usually heavy with books so I just have the kids set them on the cabinet bottom vs. hanging them.  Or they unload their books on the bottom and then hang the backpack.  Lately I’ve been emptying their lunch boxes and keeping them on the shelf on top.  I also thought this shelf could hold a tray for school work.

Remember this work in progress picture?  I added a plug outlet just above each shelf.

 

This way when the kids are older and have cell phones they can also use these shelves as a charging station.  So many options!  Optionality.  One of my favorite words.  :)

Ad’s scarf makes me laugh because it’s never really cold enough here to need a heavy scarf, but she wears it anyway because it’s “sparkly and fashionable.”  :)

My little buddy’s locker.

 

Kenny doesn’t use his locker so it’s currently holding our rain gear.
Although I think he needs to join the party and toss his briefcase in there with the frog boots.  :)
Bottom drawers pull out to hold our most often worn shoes.
These are my go-to’s most of the time.  Along with flip flops which are in the garage.

I did a massive shoe clean-out when we moved in so this is all my girls have right now.  I love that everything fits in their drawers so we don’t have to keep any shoes in their closets.  Easy access!

Kole is great to take off his shoes each day after pre-school and toss them in the drawer.  Kenny’s drawer is currently holding the balls he and Kole play with each morning before school while the girls in the house finish getting ready.

 

I have some ideas for how I’m going to use the extra storage cabinets, but haven’t organized everything yet.

Each cabinet holds adjustable shelves.

 

The drawers below them are really deep so they hold my most often worn boots.
Another favorite about this room is my door stop!  Such a simple thing, but it sure comes in handy each day as we are carrying things in and out of the house.
So that wraps up the tour of my mudroom!  Aside from providing ample storage and organization for our busy family this room also serves as a great place for hide and seek.
You can’t ask for much more than that.
:)
**Have a question about this space?  I answered them all here.
*affiliate links used

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Comments

  2. Brill organising ideas:)

    I especially like the lockers. I always think it’s important to put things on a level that children can reach.

    They now have lockers at the school where I clean & it makes everything look a lot more tidy.

    Just a quick question – where do you put coats & shoes etc that are wet? I hang my wet coat in the bath.

    I love the white cupboards etc.

    Thank you for a great blog:)

    Reply

    • I am so impressed with your mud room. Great planning, so clean (especially like the cabinet doors), so functional. I would love to replicate the same ideas into our new house. Will keep this space in mind as we are house hunting.

      Reply

  3. What a wonderful space! I love your design and fittings. We are currently planning a mudroom and I am very inspired by yours, I love the idea for a locker for each child. I have two girls and we are overrun with violins, cellos, tennis rackets etc… I was wondering would you mind telling me what you use the baskets at the top for? Thanks for sharing. Off to have a look now at the rest of your blog, Leanne

    Reply

  6. Incredible!!! Everything from the overall layout to the smallest detail is just perfection. I was wondering, do you have additional basement and/or attic storage? Or is all your storage built into the two main living levels of your house? Just curious as I live in a part of the east coast where everyone has basements, but I’ve heard that in CA many houses don’t.

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  7. Erin, reading your post just made my day! Yes, I heard angels singing when I saw your pictures. :) Can you tell me where you got those amazing hooks? I’ve been looking for something similar but haven’t been able to find anything I like.
    Congratulations on your gorgeous house!

    Reply

  8. What a fantastic space! I love how you’ve planned everything so carefully (like the little sockets above the shelves) and how well it works. I wish I had space for something like this in our London house – and I wish I was as organised as you! :)

    Can’t believe you’ve been in the new house 6 months already?! Time flies… and I love reading your blog.

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  9. Hi Erin-
    I’ve aways imagined a mudroom and laundry room combined. Is there any benefit to having separate mud and laundry rooms? Love your space! Thanks!

    Reply

  13. Beautiful room! I don’t have a mud room but would love to find a place for my son’s backpack. Great light fixture and Dutch door!

    Reply

  17. Oh Erin. That’s such a beautiful mudroom. And it looks like the perfect size too. Do you mind sharing the dimensions of your mudroom? It’s absolutely perfect. Thanks, Sonya

    Reply

  19. You all are too kind! SO fun waking up to your sweet comments this morning! THANK YOU!! I’m thrilled you all like it! :)

    Next post will answer all of your questions!

    Reply

  21. LOCKERS!! Oh my goodness, this is so timely. Was just thinking of my “mud room” aka disaster zone the other day. My room is smaller than yours, but I am sure that I can make this work! Fabulous!!

    Reply

  23. Oh, Erin. That mudroom is gorgeous. It looks perfect for your size of family. I love those lanterns hanging outside, where did you get them? Also I had another question do you choose pot lights or can lights? Where did you get yours at? We are thinking about adding some to our house. Thanks for sharing so much! Sara

    Reply

  24. It’s beautiful. So much space to organize. I am jealous. I love the dutch door. I thinking about changing our back door out with one. Love the hardware on it. May I ask where you purchased it from? Thanks again, Piper

    Reply

  28. I love it Erin!! what’s the grey paint color again? It’s perfect. I ordered the pottery barn rug you got for your living room. I’m getting the runner for my hallway. LOVE it!!

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  29. Erin, you did a fabulous job on your mudroom. I love locker style mudrooms. It’s definitely what I need for my family of six. I remember seeing those progress pictures and thinking they were beautiful then. But to see all the end results now. Wow! It looks awesome. It has been so fun watching your progress. It just seems like yesterday that you told us that you purchased land. I am so happy for you guys. You truly deserve it. Thanks so much for sharing. I love it all. By the way, where did you purchase those picnic style baskets? Such a cute addition to the mudroom!

    Reply

  30. Love your ideas and organization! We have houseplan and are incorporating a mudroom/command center similar to yours. What is the overall length of your lockers/bench?….Trying to get a visual of size. Also where did you get the great name plates? Love them!!

    Reply

    • what is the size of each locker? Also what is the length and depth of the bench? Can you share the dimensions of this project?

      Reply

  31. Great mudroom! It’s huge. I love all the hardware. Where did you get your door hardware? Like the dutch door and garage door? Love those handles. Love that light too. It’s so simple and clean. Love that bench too. Love the individual lockers for each kid. What a dream. Gosh, I just love it all! How big is your bench? I would love something like that in my entryway. Your house is truly a dream of mine. Thanks for making my day! All smiles, Becky

    Reply

  36. The Hobbit Nook!!! As soon as I saw the teeny tiny door I remembered the construction phase picture. Awesome!

    Kim from Indy

    Reply

  37. In your question answering post could you please show a picture of how there are two under the stairs storage units? And how you chose to break it up rather than just have one door that led to the whole staircase? And maybe a picture? I’m kinda geeking out over this because I’m trying to get a visual of that since traditionally ice only seen under the stairs closets that have one door and the closet just narrows down at an angle. Your storage creativity never fails to impress me (still blown away by the cool drawers in the playroom from the roof line)!

    Reply

  38. Thanks friends! Such fun comments. :)

    Casey – I will absolutely share that! But it will most likely be a whole post all on its own. :)

    Reply

  39. Wondering if you would, please, share the dimensions of both the lockers and the drawers? I love how they seem extra deep. Are they custom? Or more like a kitchen cupboard drawer? (Make sense?) Thank you SO much for sharing this! I now have a visual picture for our builder. Have a beautiful day!

    Reply

  40. I love the bench! Can you tell what color of stain you used on the bench and locker seat? And what color of white you used for the cabinets? I love the color combination. Thanks, Susan

    Reply

  41. Oh wow!!! Your mudroom is officially my favorite room in your house, with your powder bathroom second runner up. I just love the details and the nameplates are just perfect!!! You did REALLY well on this room! I am sitting here in envy hoping that one day I will get to build my own dream home and have a mud room like that! Its funny you mentioned the black doors because that is why I came to your site tonight, I wanted to see what color you had painted your doors because I too was thinking of doing my own door black but thought, I will check and see what she did and maybe see how a black door looks. Erin, maybe you can help me, I need a second opinion. My house is cream colored and I have what molding around the windows and porch area. The shingles are a medium grey. Do you think a black door with silver accents (door knob, knocker and bottom plate) would look good? Should I do a glossy black or a satin black? I guess I just need a second opinion on if black would look good with a cream house when it has the white and grey accents. Is it too many colors going on if I add black into the mix? I don’t want to do red or white. I thought about doing a charcoal grey but I am not sure. Maybe you can give me your thoughts.

    Reply

  42. Anonymous – I absolutely think black will go with the other colors you mentioned! They are all neutrals so even though you have so many I think it would work great. Charcoal grey would look good too. I would for sure do a satin black. I did more of a matte black on my doors and I like it better than a shiny black. If I were you I’d buy a small sample of black and charcoal grey and put them side by side on the door and stand back a ways to see what looks better on your house. I considered a grey too but when I looked at it on my door I didn’t like it as much as the black.

    Thanks for your sweet comment! Good luck! :)

    Reply

  44. This is exactly what I’ve been envisioning! Awesome, now I can finally show my husband what’s in my head! :)

    Reply

  46. So I know I’m late to this post but I just saw it on i heart organizing and had to comment about how awesome this is! I am so jealous and love everything, especially the dutch door. Your house is gorgeous! Although I don’t have a large enough space in my house for a room like this, you have inspired me to try to fit some of your ideas into my home. Love the creativity!

    Reply

  47. Anonymous – thank you! The light fixture is from Kichler.

    Thank you so much Carolyn! Such a sweet comment. I’m thrilled you like it. :)

    Reply

  49. Hi! We are building our own mudroom for a family of five. Can you tell me the dimensions of your lockers? How far across is the entire set up? How deep is each locker, and how tall? Thank you!

    Reply

  50. Anonymous – I think the length total is 9 1/2 but check the link at the end of this post! I know I answered that question there. :) Lockers are 56 inches tall and 21 inches wide (on the inside). Hope that helps!

    Reply

    • How much extra do the drawers stick out underneath the lockers? In addition to the 13″ locker depth? Also, how tall are the cubbies above each locker that contain the baskets? Thank you in advance!

      Reply

  52. Hi Erin. Great Blog. Can you provide me with information on where you got the nametags for the the lockers ? We have a similar style home here and Maine and would like to order the same name tags but customized for our 5 kiddos. Any info appreciated. – Peter

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  54. I love this so much, I think I might cry! Organization, makes me so happy. I have 5 kiddos and this is going to be a must in our new home.

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  55. Can you email me the dimensions of the inside depth and height of your lockers? and then the bin area above with the basket? My designer is not getting it! Then the dimensions of the door hight and width of the locker. Also are your ceilings 9 or 10 feet? Do you wish the baskets were not open but instead the locker door went all the way up to cover it?

    Thank you Erin,
    This is Cindy McArthur Larsen… Lacy Newby Franke introduced me to your website. Our builder just got the permit for us to start our home and my cabinet guy is struggling on the lockers. Appreciate it!
    Cindy

    Reply

  56. Wondering what you think about putting the small shelf at the bottom of the space with a plug? I think it’s a great idea for charging, but would it be up too high? How are these working for you? Any changes you would make?

    In the process of planning our build and am looking forward to a mudroom and lockers more than almost anything else!

    Thanks

    Reply

    • That’s exciting Patty! I didn’t want a small shelf at the bottom because my kids set their backpacks there when they are heavy with books. They don’t use the plug outlets yet because they aren’t old enough to have phones. Hoping when they are they are tall enough to reach them! :) I don’t think I’d change anything about this space because it works perfectly for our family, but you’re smart to think about how your family will use a mudroom and it might be different! Good luck on your build! xo

      Reply

  57. I have a question. I have older children…. with really smelly shoes… we are designing our lockers and my design is similar to yours, but have opted for a charging drawer about the area where the lockers ends. i was planning on using baskets for the shoes rather than a drawer, I hindsight, do you wish you had used baskets for shoes rather than the drawer?

    Reply

    • Hi Michelle! I actually prefer drawers! They are more sturdy for kids tossing in shoes every day. But you should definitely do whatever you think you will like the best! xo

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  58. Could you provide some insight on how much custom lockers cost? Love the idea, but trying to work on a tight DIY budget!

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    • Hi Monica! That’s a really tricky question because it depends on so many things. How many lockers you are putting in, what type of wood you use, how you finish them (paint, etc.). The best thing to do is to call a few cabinet places in your area and have them come out and give you a bid. Even if you don’t end up doing it, most places will give you a bid so you can compare prices and go from there. :)

      Reply

  59. I love your lockers. In fact I love your whole mud room. Great use of space and I love all the storage ideas!! Close doors are a must for me as I too HATE visual clutter. I just had some lockers (with doors)built in my mud room. Where did you purchase the name plates from? I am looking for something similar and can not find them anywhere.
    Thanks! :)

    Reply

  61. I love the mudroom. Were your cubbies custom built? I would like to know where I can find some or if I need to hire some one to build them.

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  62. Just stumbled upon this article – thank you so much! I’m in the middle of designing a similarly spaced mudroom and this is so helpful! Lovely!

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  63. Did you buy the cabinets and shelves for the lockers as units? That set of 5 would work perfectly for us? Where did you get that?

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  65. Hi Erin,
    My husband and I are wanting the exact same thing you have for your lockers. I was blown away by the expense to build something as close as possible at Lowes. Do you mind sharing the cost to have your cabinet guy build them for you? I don’t want to lose hope that these beautiful lockers are beyond our budget.

    Reply

    • Hi Lindsey! Unfortunately I can’t give you a number. Our cabinet guys did everything custom in our home and I only remember the lump sum of all of our cabinets throughout our house. I’m sure we have details in our records somewhere but I’m not sure where! Total cost of something like that varies so much anyway depending on what type of wood you use, cabinet style, size, etc. The best thing to do is get bids from a few different cabinet makers in your area and go from there. xo

      Reply

  66. Hi

    Do you have the dimensions of each locker component? We are meeting with a contractor on Friday and would like to show him your plan?

    Love your design.

    Reply

  68. Dear Erin, what are the dimensions of your mudroom locker benches from the floor to the ceiling. We have 5 people in our family and need enough width and depth for bench/ locker system. Thank you so much. Love this so much.

    Reply

  69. I love everything about this mud room! I saw a couple of other people asked about the dimensions of the lockers, do you have that posted somewhere? I was also wondering if you could tell me the room dimensions as well?

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    • Hi Bethany! I don’t have them posted but I’m planning to write a post with the dimensions at some point when I have time to measure everything because I get asked so much. :)

      Reply

      • Hi Bethany. Any chance you’ll be posting the dimensions soon? I love love these lockers and have used your pictures as inspiration to get ours built, and now we’re down to the final sign-off on measurements. I’d love to know how high the main hanging area is, how big the cubby is above, and how big the top cabinet is. It looks perfect, and it’s hard to know what dimensions are functional (there’s not a lot of information out there). Thank you!

        Reply

        • Erin, inquiring minds want to know! ;) I, too, would love to know the dimensions. I was just reading a post the other day about someone else’s mudroom and she said if only she had made them a little deeper, then virtually any basket would have fit, but she didn’t say how deep that illusive ideal depth was. Ha! :) Yours are SO lovely, and look very functional!

          Reply

  75. Beautiful Mudroom! Could you by chance share the dimensions of your drawers/cupboard and shelf above? I am designing one right now and it would be great to use as a reference. Thank you!

    Reply

  76. Wow this is amazing! This is exactly what I would like in my mud room!!
    Were these custom made or stock cabinets?
    Thanks great job!

    Reply

  77. What are the dimensions of the enclosed cabinets next to the bench? I love the style and hope to replicate the space. The upper cabinet, middle cabinet, and bottom drawers.)

    Reply

  79. Where did you get the lockers? I’m having a hard time finding them. I wanted one solid door but that’s impossible. Are these kitchen pantry cabinets? Thank you.

    Reply

  80. Could you link to the post where you share the dimensions? I can’t find it and it’s driving me crazy. Thank you

    Reply

    • Melissa I can’t find it either! Ha! It was at the end of a random post. I’ll share them again when I post my mudroom for Christmas! Coming soon. :)

      Reply

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