Creative Ideas for Organizing a Functional Mudroom

Depending on where you live and how the COVID-19 situation unfolds in your area, you might have to send your kids back to school in the fall. If your children eventually have to go back to school, now is an excellent time to establish a space where they can clean up and sanitize before entering the home.

A mudroom can be the perfect place to take off their shoes and outerwear and wash before getting to the house’s central area. Since the pandemic began, it became a highly-requested feature for many high-end homes.

Here are some tips for organizing and preparing a functional mudroom for the new school year.

Keep your mudroom as clean and organized as possible

The first thing you need to do is to unclutter your mudroom. It needs to be as clean and sanitized as possible so that you won’t have a hard time disinfecting it regularly. Here are some tips for making sure everything is clean and organized in the mudroom:

• Take every item out and categorize them into three: Keep, sell, and donate.
• Make sure to store appliances that you regularly use in drawers that are easier to reach. Have your cleaning appliances like your vacuum cleaner repaired at a shop before storing it so that it’s always ready to remove dirt and debris from outside.
• Consider closed shelves instead of open ones. Secure brackets look more organized and put together than open ones, and you can choose stylish paint colors to enhance the look of your mudroom, too.

Dedicate a space for sanitation

Consider having a sink installed into your mudroom so that your kids can wash their hands as thoroughly as possible as soon as they step into the house. But if having a sink in the room is impossible, make sure to establish a sanitation station that is always stocked with at least 70 percent alcohol sanitizers, alcohol wipes, and paper towels. Teach your kids how to sanitize their hands as well thoroughly.

Add storage under the seating area.

If your mudroom has a seating area where people can sit down while taking off their shoes, consider having built-in storage incorporated underneath the bench to add more space for your family’s belongings.

The best part about having storage underneath the bench is that it can be as discreet as possible—you can have more storage, and your guests would be none the wiser, depending on the paint and hardware you choose for the handle.

Incorporate more hooks

If the mudroom is where you and your family can remove your outerwear, then hooks are an invaluable part addition. Just a few hooks will not be enough to hold heavy items like umbrellas, backpacks, and other things that your kids will need to remove before they enter the house. Having as many hooks as you can, in addition to sufficient storage and drawers, will help prevent your kids from overloading the hooks.

Add a charging station.

Another genius idea you can add to your mudroom is a charging station. If your kids don’t have their wireless chargers, having a charging station in the mudroom can be a good way. They can charge their phones as soon as they get home, before leaving the house, or when they’re in a bind.

The charging station does not solely need to be for phones—it can also be a place where your kids charge their laptops and tablets that they need for school. Invest in organizational items like mail sorters to hold every wire before plugging them into the power strip. Keeping the wires as tidy as possible doesn’t;t look good; it will also protect your home from cable-related accidents or fires.

Establish one spot for their sports and activities

If your kids are athletes or have hobbies that require extensive equipment, like music and instruments, make sure to dedicate one space for these big pieces. This might be a challenge for smaller mudrooms, but consider how you can open up the space more so that you have somewhere to store these items. Make sure to use labeled bins so that every member of your family knows where to look when they’re running late.

The historical point of a mudroom is to keep the rest of the house clean, especially from the “mud” that comes from outside. Suppose you want your home as spotless as possible when kids are back in school. This can also be for your spouse coming home from work. In that case, a well-functioning mudroom will help you achieve that.