Reader Space: A Multipurpose Mudroom

I have said it before and I will say it again.  Mudrooms are a luxury that most of us don't have.  Some homes are smartly built with a whole room devoted to entry and storage, but for the rest of us, we need to get creative with our entry spaces.  Reader, Jessica from Four Generations Under One Roof, is here today to share how she created a multipurpose mudroom where there once was none.

Here is the beautiful girl now for a quick interview to share more about her delightful space! 

What is the main function of the space? 

"The main function of the space is to keep a ridiculous amount of coats and shoes organized. Our home doesn't have a lot of closet space, add that to four generations living together under one roof, means you need to get creative and use every existing wall, nook and crany you have to create storage solutions. Prior to dedicating an entire wall to coats and shoes, everything was dumped on the floor or chairs. Finally after having a million anxiety attacks and coming to the conclusion that purchasing a large locker style storage beast was not in our budget, I decided to create a wall dedicated to coats and shoes."

Any superstar tips for keeping it organized? 

"Purge the wall and shoe box on a weekly basis. Everyone loves to hang "other clothing" and place "random objects" in the shoe box. Because the wall isn't enclosed, it can get overly messy looking quickly. By ensuring that only the "daily coats" and "daily shoes" are there, it keeps it organized looking."

What items did you find essential when organizing the space?  And why? 

"Heavy duty coat hooks. Backpacks, work bags and winter clothing are heavy so large heavy duty hooks were a must. Some pine wood to customize the old toy box in an effort to minimize the shoes being piled on top of one another."

What did you do to go the extra mile and "make it pretty"? 

"I didn't want to have just random hooks on the wall and a pile of coats to look at. My goal was to give the appearance of a dedicated mudroom. In an effort to add texture and character to the walls, I purchased inexpensive MDF and some pine boards to add a board and batten treatment to the walls. The room has minimal natural light so I painted the lower portion a crisp white and the top walls the same blue/green color in the adjacent room."

Where did you find your inspiration? 

"By searching mudroom designs on pinterest, online magazine websites and google images. My roadblock was that this room was bigger than a traditional "mudroom" that you see in magazines and online design spaces. This room is a transitional room (the old family room) between the kitchen and family room so I struggled before I came to the conclusion that I needed to stop trying to make the room a room that it wasn't. Does that make sense? It was never going to be a perfectly designed traditional mudroom so I started to look for spaces online that had a wall dedicated to coats. I came across many kitchens that had built-in's, locker style cabinets, within their kitchen so that is what gave me my inspiration. Someday I hope to build around this hook area that I have created and DIY some locker styled cabinets with doors!"

What items did you DIY to stay on budget? 

"Everything! I added the board and batten to the walls myself, added hooks and customized an old toy box by adding wooden cleats {cutting small pieces of 1x2 pine} to the inside of the box for the shelf to rest on {piece of pine 1x10 pine}."

How has it impacted your life for the better? 

"Less anxiety about stuff piled on the floor and thrown on nearby furniture!  Now I can see the floor and actually sit on the chairs. Everyone has their own hook which helps keep things organized."

Too much to adore in one super happy and functional space!  How about a final before and after?

Amazing right?  No budget to purchase large locker systems.  No time or resources to completely build in walls and create a divided mudroom.  So why not use what you have, along with some elbow grease and create something even better?  And when you have four generations living under one roof {oh yes, you read that right}, a little organization goes a loooong way!

Huge high fives to Jessica for getting her DIY on and creating a masterpiece of a space.  Every last detail is gorgeous and now we can use her multifunctional mudroom as our inspiration!  You can find more photos and details on her blog here.

Anyone else DIYing something from nothing?

ATTENTION!!  Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition?  Have an awesome organizing story to share?  I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life.  Please submit your story and photos here and I would heart to feature them right here, on the blog!!  Photos should be high resolution and unedited.  Please include a description of the project, including any costs, inspiration, and how it has changed your life and routine for the better!  Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice!  Only love goes on at this blog!