A small and narrow mudroom is not only challenging to set up, it is also hard to keep tidy. If you’re finding that your entry is consistently cluttered, and it doesn’t matter how hard you work at keeping it orderly, you need to try some new methods. Below are eight tips for a tidy mudroom, with a bonus tip at the end.
8 Tips for a Tidy Mudroom
- Spend a bit of money to make it stylish (even if you rent). Your mudroom is the gateway to your home, so make it welcoming. If you spend some money sprucing it up, you, and your family will be more inclined not to mess it up. You don’t have to spend a lot. A trip to Walmart or Ikea can get you the items you need.
- Have a cleanup schedule. Whether it’s in the morning, at night, or when you come home from work, take a couple minutes to sweep the floor and hang up the jackets. This way the mess won’t have the opportunity to build up until it becomes a stress. You can also assign cleaning tasks to the rest of your family – each day it can be on someone’s chore list.
- Use organizational containers such as baskets to keep all the miscellaneous items organized. You can assign a basket to each member of the family. As well, you can designate areas for specific items, like gloves. Make the container system simple so even your youngest children can understand where stuff goes.
- Make adequate use of the storage space. Even though it’s tiny, you can make it look a lot bigger if you have vertical storage such as shelving, rather than putting things on the floor.
- Buy a sturdy coat rack with enough posts for extra coats. You want it stable so coats (and the rack itself) don’t fall to the floor, and you want to have enough room for guests’ jackets. If you’re a family of four, get a coat rack with 6-8 posts. This will compensate for company or when it’s cold and the kids are wearing ski pants.
- Get a bench with storage space underneath. This serves two purposes – a place for everyone to sit to put their shoes on, and a place to keep items out of view.
- Buy a boot tray. This is very important to keep the floor clean. Spring is a very muddy time of year, as well as warm, slushy winter days. A boot tray can make your life so much easier. All you have to do is pick it up and dispose of the mud, instead of having to vacuum, sweep and mop the entire mudroom floor.
- Designate an area seasonal items – and it doesn’t have to be in the mudroom. Always designate an area for hockey sticks, ball gear, golf equipment, and skates. If your mudroom is tiny, put these in boxes in the spare room or garage.
An extra tip is to have your carpet professionally cleaned. While most mudrooms are not carpeted, the rest of your house is. Bare feet in the summer, sand-filled shoes from playing in the park, slush from winter days – these messes are seldom contained to the mud room. At least once a year, have the debris that gets tracked onto your carpets professionally cleaned so you’ll not just enjoy coming into your tidy mudroom, you’ll love walking around your entire house.