Everyone dreams of that beautiful, perfectly organized mudroom with the whole family’s cute little rain boots lined up in a row but, let’s be honest, it’s not always feasible with our homes. We needed a space for coats and boats and baby accoutrements but we definitely were not going to have a seperate super cute room for it so, we improvised!
As a designer I always envision simple yet highly elegant interiors, I was born with good taste! But, the truth is sometimes we just have to work with what we have and you can make it work. There is a solution for every problem and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
Being raised in the Country I was taught that you have a coat for good and then you have a chore coat, same goes for seasonal footwear, I am certainly not going to wear my heeled suede boots to muck out the barn! My husband also has the same thing, his work coat and boots and then his nice, going out coat and boots. This means that we have a lot of boots, and coats, and hats, mittens, etc. We did have a mat with raised sides that we brought from our old house for our boots to sit in and let the snow melt but that was about the only thing we had going in our favor. There was no good place to hang things so our coats literally got thrown on the floor in a pile and it was driving me nuts! The previous owners had hooks in the stairwell leading to the basement and under the upstairs stairwell also but that would mean having to traipse through the house to hang things up, not something I was willing to do with a cute, yet messy toddler! I decided it was time to make a “Mud Corner.” All we really needed was a place to hang coats and somewhere to put mittens and hats.
As always my design process evolves, it usually starts out with some elaborate design in my head but common sense and practicality usually win out and I go with what is actually needed. So all we needed was a place to hang coats and corral hats and mittens.
The first thing I did was find some cute baskets off of Amazon that were big enough to hold winter apparel but not bulky. I ordered one for each person in the family. For the coat rack I was able to scavenge all of the materials needed from the house and didn’t have to buy anything! We happened to have a 1″ thick board laying around the property so I cut it to length with the miter box and got a cheap stud finder and attached it to the wall with screws. I covered the screw holes with plaster and sanded them once they were dry. The previous owners left white paint so I used that to paint the board. It does not match the white wall but is close enough that you can’t tell unless you are really scrutinizing it! Under the stairs we have a closet that had a bunch of cute, antique hooks that I stole for this project and evenly distributed throughout the 1″ board to hold our coats. They are mismatched but I think that lends to the charm. I hung up the baskets ensuring that the lowest was at a height Scarlett could access on her own. I believe that setting things up for our children to succeed and be self sufficient not only makes our life easier but also helps build their confidence as well and helps them out in the long run. The other two baskets I just measured in 3″ from the door frame and then eyeballed the spacing in between each basket.
Installing the Coat Rack. 
Sanding the Screw Holes on the Coat Rack. 
Making sure the bins are level.
To give it that cute vibe I found a fabulous do-it-yourself frame from a local scrapbook shop and attempted to do some hand lettering that I attempted to copy from an Etsy store. It is definitely not God’s gift to hand-lettering but it is mine and I can proudly say that I did that! I attached the sign using 3M strips, anytime you can use 3M strips and not put a nail in the wall is a total win in my book!
Having our Mud Corner has made things so much more organized and accessible. It makes getting out the door easier in the morning because Scarlett can find her own hat and mittens and even puts them back when we get home or come in from doing chores! It may not be the Pinterest dream Mud Room but it works great and I am so proud of myself for doing it. I hope this helps motivate and inspire you to fix your own design dilemmas, let me know what issues you are facing and how you fixed them in the comments below!!
Pearls, Ponies, & Pacifiers 