Don't Have a Mud Room?

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I heard of a mud room, but I do remember thinking that having a room for your mud was crazy.  Obviously I was quite young and have since learned the purpose for a mud room.  

My house is quite old and doesn't have a mud room.  We do have quite a bit of closet space, but no one in the household wanted to use a hanger when putting his/her coat away.  The first couple of years that we lived in our home everyone threw his/her coats on chairs when coming into the house.  Then it dawned on me at an elementary school...hooks!  It is easy for people, including children, to hang their coats on hooks.  

Now that I knew that I wanted to use hooks, I needed to figure out where to put them.  When entering and leaving the house, we use the back side door.  To exit, we must first walk through a hallway.  Which lead to my next epiphany...hang the hooks on the wall in the hallway.    

Mud "Room"

Once the coats were back there, the shoes and boots followed, so I added a shoe rack.  With the boots came the mud and melted snow.  To solve this problem I made a boot tray.  I found a white plastic serving tray on clearance at Target and filled it with rocks from the home decor aisle.  

Boot Tray

Setting the boots on the rocks makes it so the boots don't sit in the mud and water when the snow melts.  For under $20, I don't have to see a mud puddle in my mud "room" from November-March, which is worth every penny.

I probably should place a shelf above the hooks, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.  For right now I store the extra hats, gloves, scarves, etc. in labeled baskets on shelves in the "coat" closet.  I use clothes pins to keep gloves and mittens together in pairs. 

Storage for Winter Miscellaneous Items

While the mud "room" works well for members of the family, it doesn't work well for guests since they enter through our front door.  After opening our front door, you are in my living room.  The layout of the room makes it difficult to arrange furniture.  Putting hooks on the wall didn't work as well here.  So, I searched for a coat tree.  I couldn't believe how expensive these can be or how wide their bases can be.  I wanted to place it behind a chair, so I wanted a small one.  I found one that met my needs at Gordman's for $30.  

Coat Tree for Guests

Since, it is the first day of spring, I am looking forward to storing all of the coats for the warm weather months, as I am sure that you are too.  Until then, I hope that you can use at least one idea from today's post.