Makeshift Mudroom

No Mudroom? No Problem.

Most modern homes in the Midwest come with spacious mudrooms. We need a lot of space to fit our seasonal gear and tools for all seasons. Ours didn’t. We have a cozy laundry room and a few cubbies. For our family of five, it’s always been a challenge to keep things organized in such a small space.

Finally, after almost fourteen years in our home, we found a solution. Expand our mudroom to the garage. The idea came to us during lockdown. It didn’t involve any major construction; just some clean up, fresh paint, organization, research, design and several hours of assembly.

We set our sights on a Pottery Barn look, but found a Home Depot price. As luck would have it, just as we discovered the Home Decorator’s Collection of Hall Trees and benches, they had huge sale. We ordered both pieces online direct to our nearby store, for free shipping and easy pick up. We had a few days to prep the space. We repainted the garage walls a neutral beige, to hide scuff marks and touched up the white trim. Our inexpensive indoor/outdoor black carpet covers the wooden steps and gives it a clean look. Nothing fancy, but perfect for our needs.

Once the pieces arrived, my husband got to work on assembly almost solo-even though directions for the hall tree recommend three people are needed for the job. Honestly, I was mainly in charge of design, research and shopping. Since I scored the sale prices and used accessories we already had, I kept the project well under budget!

Fortunately, we have an expansive garage space to work with. I was able repurpose some old rugs and pillows to add a pop of color on the benches we added. Now, we have a plenty of room to lace up our shoes or kick off our boots. I even found an old basket that fit perfectly on the upper shelf of the hall tree, which kept costs down even further.

When I was searching for the mudroom storage units, I found an affordable and stylish garden table, comparable to some designer models I had seen. Assembly for that piece wasn’t as smooth as the hall tree and bench, but eventually it came together. The potting cart is versatile enough to use for crafting, or even serving cocktails. How Zabelicious is that? We are thrilled with the end result of our “makeshift mudroom.” I’m ready to start potting those plants and gearing up for a garden party. How about you?