Small Space Mudroom

One of my favorite spaces in our home has to be our mudroom. When we moved in, this space was just a passthrough into the laundry room and used to house an extra freezer. With a family of four I needed somewhere that we could contain jackets and more importantly the mounds of shoes that were piled at the front door. The most important thing about a mudroom is that it needs to be functional, so the first order of business in this small space was to maximize the storage. We accomplished this by adding hooks all along the upper rail of the board and batten and adding this compact yet efficient shoe storage cabinet. Always take advantage of wall space in your small mudroom by using multiple hooks and cabinets to store outerwear, umbrellas and bags.  We then added a small bench and some accessories such as a drop zone tray and just like that we converted this once unutilized passthrough space into arguably the most functional space in our home.

This space is also a great example of how a utility space can also be beautiful. You may ask how do you make a room meant to coral dirty shoes, bulky outerwear, and kids play and school accessories look chic and organized? No matter how much space you’re working with, I am going to share with you how I made our mudroom as stylish as the rest of the house.

Just like in any space, adding wall treatments can have a huge impact on how the space looks and feels, so why should a mudroom be treated any different? In our space we added the board and batten wall paneling to make the space appear larger and added wallpaper for a fun pop of color and interest. Using this bold accent material keeps the eye focused on the fun stuff instead of the storage essentials. 

The most asked about item in this space however is this semi-custom shoe cabinet that houses all of our family’s shoes. This shoe cabinet is the IKEA HEMNES shoe cabinet which I painted to create a custom and unique piece that would stand out from the white board and batten. I love this shoe cabinet because it is very narrow which works great in this small space, but it actually holds a ton of shoes. My favorite thing about the cabinet is the color. I used my go to favorite spray paint  Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Pale Sage spray paint. The process was so simple, but I get asked about it every time I share this space so I thought I would give a simple step by step on how to complete this DIY.

Step 1. I assembled the shell of the cabinet, but left the front doors off to make them easier to paint.

Step 2. I then made sure to clean off all the pieces very well to ensure there was no dust on them before painting.

Step 3. Applied the  Krylon Fusion All-In-One spray paint directly on the cabinet surface (no sanding or priming) in light coats until it had an even and complete coverage. (I used about 5 cans to complete the whole cabinet)

Step 4. Once dry I then applied 2 coats of clear polyurethane to protect it. That’s it! I let all the pieces dry for about 24 hours and then put the doors and knobs on.

 Krylon Fusion All-In-One is my go to spray paint for updating a space and refreshing any décor item. I used the satin black on this catch tray and the satin white to create this color blocked flower vase. Spray paint is such a fun way to change, restore, repair or revive existing items you own.

I hope you are inspired to refresh your mudroom into a space you love, or create a mudroom in a unusable space if you don’t already have one. As I mentioned this space was once a passthrough area leading into the laundry room, you could create something similar in an unused coat closet, empty hallway, or any small nook in your home.

For more inspiration using Krylon, click here.

xo,

Lindsey