There should be a more dignified name than “mudroom” for those unheralded, but widely used and popular places in most homes.
Sure, they’re usually the family’s main entryway and expected to be largely for kids. The term likely dates to an era when a rural family traipsed in carrying chunks of wet mother earth or, as is likely at this time of year, slush or even packed snow.
Some of that, especially snow, may still happen today in the era of plush lawns and plowed driveways, but the room where that stuff might be deposited usually has several more purposes, the least of which is mud.
A mudroom plan done by Wendy Sorenson, a Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers design consultant, amounted to converting a laundry room into much more in one Dublin home. The owners had built the home, but the laundry room was only that: washer and dryer, an essential tile floor and nothing else.
The family had two growing kids and needed better place for them and their belongings, as well as a better way to handle the family wash.
The upshot was one wall with cubbies – storage lockers – for each child. Each has a bench, a place to hang clothes and shelves to store book bags and boots, along with anything else that needs a home.
On the laundry side of the room, the washer and dryer are built-in under a laminate counter top, as is a sink, all surrounded by a bounty of cabinets.
“If people have room, they want mudrooms,” Sorenson says.
She notes that even a space as small as a closet can be converted for traditional mudroom use.
It didn’t happen in this project, but Sorenson says she has designed dog washing and drying stations, too.
John Nicholson, architect for Nicholson Builders, agrees with the premise that remodeling projects seldom, if ever, involve just a mudroom, adding “probably the number one requested project,” even more than a kitchen improvement.
Mudrooms, he says, usually are part of a laundry room and bundled with a larger remodel, such as adding half-bath or redoing an adjoining kitchen or family room or both.
They’re always off the garage or a separate entry and include an open or enclosed cubby – for each child, plus one for adults. The kids’ spaces often include plastic baskets to stow wet or dirty garments until they’re hauled across the room to be washed.
He discusses one Dublin project that reflects the diversity of the multi-purpose rooms.
Besides the cubbies and laundry, this one has a technology station that allows charging a variety of today’s electronic gear. A docking station allows attaching a cell phone to play iTunes on a sound system in the house. Such multi-purpose stations are practically automatically included these days.
Yet, an old fashioned family-oriented amenity is mounted on the wall: a chalk board to post schedules, reminders and whatever else needs to be easily shared.
He notes that “a majority of mudrooms become cluttered” as users overload storage. The solution in one Muirfield home was to raise the cubbies three steps from the walkway and main floor.
Occasionally, Nicholson and his firm build a dog washing station, complete shower base and a hand-held spray, he says, adding that “dogs are a lot of work.”
That’s generally an adult endeavor, one of several that Sorenson mentions is a reason they, too, rely on a mudroom, mentioning such other things as gardening, including pot washing, and sports activities.
Nicholson explains that mudrooms are designed to consider the “sequence” of its use. The rooms are for arrivals and departures, storing or picking up clothes and other gear. They’re the laundry room and are conveniently located next to the kitchen.
Essentially, a mudroom is designed for efficiency, owing to their many purposes.
And seldom is mud the only one.
Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishopcityscenemediagroup.com.
