DIY Mud Room Ideas
Updated on March 24, 2017
Whether your mud room is in the back of your home leading out into the backyard, just inside your garage, or right at the front in the foyer, it’s an integral part of your house. If it’s the entrance that your family uses the most, then it’s important to keep things organized so everyone can find their things before school, work, dance class, and hockey practice. At the same time, if it’s the entrance that’s also used most by visitors and guests, you’ll want it to be stylish and clean as well! It is, after all, the first impression they’ll get of the inside of your home. That’s why DIY mud room hacks and racks are one of our favourite new DIY projects! Sure, you might buy some of the base structures for your mud room, but the beauty of how they help your home is in the way you customize them.
Check out these 15 awesome mud room designs that will have your foyer, garage, or back door nook fancy and functional all at once, despite the messy sounding name.
1. Painted locker shoe racks
Have you ever been to a school sale at the end of the semester or encountered a garage sale where school furniture is being sold after renovations? Then you already know that lockers aren’t expensive or hard to come by secondhand! We didn’t realize how simple they were to come by at first, but the idea of having them in our mud room to keep things organized in a themed, kitschy way is one of the greatest things we’ve read about in a while! Check out how Apartment Therapy gave their secondhand lockers a new coat of paint and made them into shoe racks.
2. PVC pipe shoe organizers
Speaking of shoe racks, do you love the idea of keeping all of your footwear organized but you don’t have the space to put an entire set of lockers in your front hallway? Then try building yourself an easy, affordable shoe rack instead! We quite enjoy this contemporary circular one that Home Stories A to Z built from short cut pieces of PVC pipe stacked together.
3. Wooden board coat hooks
Perhaps your mud room is actually quite organized and doing well but you’re just looking for a few finishing touches to really take it to the next level? Then easy coat racks that make people’s most used garments easy to hang up and grab as they run out the door are a great addition! We love this simple wooden board and hook design from A Beautiful Mess, especially in combination with a complementary board above that has lovely family pictures hanging above each coat hook.
4. Ultimate DIY mudroom bench
Is your mud “room” more of an unfilled spaced that really doesn’t offer a lot of opportunity for storage at all? Then start from the ground up and get a little handy to solve the problem! Honeybear Lane shows you how they built their own DIY bench with useful basket storage underneath and a high back that barely takes up any room but has built in coat hooks do you don’t have to put holes in your actual wall.
5. Chalkboard drawers entry dresser
Are you lacking furniture and storage in your mud room or entry way but you do happen to have a spare dresser laying around that you’re considering getting rid of? Don’t take it to the curb just yet! Instead, give it a cute coloured coat of paint, add a chalkboard patch to each drawer, and label them with family member’s names or whatever you decide to put in each drawer. It’ll provide good storage and give you another tabletop for decor and key setting all at once! Check the whole idea out on DIY Network.
6. Entryway comfort corner
Is your entryway very small, giving you only a single little corner to work with when it comes to building a mud “room”? Don’t worry, that’s a space you can still totally work with! Modern Jane suggests building a bench with storage cubbies underneath the seat and hanging combination coat hook rows and decor shelves right above that, giving you multifaceted storage that still looks stylish.
7. Double hooks stand
In your house, do you have tall people and kid-sized people all reaching to hang their coats at once at the end of the day? Then stagger the hooks so everyone can reach whatever they need! Put high up hooks inside a stand for adult coats and lower hooks halfway down for kid coats, and then think about adding some cubby or basket storage at the bottom just like It’s The Little Things That Make a House a Home did here.
8. Garden lattice hanging station
Have you spent years carefully building a comfortable cottage style aesthetic throughout your home and you’d really like to have your mud room stay consistent with that when you give it a makeover? Then this adorable garden lattice hanger idea is perfect for you! Redbook guides you through the process of pairing it with a cubby bench and setting up hooks all up and down the length of the lattice for hanging outdoor garments and supplies of all kinds.
9. Bench and hooks made from pallets
Do you love the idea of building your own all encompassing mud room bench structure like you’ve seen here in a few configurations but your home’s aesthetic is a lot more rustic chic than what we’ve shown you so far? The try making yourself an alternative version that looks a little more stylishly weathered. 101 Pallets shows you how to do it using- you guessed it- pallets!
10. Space saving shelf and hooks
Maybe you don’t really have room in your entry hallway for a whle bench and structure but you could still benefit from some compact hooks and a few shelves? Then try a setup just like this wall hanging one from Worthington Court! We love the idea of accompanying the shelf with a basket underneath and out of the way to keep outdoor clutter contained.
11. Name tagged garage “lockers”
Did you really like the idea of the first locker design because your kids are very active and each one could, frankly, use a locked of their own for the sports gear they leave all over the garage, but you don’t really have access to secondhand lockers right now? Then build your own tall wooden cubbies that look like vintage hockey room lockers, complete with a bench for your “team” to sit on while they gear up! See how it’s done on East Coast Creative.
12. Faux finished wood bench and storage
Perhaps you’re handy enough with building basic structures that you don’t think you’ll have any issues making a bench and shelf structure itself, but you’re feeling picky about how the structure is finished? We really lovely natural wood grains but the pieces we like the best are often the most expensive ones. Instead of breaking the bank, try creating a faux finish on some cheaper particle board material, just like Wild Ruffle did here.
13. Stacked crates mudroom storage
Have we ever told you in our posts how much we simply adore crates? Whether you’re using them for decor or practical storage, crates are an incredibly useful thing when it comes to household DIY. Of course, that means they have to be included on our mud room list! Home Edit shows you one of our favourite ideas so far- painted crates tilted sideways and mounted in a cluster across the wall to become convenient storage shelves that won’t take up a lot of room in your front hallway.
14. Mudroom under the stairs
Are you in desperate need of a mud room style space but you’re really so strapped for space that adding structures beyond perhaps a conservative bench is our of the question? Then it’s time to get more creative and make some space! Small Place Style teaches you how to harness the space underneath your main staircase to create a perfect shelving spot for coats and other things you’ll need around the door when you leave the house.
15. Mudroom in a closet
Do you have limited space near the main door that your family uses in the house but you also have a well-sized closet that you might feasibly clear out? Then transform that into an actual mud room all of its own! We love the way Make It, Love It used some shelving that was already available to keep things easy but added a bench and additional storage to really take advantage of the space.
Do you know someone who has been talking about building or remaking their mud room for months now but has been having trouble deciding on what to do with it? Share this post with them for a little bit of design inspiration!