A mudroom serves as a transitional space to drop off shoes, jackets, and luggage before going into the rest of the home. As the name might imply, a mudroom can be handy when lots of guests, kids, and pets are constantly coming in and out of the home, trailing in dirt, mud, and everything else that comes with being out in the elements. Since not every home has a built-in mudroom, some people have taken to building their own, but there are some things to know before you start.

If you are considering adding a mudroom to your home, you’ll want to think about your home’s style, and where it will go. Otherwise, you’re likely to make two of the most common mistakes when building a mudroom: mismatching from the rest of the house and giving up crucial storage space. Here’s how to make sure your mudroom helps transform your space for the better, rather than creating problems for your home.

Just because your mudroom is a late addition doesn’t mean it can’t blend in with the design style of your space. If your mudroom relies too much on trends, or looks substantially more modern than the rest of your home, it might feel a bit haphazard and jumbled. At the same time, bland neutrals are wall colors you may want to avoid when painting your mudroom because they feel sterile and lack personality. Most likely, people will be entering the mudroom before they enter any other area in the house, so you’ll want your mudroom to feel like a warm introduction to the rest of the home. 

The whole point of a mudroom is to add functionality to your home. However, some homeowners may be tempted to repurpose a closet into a DIY mudroom. For example, one common renovation is to turn a hallway closet to be a mudroom. The closet already offered a lot of crucial hidden storage that the mudroom is now taking up. Though a mudroom does offer some storage solutions, it may have made more sense to maximize the closet space, rather than gut it to create an aesthetically pleasing room with less storage overall.

When designing a mudroom, think of the decor and themes from the rest of your home that you can seamlessly weave into the design. One way you can do this is with color. Utilize a color scheme you have throughout your home or bring in a bold new color that complements these hues. If your home is older, try to maintain a classic style in your mudroom, rather than incorporating too many modern and contemporary elements. 

To avoid trading one home problem for another, make sure that the space where you want to build your mudroom wouldn’t be better as something else or can coexist alongside the mudroom. A bench or shelf is excellent for drop-and-go storage, but minimizing visual clutter is also important. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets can be a good compromise when converting closets into mudrooms. Consider combining your mudroom with another functional space. A good example of this is a laundry room. It’s easy to bring the elements of a mudroom into a laundry room without taking away from the purpose of either room. If you have extra space in the garage, that’s another ideal place for a mudroom. Just make sure the mudroom is by an entrance, so people don’t have to track dirt through the rest of the house to get to it.