Best DIY Mudroom Ideas for Small Spaces

Looking for diy mudroom ideas for small spaces?

Does the small space you call your mudroom area always feel like a disaster, and you wish you had more storage and a place to put everything?

I’m going out on a limb and bet you wish you had more storage space in your mudroom, yes? I mean, between the sports equipment, pet supplies, muddy boots, backpacks, jackets, ah!

If you’re dreaming of a functional mudroom but need ideas on how to make a smaller space work, then I have some great ideas for you.

Just a friendly reminder: This tutorial and any opinions or recommendations are genuinely mine, but this is not a substitute for consulting a professional. I also use affiliate links to earn a commission.

diy mudroom ideas for small spaces // www.tantrumsandtools.com

Our Mudroom Remodel

We have a large family, there are six of us total, and when we all moved in together, we faced a huge challenge: our mini mudroom. It might as well not have existed because it consisted of a narrow hallway and a closet.

We lasted only a few months before I had to do something; I needed a functional mudroom before I lost it! It was a challenge considering our tiny space and tiny budget, but we totally pulled it off.

Why don’t you see for yourself how it turned out?

Here are the small mudroom ideas I used to transform our problem area into an organized, functional, and pretty little mudroom.

DIY Mudroom Design Ideas

A good project should start with a plan, right? I find my projects work out best if I have an idea of the end design before I start any actual work. It’s like having that bird’s eye view before diving in headfirst.

For our mudroom remodel, I started with a small room (if you can even call it a room) that consisted of a coat closet and a washer and dryer. The good news was that the closet was oversized, and I figured if we removed the doors, it would be the perfect spot to create an actual mudroom.

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Given that our mudroom serves double duty as our laundry room, I needed to be extra mindful and use the limited space wisely. I knew I needed to incorporate as many wall hooks as possible, find a place for shoe storage to free up some floor space, and add as much storage as possible to keep our winter gear and school stuff organized.

To add to the challenge, since we don’t use our front door, we use the garage entrance; I wanted the space also to be pretty.

No biggy, right? Not too much to ask; I needed this space to be a great place to walk into daily. I no longer wanted to see the mess the second I got home from work each day!

Mudroom Bench Ideas

Is it even a mudroom if you don’t have at least a small bench? We desperately need a seating area to help the kids get their shoes on and a place to hide our dirty shoes.

We did not do a storage bench because I was worried about little fingers being pinched, and I could hear all the fights over someone trying to get something out of the bench while someone else was sitting on the bench. No thanks, all set with that fiasco!

Instead, we made a DIY built-in bench out of a butcher block. We hung it using wooden supports that we cut from wood scraps, and I stained it using a medium-colored wood stain. The trick was using a wood conditioner before applying the stain because this majorly cuts down on the stain’s blotchiness.

Now that we had the bench, I found plastic floor mats that perfectly fit underneath. Although the bench only partially hides the shoes, they are no longer not the first thing I see when I walk in.

Now, I notice the gorgeous bench. Also, the floor mats give a reminder to the kids on where to put their boots. Finally! No more shoes scattered across the floor!

Mudroom Coat Hooks

Gone are the days of those coat racks that never stayed upright. I’m obsessed with hooks. I love how you can put a whole bunch of different stuff on one hook, particularly if you get ones with more than one prong.

I’m a big fan of the double hook. These are perfect for a jacket, backpack, bag of miscellaneous stuff, and hat.

I also love that it makes it easy for the kids since they each have a dedicated space. They know whose hook is whose, which means they can help put their stuff away. It also makes it so much easier to find things in the morning when I’m running around trying to get everyone out the door.

Having hooks in the mudroom is a must in my book, but I learned that their placement (and spacing) is crucial.

I recommend tucking them into a spot where you don’t have to look at all the clutter unless you are in the entry space. It worked out well with this mudroom makeover since the spot where the hooks needed to go was on the wall that did not face out into the main living area.

Another way to make the hooks area look more organized is to use mudroom lockers. I toyed with this idea for our small mudroom but ultimately did not do it since I was worried about little fingers getting pinched in the doors.

Also, our kids have a terrible habit of not closing doors, so that would have just been another thing to stay on top of them about.

Mudroom Wall Decor

laundry room wall decor // free printable // www.tantrumsandtools.com

Since our mudroom and laundry area is a two-for-one deal, I designed a set of modern farmhouse laundry room printables to address the empty wall space next to our barn door. This DIY wall decor is easy and super affordable, especially for how large these prints are!

Here are the details on how to do this easy DIY Wall Art:

Snag your free printable wall art here.
Upload them to the print shop of your choosing (I used CVS because they had a 60% off coupon running at the time).
Grab a set of frames, and voila!

Mudroom Extra Storage

I’m almost convinced storage space will be an issue even if you don’t have a small mudroom. There is so much stuff to keep organized when you have six active people living in one house.

One solution to this problem is storage baskets- one for each person. Or, in our case, one for each child because I couldn’t fit enough for the adults, but this wasn’t a huge deal since we have less gear that we use daily.

We added open shelving using black brackets from Amazon to hold our baskets, and viola! Instant space to put baskets to store all the smaller items.

Wicker baskets would have also looked good in the space, they add a beautiful texture and color, but I was worried the kids might quickly ruin them with wet and dirty gear. The fabric baskets I went with were easier to clean, and I liked the warmth the colors brought to the room.

Mudroom Cabinets

Another way I added storage to our small mudroom was by strategically placing built-in cabinets. We needed a designated space for laundry detergents, oversized pots, small kitchen appliances, dry goods, extra paper towels, and cleaning supplies.

Since we removed the coat closet, we also lost the space where we once stored most of this stuff. With the help of my dad, we built an entirely new closet space across from the washer and dryer, and we did so by bumping into the garage space behind that wall.

Adding a barn door to cover this new storage closet was the icing on the cake. It’s like the jewelry in the room; the absolute perfect finishing touch.

Other cabinets we added in the mudroom were small shaker-style cabinets above the floating shelf and to the side of the washer and dryer. Since we only have nine-foot ceilings, I had to push the cabinets to the ceiling to be able to also get in the basket shelf and hook, but it all fits, and the added hidden storage that the cabinets provide was worth all the finagling.

Even though I have to go on my very tippy toes to open them, these cabinets offer a designated space for our various items floating around on any given day.

Making these cabinets even more perfect are the knobs and pulls – the jewelry to the cabinets! But selecting the perfect ones took a little thought, and I had to take my own advice to get it just right. Check out my post on selecting the right size pulls for cabinets.