Making a Mudroom

By: Leslie Plummer Clagett (Page 5 of 5)

Serving many purposes, this mudroom is both an in-between area joining outdoors and indoors and a hub tying together the living room, powder room, stairs, front entry and porch.

Even a cramped entry hall can benefit from basic storage ideas. In this backdoor entry, a tall, narrow bookcase makes the most of vertical space. Two tiers of clothing pegs double the hanging capacity of the wall.

Durable floors of textured tile or stone stand up to all sorts of foot traffic.

A slate boot tray from Vermont Natural Stoneworks ($50 to $110) is a handy landing spot for muddy shoes.

A heating vent does double duty in this window seat, which conceals a slatted shelf that's just right for drying wet socks and gloves out of sight.

This front entry extends a warm welcome while providing such basics as comfortable seating, cap and coat hooks, a fiber doormat and a stash basket. Stylish and sturdy wainscoting reaches midway up the walls.

Self-stick hooks and hangers with reusable adhesive backing, like these Command adhesive items from 3M ($2.99 to $3.99), can be placed at child-friendly heights and repositioned as the kids grow, without leaving sticky residue or a trail of nail holes in the wall.

Standard kitchen cabinets can be imaginatively combined to suit your storage needs: A row of spice drawers from Merillat tops a bank of open cubbies.

A hard-working window seat is assembled from short cupboard units. The top row of cabinetry is made up of regular wall units installed sideways so their doors open upward and out of the way.