Mud Room Make Over

One of the areas in our home that gets the most traffic is our mud room. Well, actually, our mud room is a space in our laundry room. This is where the kids keep their backpacks, coats, and shoes they wear on a daily basis. It is also the spot where we corral papers, mail, and other items we need to keep.

As you can see by the “before” pictures, it had gotten out of hand!

 

 

The “before” pictures were taken in May just before school got out for the summer. I’m sad to say that our mud room area has looked pretty much like those pictures until this past Friday. (We did get the coats put away before summer! :))

I had intentions of getting this space cleaned up over the summer so we would be ready to start school with a clean space. However, I never seemed to find the time or energy to do the job.

Finally, this past Friday, I got to work sorting through the miscellaneous items that were on the floor and on the countertop around the sink. With the kids help, I was able to get things back in order fairly quickly.

I found that I was one of the culprits for keeping this space so messy. I uncovered several tote bags that have been underneath all of the other stuff for at least a year. I even found one of our forks in a bag! 🙂

When I set up this space three years ago, my intention was to have the kids hang their backpacks and coats on hooks that my husband installed on the wall. I discovered during my cleaning session that my son’s hook was severely bent. And my daughter’s has pulled away from the wall over the years. So, now I’m letting them place their backpacks on the bench and am using the hooks for coats, jackets, and my tote bags.

The wall pocket system had also gotten out of control. We did manage to go through all the papers over the summer, so that area has looked pretty organized for awhile.

Don’t you think it all looks so much better?

Click here for more information on the products I used to organize this space.

Do you have a small space like this you need to get organized? Here are my tips for getting started:

• Take everything out of the space. Removing all items from the space will help you get a sense of how much room you actually have to work with.
• Clean up the space. Dust, vacuum, and/or mop the area before you start placing items back.
• Go through the items you took out. Place them in one of three categories: keep in space, put in another place, or throw them away/donate.
• Determine if you need any organizational supplies to make the space work better. This is the time to take into account what is going back into the space and how you are going to store the items.
• Put everything back in its rightful place.
• Enjoy your newly organized space!