A “mudroom” or “mud room” is, as the name implies, a small room or area that serves as a barrier between the dirty outdoors and the nice, clean indoors. Mud rooms are obviously useful in areas where inclement weather is common; but even in milder climates you still need a place to put your boots, shoes and coats without cluttering your closets and cabinets.
Most homes merely have a front and back porch separating the “outdoors” from the indoors. That may be enough in milder climates, but when snow and rain is a common factor you might need something more than just a porch cluttered with wet and muddy boots; which doesn’t really add to the charm or efficiency of your home.
That’s where a small, specialized “mudroom” can be a useful addition, a boundary between the great outdoors and your clean comfortable “indoors”.
So what makes a “mud room”? Generally, a mud room is a small addition that separates the back door from the main house. It features easily cleaned flooring and sometimes a drain in the floor, hooks racks and shelves wet clothing and benches for people to sit on while removing boots and shoes. Much better that tramping into the kitchen or removing coats and boots outside in the rain and snow.
Mudrooms could be an addition to the back of the home or a room in the attached garage, which can also hold the washer/dryer thus doubling as a laundry room and saving space in other areas of the home.
Adding a mud room is not a major construction or financial effort, but can certainly fit into any larger remodeling effort. And it doesn’t have to “look like a closet” either. A professional renovator like Houseworks Unlimited can make a mud room to be as useful, convenient and attractive as the kitchen or bathroom.