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Creating a “Mudroom” In Our Garage

December 30, 2015 30 Comments

A long time ago, I decided the only way I could save my sanity was to completely ignore the state or our garage (in this house or any other). I’ve been known to open the door and just throw whatever is offending me at the moment into the great, dark abyss. Add five kids’ worth of riding toys, my husband’s stuff and my project/paint supplies. . . It was nothing to behold—and time for some professional help.

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, this house has no drop-zone, so everything was landing in a pile in our kitchen floor. When I first talked to Jennifer of Pure & Simple Organizing about helping us, I told her I was hoping to make better use of this wall by the garage door. In a day, she helped me transform this area into a makeshift mudroom:

garage_mudroom

No more coats, backpacks or shoes in the kitchen. Hallelujah!

garage_mudroom_ideas

Before she came over, I sent her pictures and we did a phone consultation. She emailed me a shopping list for supplies, most of which I was able to knock out in one IKEA trip. The main things I bought for the update were bins for shoes, a bench seat/shelf and hooks for coats. (I bought the board to hang them on from the home improvement store and painted it white.) I was also able to use a vintage grocery store sign that I’ve had in my stash for a while. You know, just for decoration. . .

garage_mudroom_hooks

By the way, I love these Hemnes hooks from IKEA. So much sturdier than what I’ve previously used for coats:

IKEA_coat_hooks

I used chalkboard paint on the area under the hooks. I just didn’t tell the kids yet. . . I thought it might be a fun place for them to play school in the summer.

chalkboard

 

Jennifer also helped me organize our big IKEA bookcase better, so that we could actually find what we needed. To say that we weren’t using our space wisely is an understatement. I was embarrassed when she found a glass jar full of old TV remotes (really?!). She was great at helping me get rid of the excess quickly. Once she was done with the shelves, I had leftover space for extra household supplies and can now easily find any one of our 174 screwdrivers that we didn’t know we had.

garage_shelves (The galvanized bins are from here.)

So, the big question: Is the newly organized space actually working for us? Amazingly, yes! Now, I won’t promise that it’s always the kids who are actually hanging up their backpacks and coats, but there is a space for everything (even if I’m the one who has to put it there). It has also 95% improved our (never-ending) search for lost shoes.

shoe_organization

mudroom_organization

As for all of the riding toys, they’re still there, but we were able to group them in the center of the garage once all of the other stuff was put away. The kids have been using the big circle as a skating rink. #cheapentertainment

 

During our day together, I picked Jennifer’s brain for her best organizing advice:

organizing_tips

Make a decision, and never touch an item more than twice. This might be where she helped me most. She wouldn’t let me move something over to another spot to “deal with it later.” I had to make a decision right then and there, and do something about it. This was great because there were no small jobs still hanging over my head once the main project was finished.

Buy your organizing bins/baskets/supplies after you start organizing. She said a lot of people (ahem, “me”) start their organizing projects by going to the store and buying a lot of storage they may not even need. Instead, they often lose motivation after the buying trip and end up just stacking the bins and baskets away for another day. . . (Been there, done that.)

organizing_bins

Buy your organizing bins at stores that carry the same inventory most of the time. She suggests sticking with The Home Depot or Lowe’s instead of stores like Target that change up their products more seasonally or with changing trends. This makes it easier to go back months down the road, if you need more.

Label everything—so there’s no excuse for not knowing where something goes.

Organization means organized—not (necessarily) pretty. Jennifer had to remind me of this several times throughout the day. I would be worrying about how everything looked instead of how it would function. She would tell me, “It’s the garage, and it’s suppose to look like one.” :)

 

IMG_3047

Poor girl also tackled my spray paint cabinet. Bless her.

Charlotte friends, if you need any kind of organizing help, I highly recommend Jennifer. We initially met through our blogs, and I was a little apprehensive about showing her our mess. But, she is honestly so down-to-earth and unintimidating. Messes don’t phase her; in fact, I think they kind of excite her. . . Also, in case you’re wondering about pricing, she charges by the hour, and you choose how long you want the session to last (minimum of two, maximum of six). Additionally, she also offers trash removal, donation drop-off and organizing supply shopping services. (Oh, and she also runs an estate sale company. Busy girl!)

Here’s to staying organized in 2016! Any projects on your list for the new year?

PS—I’ll be posting links to some of my favorite 2015 posts over on Facebook today and tomorrow.


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Filed Under: organization, our home Tagged With: organizing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julianne says

    December 30, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    It looks great! I have been wanting to do the same thing in my garage for years. Looks like I will be adding some more items to my IKEA trip later today.

    Reply
  2. Cheryl says

    December 30, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    Jennifer is an organization ninja! My garage is my new happy place (well…close). Looks like yours is functioning well too! She’s equally as talented in the business organization realm. Don’t know what I’d do without her.

    Reply
  3. Mary says

    December 30, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    It looks great! I’m pretty good about keeping things organized in the house. But our garage looks like your “before”. My husband has claimed this as his space & I was told to leave his things alone. He’s horrible at organizing, putting things away when he’s done with them, or cleaning up.
    Al least I can get my car inside.

    Reply
  4. Julie Blanner says

    December 30, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    I love it, Emily! I am a firm believer that an organized life starts before or as soon as you enter your home. Congratulations on getting your kitchen back!
    We are fortunate to have a small space for a mudroom, but desperately need help organizing cleaning and landscaping supplies as well as toys. It’s a hot mess! I look forward to implementing ours in the spring when I can stand to be in the garage for more than 3 minutes.

    Reply
  5. Lisa H. says

    December 30, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    I love making order from chaos! It looks like she did a great job making your garage more functional! ;)

    Reply
  6. Brenda A. says

    December 30, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    Can your little ones reach the hooks?

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      December 30, 2015 at 5:50 pm

      The three biggest can. The twins will get there, but they don’t make much of an effort to hang anything, anyway, right now :) I was afraid if I hung them any lower that they wouldn’t be able to use the bench very well. . .

      Reply
      • Brenda A. says

        January 4, 2016 at 4:02 pm

        Got it. Thanks for responding!

        Reply
  7. Whitney Shortt says

    December 30, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    Love those hooks and yellow bins! Quite the transformation!

    Reply
  8. Jamie says

    December 30, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    This is how we do shoes and backpacks too. It is very helpful to have shoes by the door. I actually keep the kids socks there as well. I’m horribly unorganized, but at least we can usually find shoes!!!

    Reply
  9. Jennifer @ Dimples and Tangles says

    December 31, 2015 at 1:19 am

    You have inspired me to tackle our garage once and for all… maybe this is the year?!? Our poor new neighbors that have to see it every time the door is open… Yours looks fabulous (even if it IS just the garage!) and I got some great ideas for where to start on ours!

    Reply
  10. Laura Ferry-Jimenez says

    December 31, 2015 at 8:10 am

    Love it! We recently moved to a new house that has a decent sized laundry room you walk into from the garage. My thought was always to make that the mud room but I’m really liking this idea, too! Quick question. Are you parking your cars in the garage? I think once my car is in the garage, this idea may not work! Boo!! :(

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      December 31, 2015 at 12:05 pm

      Our goal is to park one on the other side when it gets really cold :)

      Reply
  11. Brianne says

    December 31, 2015 at 8:32 am

    It looks fantastic!! Where did you get the rug?

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      December 31, 2015 at 12:04 pm

      Ballard Designs.

      Reply
  12. Jenn @ Loveland Lodge says

    December 31, 2015 at 9:58 am

    This looks amazing! We don’t have a drop zone either and it’s amazing what a difference having one makes in terms of clutter and feeling less stress. Looks like this one will get great use!

    Reply
  13. Lisa says

    December 31, 2015 at 11:36 am

    Love this! Where did you get your rug? ?

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      December 31, 2015 at 12:04 pm

      It was a runner from Ballard Designs that I had in our kitchen a while back.

      Reply
  14. Chelsey says

    December 31, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    Do you know the names of the ikea products. I’m most interested in the bench. Is that one if the expedit line? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      December 31, 2015 at 2:43 pm

      Yes, but it’s now called the Kallax.

      Reply
  15. Kathryn says

    January 1, 2016 at 4:36 pm

    This looks so great and functional. Your kids will love having their own little space :-)

    I want to give a decorating book for a wedding gift. Can you recommend one that would be good for a beginner? With some basic information and inspiration?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      January 2, 2016 at 7:24 pm

      Hi Kathryn, My top three coffee table books are ones by fellow bloggers that I think would be perfect for new home owners: The Inspired Home, Elements of Style and The Nesting Place. All are good and inspiring in their own ways–depending on their personal style.

      Reply
  16. Maggie @ Maggie Overby Studios says

    January 3, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    I had to laugh about the organization not necessarily being pretty but rather functional. I am definitely one to choose form over function. I was just thinking today of ways to make the space in my mud room more functional, I’ll have to take some of Jennifer’s pointers

    Reply
  17. Michelle @ Ten June says

    January 4, 2016 at 12:15 pm

    It looks great! Let us know if you tackle the pile in the middle of the garage aka kid crazy toy zone. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to wrangle that mess in my garage!!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      January 4, 2016 at 12:33 pm

      I have resolved that there is no hope. . .

      Reply
  18. Amy D says

    December 11, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    Hi emily! I’m wondering if you still have the same garage mushroom set-up or if you have built something else. I’m going to do something in my garage for our family of 6, and looking for ideas. What worked about this set-up? What would you change (or have you changed)? Thanks!

    Reply
  19. Amanda at MommyHighFive says

    April 20, 2017 at 5:03 pm

    This is fantastic. We have a mudroom inside and I’m planning on doing a mudroom locker esque area in the garage as well. We just have too much stuff. Love how you planned this out.

    Reply
  20. Sarah says

    August 2, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    Hi Emily,

    This is beautiful, congrats on taking this on! It looks based on your coats that you are in a cold climate. I am considering a garage “mudroom” and wondering how to keep the coats from being freezing cold in the winter. Any suggestions or tips that you use?

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
  21. Sarah says

    March 30, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    This looks great! We want to do something just like this in our garage. Do your kids complain about the coats and shoes being too cold during the winter?
    Thanks!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Sunday Links - Domestic Charm says:
    January 3, 2016 at 10:15 am

    […] your resolution to get organized in 2016?  Well, Emily Clark partnered with my friend Jennifer from Pure and Simple Carolinas to turn her garage into a super […]

    Reply

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