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Leave the Mess in the Mudroom
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The Pennsylvania bluestone that was used for the walkway is carried through a glass door into the mudroom and laundry area. Wiedemann, the architect, liked that because it gave continuity from outdoors to indoors. Nancy Gross likes it because it hides dirt. "It's really impervious to anything," she said. "You can barely even see that it's dirty."
After using the space for 2 1/2 years, Gross has found that she would like more hooks on the walls and, especially, more shoe cubbies. "As far as I'm concerned, there's no limit to the number of shoe cubbies you need. We don't wear shoes in the house," she said.
If you're doing a whole-house construction project, as the Gross family did, it's easy to plan a space that will serve as the mudroom and customize it to serve your needs. The Gross family, for example, has no need for an area where they can take care of pets. For other households, that may be a key function. Some mudrooms include a low-mounted faucet and a shower pan built into the floor, which handles dog-washing or boot-rinsing. And people often dedicate a spot in the mudroom for pet food bowls and those big sacks of kibble that fill them.
A mudroom doesn't even need to be a room at all. "A mudroom can just be a room or a hallway off the garage or off the most-used entryway," said Ronda Royalty, a certified kitchen and bath designer with Stuart Kitchens in Timonium. "It can be as simple as hooks on the wall for the dog leash."
A few pieces of furniture could even do the job, if you can find a space.
L.L. Bean, the outdoors retailer based in Maine, where spring is commonly referred to as "mud season," even has a Web page devoted to mudroom furniture. A Mission-style bench with baskets for mittens or shoes sells for $299, and you can pair it with a matching shelf with coat hooks for another $169. It also sells a tall, painted wood locker for $329. The items are available only through the catalogue; they're not stocked in Bean's retail stores.
The goal of the mudroom, especially in this area where your shoes are more likely to track in spent azalea petals than honest-to-goodness mud, is to quarantine all the clutter that comes into your home. Find a way to do that, and you've found a little spot of heaven.
E-mail Elizabeth Razzi atrazzie@washpost.com.
