7 functional and aesthetic mudroom wall ideas

Mudroom is all about functionality. However, it doesn’t mean it cannot be beautiful while being functional. After all, it is one of the first places you and your guests see when they enter the house. You also want your mudroom to be tidy and clean so it needs lots of convenient storage and easy-to-clean wall and floor solutions. Keep reading to learn more!

Built-In Shelving Systems

The mudroom is all about storage and built-in shelves are a great solution for custom storage just for your place. Mudrooms or entryways often are quite small and narrow spaces, sometimes oddly shaped, so custom shelving can truly be a lifesaver to have storage in the mudroom.

How to choose a built-in shelving system for your needs

When you are looking for a custom shelving system, start by assessing your needs. How do you use the mudroom? What items do you need to store there? Start with these questions:

• How big is your family? That way you will know how many people the mudroom has to serve. For example, if you are a family of 4 and everyone has at least two winter jackets, it means the mudroom at all times has to store at least 8 puffy jackets. It might not sound a lot on paper but in reality, it can take up quite a lot of space.
• How many jackets does everyone in your family on average have? This ties in with the previous question to asses what you will need to store.
• How many shoes does your family have on average? You need to take into account how many shoes will need storage, so they are not lying in a pile on the floor.
• Do you have pets? If you have a dog, will you store its items in the mudroom as well? Think leash, poop bags, toys for outside, and coats.
• Do you have small children? If they use a stroller, will it be stored in the mudroom?

Tips for built-in shelving system in the mudroom

The mudroom is one of the places in the house that tends to get messy fast. It’s because it is usually a quite small space that is used by everyone in the house. And it needs to store quite a lot of items. Here are some tips on how to choose shelves for a mudroom:

• Take into account all the seasons. When thinking of storage for a mudroom, remember about all the seasons (if that applies to you). For example, if you are decorating in summer, make sure there is plenty of space for winter items as well.
• Closed shelves. When possible, incorporate closed shelves. It will give your mudroom a clean look that will hide the mess if that arises.
• Leave a space for growth. Sometimes it is just hard to predict everything, so make sure you plan in some extra storage and cubbies, even if you don’t have a plan for what to put there yet.

Cubbies and Lockers

It might sound too much like school but it could be a good idea if you have children. Benefits of having assigned cubbies or lockers for every family member:

• Closed doors. If it’s a locker, it will have closed doors, and that will keep the mudroom looking clean.
• Everyone can take responsibility. With an assigned locker or cubby, everyone can take accountability for their little mudroom corner.
• No fighting over the best spot. Everyone will have their assigned storage, so there will be no jacket on jacket and fighting who put what where.

Aside from practical implications, cubbies and lockers can serve as cute decorative pieces as well. For example, lockers can be in different colors or have patterned wallpaper. To make cubbies feel more personal, you can add wallpaper to the back wall of the cubby. It’s your mudroom and you can decorate it how you like!

Pegboards

A good solution for a mudroom can be a wall that’s transformable as the seasons go by and children grow up. A pegboard is a perforated panel where you can add hooks and shelves and change their locations according to what items you need to store.

What can you add to the pegboard?

Pegboard can accommodate a lot of different storage solutions from shelves and hooks to boxes and baskets. Depending on your needs you can use pegboard to store small items as well as big and heavy ones.

A pegboard for smaller items could contain a hook for a dog leash, a basket for accessories, and a shelf for keys.

A pegboard for bigger and heavier items might include storage for a bike, jackets, and bags.

Hooks

A mudroom will always benefit from hooks. Add hooks everywhere (within reason) where there is space. Hooks can be useful not only for hanging jackets and handbags or backpacks, but they can also serve for holding temporary items, like a grocery tote while you are taking your shoes off or a bag of stuff you are going to donate but need a place to store for a while.

Hooks can also be useful in situations where the item count you need to store in the mudroom grows, for example, an extra hook for a jacket for guests or your new bag. Hooks can also be used to hang seasonal decorations. So, be wise and add lots of hooks to your mudroom!

Wallpaper for mudroom

Wallpaper in mudroom is not a necessity but it can be very useful and practical, not only look cute. Some of the reasons why use wallpaper for mudroom:

• The right wallpaper will hide the usage signs of the room. Choose bold, busy prints and darker colors.
• It makes the mudroom feel connected to the rest of the house.
• Wallpaper makes a room have a welcoming aura and that is perfect for the first place you see when entering a house.

When choosing wallpaper for the mudroom, make sure it is peel and stick. Peel and stick wallpapers are made from durable materials that are usually easy to clean. Traditional wallpaper is made from paper, and it will be much harder to clean and keep fresh.

Excited about mudroom wallpaper? Check out these options:

• Poppy Field. This wallpaper will bring some color to the mudroom and make it look bright and fun.
• Vintage Flowers. These flowers are perfect for hiding some little scratches and usage signs. No one will see a thing!
• Band of Cats. Are you a fan of cats or animals in general? This is the perrrfect wallpaper for your mudroom then!
• Midnight Tale. The dark tones will perfectly hide wall imperfections, but the green will remind of the outdoors.
• Gatsby party. Black with gold will give your mudroom a luxurious vibe.
• Branch in Gold. Dark colors mixed with gold elements and splashes of white and green. The perfect amount of color and dark to create a beautiful wall in your mudroom.

Chalkboard or Whiteboard Walls

Mudroom is the transition area from outdoor to indoors, and from indoors to outdoors. A chalkboard or whiteboard on the wall can be a useful addition to add notes, greetings, and lists.

To create a chalkboard you can use chalkboard paint and paint a wall or a part of a wall, or hang an already made chalkboard. To integrate the chalkboard black into the mudroom, make sure there are some other details in dark colors – nobs, wallpaper, hooks, etc. It will tie the look together.

If you go the whiteboard route, there are some options as well. There are several designs you can choose from in shops or you can use white acrylic glass to have a seethrough whiteboard. Just make sure the back of the seethrough whiteboard is solid color, so you can see well what’s written.

Gallery Wall Display

Moving on to decorating mudroom walls, a gallery wall display is a fun and personal idea. Use the extra space to display some photos of your family and any other artwork you find cute. It’s gonna add a personal touch to this functional room.

Other mud-room necessities

Since the mudroom is a transitioning area, it is a room that doesn’t have a lot of furniture and is more concentrated on storage. To keep a mudroom functional and tidy, here are some things that don’t go on the wall but can be useful in the mudroom.

Bare floor

Keep the floors bare! Forget about carpets and rugs. It is in your interest to get this room clean very fast. That also means, choosing a floor that is easy to tidy up. It can be tile or good-quality vinyl flooring. It is the place where people and animals will be coming in from outside – whether it is sunny, rainy, or snowing.

Bench

A bench is a must-have in the mudroom. You just want a place to sit when you are putting on your shoes. It needs to be stable and preferably seat more than one person. It can also double as storage! It's a great way how to get two birds with one stone.

Sink (if possible)

A sink in the mudroom is not a necessity, but if you can get it in, it can be very useful. You can wash down some dirt from shoes right away, or if the sink is big enough, bathe your pet right there before they step into the house. You can also use the sink to wash your hands before you enter your house.

In conclusion

Firstly the mudroom is a functional room, but secondly, it is the first area that greets you and your guest when you enter the house. So you want it to marry practicality with coziness. To achieve that, think of good storage solutions, closed cabinets, and practical floors and pair them with nice wallpaper, wall decors, and personal elements.