Width and depth for mudroom cubbies?

15 years ago

What do you think is the "right" size width and depth for mudroom cubbies? Does 18 inches by 18 inches sound right? Too narrow? What are your dimensions? Also, if you have pictures of your cubbies, I'd love to see their configuration. Not sure how we should arrange the shelves on the bottom and top.

Thanks!

Featured Answer

mommyto4boys

15 years ago

I'll try to get a picture later. Mudroom cubbies is one of the smartest things we did in our new home. We have six and they are 24" wide and about 20 deep. I'll explain ours from the foor up, we have 6 total and each has...first each has a shoe/boot area, then a nice big drawer for gloves, papers etc., over the top of the drawer then is the bench area. The area above each bench is the tallest, 3 ft or so, this area has 3 hooks in each cubby for coats, backpacks and sweaters. Above the "hook" area we have a 6" high door on each that flips up. This area houses keys, cell phones and "whatevers" for the kids. We put an outlet inside each of these & we charge cell phones etc. Then finally above that is an open compartment that I placed a sorage basket in each and off season had hats etc in there. Amazing how a space 12' X 20' has organized our life and keeps the kitchen etc free of clutter.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (24)

crescent50
15 years ago
mommyto4boys-

your mudroom design sounds great- please post pictures when you get a chance. TIA
Related Discussions
Comfortable width for mudroom 'hall'
Q
Comments (9)
6 feet is too skinny. We have a mudroom in our new build and it is 5 1/2 feet wide with lockers on one side. The lockers will be less than cabinet depth and I would consider this the minimum after being in the room after framing. The laundry is what causes the problem. You need 36" for the machines and then you must allow an additional area to stand in front of the machines and allow for a door (if they are front loaders). We leave the door to our front loader open often (otherwise you get smell issues - we have never had this but those who close their washer door do!) I would think 8 feet would be better - 7 sounds too skinny too as it would leave a 4' wide hall, max, which is not that wide (sort of standard).
...See More
Help with Mudroom design and cubby dimensions
Q
Comments (4)
Hmmm. Well, I will start with your cubbie design. I am concerned with your under-bench area. Are those meant to be shelves? And, what will their purpose be? I'd probably instead opt for just open floor there--easier sweeping and easier retrieving of "lost" shoes (think about a 3 yr olds shoe getting pushed all the way back in one of those narrow shelves. You'll never find it and/or have to bend all the way over to see it and to reach it...) (I'm tall, so generally don't like deep narrow places where things get lost--think deep kitchen pantry cabinets without rollouts...) Is your broom closet accessible from within the mudroom area, or on the other side? I am not clear on that. I would use your "opposite" side for hooks for guests. And, I'd put beadboard in that area as well. I'd line the beadboard all along the wall of the entire cubby (up into the upper shelving area at the back, too). I think I'd wrap the bench around the far end (where it is only 37" wide), but maybe not wrap the cubbie portion. Hmm... hope that makes sense! And, that is just what I'd probably do.
...See More
Mudroom cabinet design help (sorry OT)
Q
Comments (37)
Have you considered doors for at least some of the cabinets? I worry about the visual clutter of having everything sitting out there, especially when kids are doing much of the putting-away. I'm less worried about the crowded feeling by the door than many of the others, but I also live in a smallish house where space by the doors is at a premium. I thought you might find these photos helpful. They're of a small cabinet by our back door. The door is hemmed in by a wall on one side and this cabinet to the other. The cabinet is about 7.25 inches deep from the front of the doors to the back of the cabinet that runs into the dishwasher, providing an interior space that's about 5.25 inches deep. We live not far from you and share your weather, and this tiny cupboard is a lifesaver because it provides a space for wet shoes, bird seed, and assorted other things we use outside.You have a significantly deeper space, so it will be even more functional. It also doesn't feel claustrophobic or too tight to us, and the small loss of space by the door is far outweighed by not having things pile up on the counter and floor there! Here's the doorway with cabinet: Here's the interior, showing how shallow it is, but how much stuff we store there. It regularly gets crammed with much more stuff (all the more reason to have doors!), but I'd just cleaned it out when I snapped this photo. Please ignore the cardboard dividers in the cabinet--I didn't want to have permanent dividers put in, and I've been playing around with spacing before buying or making something for the space. As for the bench issue, I think that its utility may somewhat depend on if you're shoes-off or shoes-on people. If you leave shoes by the door, then it's helpful to have a place for the kids to sit down to put them on. I think you'll love having some sort of built-in cabinet there. It will make that space much more functional.
...See More
Mudroom/Pantry/Entry Help!
Q
Comments (13)
Ours are on the way in (same flow as yours from that door there) and they are used. It's not always neat but it's tucked away off the main thoroughfare like yours so even if the shoes aren't under the bench you aren't tripping over them. I really like that aspect. You could also swap the lockers/closet to where the bath is (size depending) and put the laundry where the lockers are and the bath where the laundry is. That would give you a larger laundry and smaller locker area. I would definitely add windows to that back wall. It would be filled with natural light and never be a dark space (unless it's actually dark outside). I would probably even have that door with half or 3/4 glass in it. :D
...See More
acountryfarm
15 years ago
Our mudroom (back hall) has 7 stalls. Each with drawer, bench area & cubby.
It is going to be well used and I am hoping it is as useful as it is in my mind. I do love it. Our mudroom is large an also has a utility bath for initial rinse offs if needed, & laundry room. Each stall will have hook under cubby.

Here are a few pics of cubby area. One shot after primer, they will be black when paint is all done.
megradek
15 years ago
We will have 4 lockers and a large corner storage unit, sink and upper cab (not in drawings, that was added later!). I wish we could have gotten a little more width than 18" but due to space restrictions it was our only option.
From house
From house
From house
oruboris
15 years ago
Mine isn't done, the way I feel today it may never be.

But the point for me is to be able to hang coats and jackets on the sides as well as the back, so 18 inches would be about right, a bit wider wouldn't hurt, 16 inches would be an absolute minimum-- do-able, but just barely.
persnicketydesign
15 years ago
Our cubbies are in the back hall that connects the laundry room & kitchen. Across from them is the door to the garage & a 1/2 bath. I wanted to keep the walkway in the area as large as possible and opted for cubbies that are 12" deep. Even though we're not living in the house yet we use the cubbies every day. Love them!

They run the length of a 12 foot wall. The "cubes" on the ends and across the top are 18" X 12". The shoe keepers are 18" X 18" and the three middle sections are 36" wide.

They look kind of naked right now without their cushions & baskets. *blush*
missstaceyh
15 years ago
Thanks for these inspiration pics everyone. Beautiful! I am drooling and jealous.

Persnicketydesign- Hope you don't mind, I am sharing your pics with our designer. Perfect and just what I want. BTW-where did you get those amazing hooks?
persnicketydesign
15 years ago
Feel free to share the pics! I'd be happy to take some more for you tomorrow if they would help. It's an awkward area to try to photograph and the ones that I posted aren't very good.

I got the hooks on eBay from omalleyshd...for $2.89 each!!!

ACF...I love it when you share photos of your home. It's so beautifully detailed. :o)

Here is a link that might be useful: Cast Iron Hooks
sue36
15 years ago
The upper part of mine are similar to Acountryfarm's, except I have a doublestack. My space was limited, sandwiched between the coat closet and the front wall of the house. There are 8 total cubbies, 2 high and 4 wide (they go to the ceiling). Each cubby is about 14" wide, 14" tall and 16" deep. The size was partially dictated by the size baskets I got (which are 15" deep). Below the cubbies we have a built-in bench that is open except for one support. We chose not to have something more closed (like drawers) because we like to just push shoes under there. We didn't do the vertical uprights dividing the space into 4 "lockers" because I didn't think 14" would be wide enough unless I made the bench really deep. We use the upper row of cubbies (with baskets) for hats, gloves, etc. The bottom row of cubbies has a smaller basket and holds keys, cell phone, ipod (we have outlets in the cubbies), wallet, sunglasses, etc.

The mudroom also has tall beadboard. Near one door the upper trim of the beadboard was used to hold coat hooks. We used the standard shaker style ones, all painted the same white as the beadboard.
luckymom23
15 years ago
acountryfarm, can you tell me the color of your paint in the mudroom? So pretty! I am in the midst of choosing all our colors...Also, if I may ask, what brand are your doors? Ok back to cubbies!
hadley
15 years ago
I always like the way these look before they are loaded with real-world junk. The question always on my mind, though, when I look at our old back/mud hall and all the wetness, yard and road grit, etc., is how do you keep the cubbies and lockers themselves clean and dry?
acountryfarm
15 years ago
luckymom23- The paint color is RH's Butter. I had it color matched at SW. I really love the color, it is throughout my house. I can post a couple more pics if you want to see it with different light.

The doors are solid core Masonite doors, the model is Cheyenne.

hadley -- I don't know what the others do but we also have a bathroom in the mudroom, I am hoping that will help with keeping things cleaner & dryer. My benches & cubbies will be painted black , that should also be helpful.
persnicketydesign
15 years ago
Hadley...we've been much rougher on our cubbies during construction than we will ever be when we're living in the house. LOL They clean up nicely with just a swipe from a damp micro fiber cloth. I think the paint that you use has alot to do with how much scrubbing they can handle and still look good. We used SW Duration, but have also used BM Impervo for other projects. Both types have held up beautifully to the abuse that our family dishes out. :o)
luckymom23
15 years ago
acountryfarm, thanks! I know I've seen and liked that color before, I'll search some of your other posts. :)
shotzy
15 years ago
How many of you actually 'use' the bench portion of these to sit down on? It seems that would dictate the width/depth of the cubbies. We are usually getting shoes on and off so fast that i am not sure we would sit on the large benches even if we had them. For those of you that actually sit on them, what dimensions are appropriate?
oruboris
15 years ago
Love my bench WHEN it's clutter free enough to actually sit on. My bike shoes and some others aren't the sort you can easily get on and off without sitting.

But the bench can protrude infront of the cubby dividers-- that's the look I like best, and it gets you a bit more room. I like the seat higher than a normal chair, but they needn't be as wide.
sue36
15 years ago
We actually sit on our bench as does pretty much everyone that comes in and out of the house. I looked at the dimensions of the benches from Pottery Barn to get the height, and then I made it a little deeper.
kelleg69
15 years ago
We are going to do "cubbies" of a sort, but I didn't really divide them b/c I have found that the kids' stuff overflows small "lockers." As they get older, their backpacks get really big. Then, add a coat, a jacket, a soccer bag, a bag for piano, etc. and it tends to grow. For us, I thought hooks that weren't divided into compartments would work better for us. Now, it isn't built yet, so we'll see. Good luck! I also have lots of extra hooks on a big wall for the friends' things. In my little "mudroom" now (a row of hooks with PB bench underneath), I have found my kids don't put things in drawers or baskets. I have a metal tub for shoes and that is the best I can do. I will probably have this same tub in the new house. Think about how you and your family lives. I know that I will not teach my kids to put things away, so I will try to make the new space work for them.
Nicole Farina
4 years ago
@mommyto4boys- do you have any pictures of your mudroom?? i love it
cpartist
4 years ago
You do realize this thread is 11 years old? :)
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
4 years ago
Well...cubby size sort of depends on how big and how many kids you plan to store in the cubbys...doncha think?
Sophie
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
We had a mudroom in the first house. The visual clutter kind of drove me bonkers, kind of like the open shelves in the kitchen with lots of random things on them.

Not sure what's a good alternative? Right now I am trying to hide everything inside the front closet...but it's starting to overflow, because the kids' items are becoming bigger and more complicated as they grow.

By visual clutter, I mean something like this:

Ramble House · More Info
annylynn
2 years ago
Is it possible to add doors?
Brett Corbett
2 years ago
@Sophie I'm glad you mentioned that. These cubbies seem to be a fad lately, and I like them too. But no one seems to talk about how they're open which makes for "visual clutter". I have to go back to the drawing board. I'm thinking large cabinet type doors on the front after making the locker section a little deeper. Then at least they can be closed and we can attempt to hide the stuff. At the sake of the convenience of it all of course.