Maureeninmd, where are the asbestos shingles? Are they on all the interior walls?

Because my first thought was to rip out at least one of the benches and install some shelving instead--you could tuck the recycle bins on the bottom shelf and have the upper shelves, even if they only go up to the bottom of one of the windows, for additional storage.

Hinging the bench lid was a good idea. But I'm thinking for shoe storage, could you rip out the front of the bench (the part with the doors)? You could then store the shoes under the bench, without having to open a door or lift a lid--I know for me, the easier it is to put something away, the more likely that I will actually do it. It also looks as if the recycle bins would fit under the bench.

Those benches take up a lot of floor space, but don't seem to offer much useful storage. If you could remove even one, the porch would seem larger and you could probably add in a ton more useful storage.

Have you seen Sarah's House on HGTV? I loved the country home she did, especially the mudroom.

Here's a link to a photo at hgtv. http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/a-look-inside-sarahs-house/pictures/index.html

Maybe that will give you some inspiration, even if your room isn't quite as large as hers.

Camlan's right - the benches are using up too much valuable real estate. You need one small area for one person to sit and remove shoes, but the rest of that area could be cabinets that go as high as the window sills.

By interior shingles, do you mean the interior shutters?

As for colors, I would go color crazy in that room. The white walls and dark green accents don't do much for me. How about a light cream on the walls and then paint the shutters the same "haint blue" as the ceiling? I would change out the vinyl blinds for colorful drapes.

Excellent points above! :)

Yes -- perhaps step back and re-evaluate the need for all of the benches ... maybe switch to a single bench on the left -- and then add simple white shelving on the right-hand side -- maybe those build-it-yourself shelves -- from shops like Target or Walmart. The shelves could literally fill every available space around the window and the two adjoining wall spaces.

OR choose the left-hand side -- get rid of the bench -- and add a full wall (over the window) of white shelving. It could come out from the wall -- and still leave room for the light.

Then add bamboo blinds to the fronts of the new shelving units to hide the basic stuff-of-life from view- when necessary! LOL!

Switch to bamboo blinds on the windows. Or perhaps add cottage-style charm with some pretty tier curtains? Or add striped curtains to the windows and then hang some in front of the new shelving too!

On the walls under the wonderful light -- perhaps add a vertical row of strong double-hooks for the backpacks?

Measure it all very well -- and then sketch it out on paper. Check out the measurements of those build-it-yourself shelving units -- and see which ones (and how many!) could fit into each space ....

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Maureen, I understand your concern with the asbestos, but you can safely drill into them to hang shelving. You're not going to create enough dust for it to be a problem. We have asbestos shingles on our house. We've drilled into them to hang hose reels, a wall fountain, and art on the old screened porch. When we did the addition a few years ago we bought cement shingles that are almost an exact duplicate.

That said, it sounds like you need something more than a couple wall shelves. A free-standing unit would probably be more practical.

For our garden/workshop shed dh bought shelving units at Sam's Club. Here's a link to some at Home Depot.

free standing shelving units

Lots of color options with bamboo shades. The ones we put on our screened porch came from Home Depot and they're fairly light.

bamboo shades

If it were my space, I'd paint the door to the house a pretty barn red like Sarah's closet doors in her mudroom. (Or the blue like the ceiling)

An indoor/outdoor colorful rug, yes. Add a tough throw rug just inside the door to catch the worst of the dirt and mud.

If you added a larger 'deck' porch to the back, more of the mud and stuff would fall off shoes there rather than inside. When we lived on the farm, I had a porch and steps like yours. It did make a difference when dh made me a sturdy, simple, and not too big porch.

Don't be afraid to rip and rearrange in there. Make it work for you--earn it's keep. lol Add hooks, shelves, bins, and lots of colorful accents--whatever you need to make it work.

I would start by removing the benches entirely. Then pull out all of the unused hooks, nails, etc from the ceiling and walls. Remove the blinds.

Then choose a color scheme, possibly based on fabric you like for the space. Here are some ideas for curtains. You could take color inspiration from them. I would probably go for something with a fun bold pattern or stripes. Adding bold curtains to the room should add some more whimsy and fun.

Paint! It might be helpful to see the space just inside that door to know what color would work well. But I'd consider a warm cream color, lighter than your exterior but warmer than the current crisp white for the walls. Or maybe a pale robins egg blue. Then consider painting the ceiling a bold color again, hopefully pulling inspiration from your fabric selection. And paint the shutters the same color or another coordinating color from the fabric. I think keeping the flooring a neutral color might help disguise any mud or scuffs. Depending on the rest of the house, I might consider painting that dark wood door as well, unless it matches other doors in the house.

On the side with the smaller window, I would put a single bench with space underneath for people to kick shoes. Even if your kids don't sit down, guests might appreciate it. And it provides a place to store shoes. Here are some ideas.

Keep that interesting light and the hooks that seem to visually balance it.

Turn the larger side into storage area with modular shelving, as others mentioned.

These are of course just some ideas. I think your little mud room is very cute and functional and I think you'll come up with something wonderful.

Although natal has a point in that drilling into your shingles is not like working in an asbestos shingle plant for years, even a little loose asbestos fiber can be a health issue. If you are drilling into the asbestos shingles, any dust can be a problem, so wet the area, maybe wear a respirator to be extra safe, and damp mop rather than sweep or vacuum to clean up anything that falls on the floor. Also, keep pets and kids away from the area while you are working.

I think your little space is really neat and will look great with brighter colors. If you want to keep the benches, have you considered making the entire front open out rather than just having those small doors and storing the recycling bins in them? They may have to be a little higher for that, though.

All in all, I would love to have a space like that and I think you can make it into a really cute space with only small changes and lots of imagination.

Cyn, that's true. Normal precautions would be in order.

I am mulling this over. Such beautiful ideas everyone has!

Still, I am feeling reluctant to give up the benches because I don't think I want additional storage; I am trying to get rid of stuff. I don't want any more junk in here than what's shown in the photos. I don't want this space to look like a garage with our junk on display. Practically all guests walk through here In the magazines these rooms always look so beautiful, but I am sure open shelving would just be be dirty and junky-looking here.

I was going to cover up the doors with some sort of wood (beadboard?) but now am leaning towards leaving the bench undersides open and shoving the recycling and the shoes under them, as cyn427 suggested. My children are getting older and are starting to keep their stuff in their personal spaces - bedrooms, basement, etc.

I still have lots of thinking to do. I may be impractical.

Yes, you are being impractical in thinking that not wanting junk in the room is going to make the junk go away. Even when the kids are older, there will still be the recycle, the cat food, the garden tools, and somebody's shoes. But if you have the right storage space, most of it can be hidden from view.

Open shelving is messy, but shelving with doors will hide most everything. There are ways to get cabinets for little money - new from Ikea, used from craigslist or the Habitat for Humanity ReStores for example. You can also put a skirt over open shelving.

What you could do is figure out what needs to be in that mudroom--say coats and jackets, shoes and boots, recycle bins, some sports equipment and the cat's food and bowls. Then rip out all the benches and make some thoughtful storage purchases that will house everything you want to keep there. Anything currently stored there that you don't want in the space needs to find a new home elsewhere, or people will continue to store it in there.

There are many options for storage--shelves, cabinets, bins, drawers, a built-in closet. Shelves can have doors fitted, or be covered with curtains or a shade. You could even run a shelf up above the windows and use pretty boxes to store out of season things up there. Depending on where you live, it might be possible to get something custom built for not much more than the cost of buying and installing things yourself.

With the right storage furniture, you might be able to treat this more as room, instead of a storage space. Put in one or two chairs or a freestanding bench for shoe removal. Curtains that you like. A paint scheme based on the curtain colors.

I just get the feeling that the benches are holding you back. You feel you need to keep them, even though they aren't used and aren't useful. Measure out the space without the benches and do some research on the storage options that are out there. It'll be a huge change, but if you keep the benches, that space is never going to function well for you.

I would definitely replace one of the benches by the back door to solve the mud problem. Have a bench that's open at the bottom, no storage, and put a shoe tray under it, and have your family put their shoes in it.

It solves having shoes on the floor where you walk, and will keep mud off a nice rug (other than a doormat) in the middle of the room. The best part is it helps unclutter the floor.

Your room isn't "cruddy" at all. It has so much potential!

This area serves as the main door for both for family and guests, as well as the repository for shoes, recycling bins, sports gear, cat food, and some gardening stuff.

I can't imagine this room containing anything that can't be squirted with water and scrubbed.

I can understand keeping one bench, but not all four. There are 4, aren't there? With more space freed up you would have room to place a cabinet (or two) for storage. Target has a good selection. We used a couple small ones for food and dish storage when we set up a temporary kitchen during the remodel. I re-purposed one and am using it in my closet for clothing storage.

Another idea would be to use a foldable table covered with a nice tablecloth. The cloth could be large enough to hide what's underneath the table. You could stash the recycle bins there out of sight and use the top for whatever ... maybe something decorative.

Cosco folding tables

Target home storage cabinets

I keep calling this space a "room" but it really is a porch. It has even been suggested that we just rip the enclosing walls off and open it back up. That's why we never got around to shingling the outside.

The only cat that eats in here (she won't come inside) is elderly and I don't think will be with us too much longer :( The sports stuff is now in a more convenient place in the shed (finally got rid of gas mower).

Can we talk about color? In our 12 years in this house we have not painted anything on this porch! I am afraid my color ideas are not very interesting: darker green shutters (to match the light), shingles the same color as the house (i have leftover paint) , and warmer white trim. I was thinking about painting the floor a dark, dark (almost black)purple or green, but it might be best to leave it the traditional blue-grey, as the ceiling is a traditional ceiling color. For a new cushion, I am looking at some barkcloth on ebay that has a green and yellow design on a light grey background.

Maureen

I think your mudroom entrance has the potential to be charming. But don't color it muddy, please.

I fooled around with one side of the entrance, and with good quality paint that can be cleaned easily, and an effective shoe-scraping mat outside and a mat inside, bright colors would be so nice.

Oh, that buttercream yellow looks really nice, suero. That would be a good background for the color ideas Maureen has in mind.

Maureen, the floor doesn't have to match the ceiling. A rich deep purple floor - eggplant or aubergine or whatever they call it - would be great. I still don't like the forest green shutters and accents; how about a lighter green - maybe a light sage?

Suero - thanks, that gives me some ideas. I need to figure out how to do that! I do like that color - I'll be painting the shingled walls first.

Graywings- I am not explaining myself well. I did not mean I'd paint the floor sky-blue, but the sort of blue-grey that was the color commonly used on the porches of old houses. Not much has changed at my house in the last 80 years!

I think I found the barkcloth you're considering on eBay. If I picked the right one, a cushion in that material would go great with the buttercream, grass green, blue color scheme.
Ah, if only real decorating were as easy and inexpensive as virtual!

Everyone has such good ideas for you! I would add that you might not be happy with a dark floor because it will show every hairball and footprint and dirt that is tracked in. The aqua is great I think. Once you get this done you will love it! I always wanted a mudroom. We painted our porch, which was concrete, a color that I really liked because it was the color of "wet concrete", and not the gray that is used so often. It is a PPG paint and is called Umber Shadow and is great if you want to match color of mortar in a brick house. I know this isn't relevant in your case, but I guess I am saying how colors can make the room, etc. I like the aqua floor and your ceiling too. This will be a fun room to walk through!