We built a 6' x 12' mudroom in some excess garage space we had a few years ago and opted to do lockers (which we call 'cubbies')with doors. I was sick of seeing my dining room table heaped with school backpacks, lunchboxes and jackets constantly - which is what started the mudroom idea - but I also figured I wanted the mudroom to look tidy, so we went with doors. Even if the lockers are jam-packed with all of our gear, I can close them off to hide it all and I really like that. Gives me an inner peace not to have to actually SEE the clutter all the time. As for the kids being too lazy to open the doors - that only rarely happens but we also installed "shoe drawers" below each locker and I've noticed my kids almost always step out of their shoes and leave them on the floor in front of their shoe drawer. Drives me nuts. The drawer is right there in front of them! Can't figure it out...but I still recommend doors on lockers/cubbies! It certainly added to the cost, but I think it was worth it...

Hi Davidtay, Thanks for your reply. The depth of each locker is 25 inches and width is 25 inches too. The total dimensions of the mudroom, including the lockers, is 11 feet 5 inches deep and 9 feet 3.5 inches wide. (for the narrowest part). I think your idea to rough in lighting for the actual lockers is spot on. We will do that for sure. The cost to switch from roughed in pots to rough in for fixtures will only cost an hour of labour so not a big cost if fixtures would light the space better than the pots. Do you think fixtures would light the space better than pots (ceilings are 8 foot)? We are happy to use the Cree series if that works as well as fixtures. The current roughed in pots are 4 inch. Thanks! Carol

Marthaelena, can you help give me a more specific recommendation on what might look good? Because I started out thinking I could change materials and just couldn't hit on an idea that would work. Kitchen will be warm contemporary with medium stained shaker cabinets on cherry; dark granite or soapstone, and oak hardwood floors. The kitchen is at one end of the mudroom, and at the other is the back hall and then the laundry. Laundry floor is tile that relates to the kitchen backsplash but basic white slab melamine cabinetry. So I feel like a third look in between might be too much. I can see keeping the same color and switching from shaker to slab in the office/mudroom area, for example, but I have a harder time picturing switching to a different wood tone. Maybe something like this - maybe I paint my island and then carry that color into the mudroom? I am one of those people who cannot figure out how to put things together visually. I know what I like and what I don't when it is done, but I have a very hard time visualizing what will work and what won't. mnhockeymom, love your lockers. Who did yours - cabinet company or finish carpenter? I want something very similar with the bottom portion being deeper than the top, and then I'll have cabs with doors over the top. At the end of the run I'll have my spare refrigerator. We also have one locker with a door that is dedicated to shoes as we have many, many shoes and they all live in the mudroom. We take off our shoes as soon as we come inside so the kids don't have any shoes upstairs at all. DH and I have some but most are mudroom-based. Anita

In the "locker alcove", I'd do something like this:I like the shelves as someone else suggested for the lower part. In the middle, I'd go with three open cubbies, which would allow each one to be a decent width ... but give each child one to himself and have the parents share one. Why? Because kids' bookbags -- especially once they reach the upper grades -- are fat and need a wide spot, whereas parents don't tend to carry such large bags to work. No need to have the lockers go all the way to the ceiling. Bookbags aren't tall. So keep the upper portion as a wide, open shelf. This gives you flexibility. You could have a basket up there now for library books that need to be returned, or clothes you intend to give to Goodwill once you have enough to make a trip. But when the kids become teens, if they take up a sport that requires storage space, this above-locker area can hold baseball bats or other sports bags. Keep coats across the room on hooks. The key to getting kids to USE this stuff is two-fold: - Make it easy. A kid who can drop his bookbag into an open cubby and hang his coat on a hook will probably do it, whereas the same kid probably won't open a cubby door, locate a hanger and hang his coat, pull out a basket for his shoes, and then close it all up neatly again. Things put away in open shelves are 100% better than things dumped in front of pretty doors. - Enforce compliance in the beginning. As soon as this room is finished, if you see a coat or pair of shoes out of place, call the child in right away -- interrupt his favorite show, interrupt his snack -- and have him move his things to the appropriate spot. In fact, TRY to interrupt him having fun. This will instill the idea that it's easier just to do it right in the first place.