My floorplan has a closet off the mudroom. It isn't huge, but we do plan on having a section of it for shoe storage so we aren't hauling shoes up and down the stairs anymore. My husband and I are quasi-minimalists, so we certainly wouldn't know what to do with a 15' x 15' shoe closet! Currently all of my shoes fit on a 18" wide floor-to-ceiling section of closet, and my husband's take up slightly less space. The rest of the mudroom closet will be for hockey gear, coats, snow gear, etc. (We also live up north, in Minnesota.) An island in the mudroom would be great if you have the space! I wish we could have an island space in the master closet, specifically for packing/unpacking suitcases. My husband travels about 1 night per week for work, so his suitcase basically lives on the bedroom floor in between trips. I am sick of tripping over it!

I think those are great ideas as that's what I was also thinking with what I'd change and do with the plans if we were building that plan. I'm not a fan of the only powder room entrance being in the mudroom, l prefer a more formal power room with the access to it in the common areas. So I like your idea of placing it in the butler's pantry area. Now if a plan is large enough to have two powder rooms such a private one also off the mudroom area I like that too. So the family can come in, wash up..... as they come in the door. Love the locker idea and am adding them in our new build as well. I really like what you have come up with. Good luck :)

I agree, the space is too small to try to store off-season coats, etc. Try to keep them elsewhere until you've proven they'll fit. Otherwise, you'll simply set yourself up for failure. It's a kind of deep space, and the stuff that's in the "deep" area will be hard to access. That *might* let you stash out=of-season stuff there, but again, I'd suggest you wait to see. I agree w/ Frankie that the responsitionability of the Command hooks is really useful. But I also find that they aren't that sturdy for heavy coats. I'm a fan of pegboard for places like this--fill the wall with it, up and down. Then you can put some strong pegs anywhere you want, and move them around. You can have lots of hooks of various sizes, and you can put bins, even small shelves, etc. I find, actually, that shoes store better higher up. Otherwise, you're bending over,a nd bending over. I stored my shoes at about hip level, back when I had a "mudroom cabinet," and I found it was really useful. It's counterintuitive, but follow me: You kick off your shoes, and you need to then put them somewhere, which means you need to bend over and pick them up. Then you move to the storage space, and bend over and put them in the floor storage. (bending twice) Now you go to put them on. you bend over to pick them up, then you bend over again to put them on. Store them at hip level or just below, and you have them out of the prime storage space (hip to chest), but you aren't bending over twice. Backpacks (esp. heavy ones) went on the floor--that saved us having to lift them up. Swing them off your shoulder, and put them down. Consider stapling fabric shoe pockets to the left wall for shoes; or, consider not having this be a shoes-storage place. Just outdoors stuff only (boots, etc.). Shoes should go somewhere else. Are you a shoes-off household? If not, then this should be the place where only the shoes you wear outdoors go. If you are, then consider having shoes go somewhere else anyway, just to save space there. As for sitting down--don't do a permanent bench. Get a Kik-Step stool to shove in under the coats. Then you can hook it out with your feet, and sit down to put shoes on if necessary. I don't think you have enough room for a bench, anyway. For the side of the washer, consider getting magnetic organizers to hold small stuff. There are magnetic storage bins sold for laundry organizing that could hold little-kid shoes, umbrellas, hats, mittens. and for office supplies Even school lockers. or hooks to hold stuff like umbrellas, mittens, hats. If you got a strong enough hook, you could even hang shoes or boots off them,a ctually. Here is a link that might be useful: Kik-Step stool--the world's greatest invention

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.