Why does the mudroom have to have 10’ ceilings? can’t that room be a more manageable 8’ or 9’?

I would not get rid of the higher ceilings (we have 10 - 12 ft and very happy with them), but just build the cabinets at the height that best works for their intended usage. My mudroom cabinets are 8 ft high. I don't have a phobia of open space above cabinets when you have high ceilings and no reason to take the cabinets to the ceiling!

The mudroom is kind of an opened space so to lower the ceilings there wouldn't look right

Chispa, are you able tonshowbme a pic?

Hi, one suggestion could be to omit the wall paneling back of hanging space and just have upper cabinets lower till 8ft .

How tall would you make the hanging part? Right now it is a total of 57" - no kids can reach that even

What accommodations did the person that designed the space suggest you use to access anything above seven feet?

I wouldn't build anything that was inaccessible except with a ladder or step stool unless there is something you know of that you want to put up that high and access infrequently. The only thing I can think of is holiday decor. But you might have a better place to put that stuff. No need to spend money on expensive cabinetry you're not going to use.

Do you need 9 cubby spaces and hooks? If it were my home, I would prefer closed cabinetry on one side with 3-4 cubby spaces on the opposite side. I would want cabinetry that I could easily access without a step-stool or I would tend to think "I'll just set that here and put it away later."

My mudroom has 10' ceilings, it was built for my kids to use....so the top of their coat hooks is at 68", and the cabinets go to 90". The room is only 9'x11' so lowering the ceiling was definitely not going to happen...10' makes everything feel larger. Since I have very dark cabinetry, I love the open space above, all the way up didn't make sense and would have felt like a silo. I drew everything on the drywall first to make sure that proportion and height looked correct :)

Why does the mudroom have to have 10’ ceilings? can’t that room be a more manageable 8’ or 9’?

First choice: Yes, drop the ceiling to a more reasonable height.

Second choice: I strongly prefer cabinets to the ceiling, but that's expensive, and I don't see the mudroom as a place to splurge. I'd consider shorter /standard sized cabinets ... and place inexpensive baskets above those cabinets for storage. It's not like you can store everyday things in those up-high spaces anyway.

Third choice: Build a box up top, as if it were a soffit. This closes off the space, but it isn't really useful anyway.

The mudroom is kind of an opened space so to lower the ceilings there wouldn't look right

It can be done. Perhaps with a cased opening?

Do you really want to have to move all those baskets and vacuum / dust in all those cubbies?

With the hooks at 6.5' and the open spaces above that - you're pretty much guaranteeing coats and backpacks thrown on the flat surfaces and abandoned.

Perhaps i am missing something but aren’t mud rooms used quite a bit by children and the idea is to provide easily accessible storage so that they automatically stash stuff in their personal space when they come home.

Much of the storage seems high even for adults so what you have is a bunch of hooks plus some baskets as being convenient with some very high cubbies and closed cabinet spaces 🤷‍♀️

If you don't want to put cabinets to the ceiling and you don't want to lower the ceiling, install the cabinets under a soffit-- essentially the front of the cabinets is even with the wall above them. Not every inch of your home has to be functional storage.

Instead of a U, make it galley-style. You lose only one cubby, and no useless corners. The end wall can be corkboard for reminder notes, or hooks, or smaller rack baskets.

I don't think the hooks are too high. Seems about what ours were designed for. But we also added low hooks for the kids. No reason you can't do that.

How many people are using this space? I might consider lockers instead (with our without doors) which will give everyone their own space. A good width for a locker is 24". With lockers you can also add hooks to the side.

@bpath, I am not understanding how would I make it galley stile but only loose 1 cubby?

@Helen YES! I realized the hooks are 6.5 ft off the ground and the small cubby area is about 8 ft! I don't know how a child, let alone an average adult, can reach that!

@just_janni the baskets are for illustrative purposes. I don't plan on the baskets at all. I want this mudroom to be functional, and as of now you are right - the coats and bags will be dumped!

@Mrs Pete we are up to sheet rock. If we drop the ceiling, we will have to redo the lighting, which I dont want to have to do. So I'm just trying to fix the situation without having to redo anything

I am thinking of a soffit. Not sure if I should go with a soffit or just leave 2 feet (about) of empty space between the top of the cabinetry and the ceiling

@lucky998877 are you able to show me a picture please?

Offering up visuals to help answer question posed to bpath:

Left sketch is poor design, right sketch is better design.

Soffit just looks like wall. It's clean, uncluttered and doesn't need to be dusted. Cabinets that end shy of the ceiling don't look built-in; draw attention where you probably don't want it; and require you to dust the tops periodically.

Thanks, Mark. Exactly. and you gain floor space and elbow room.

@skidoodle, haven't taken a finished photo, but here is one during construction. Retired, so no kids in the house now. Have drawers, counters and uppers on right side and bench and coat closet on left side. Ceiling is 10 ft and door 8 ft.

Perspective from photo is not exactly how it feels in person. Cabinets don't feel low and ceilings don't feel high!

All of that bench space is bizarre, looks like it was built for a classroom of kids in a Shaker community. How many are in your family and how many will be sitting down at once?

I’d put a bench on the left. On the wall across on the right have cabinets that make sense for your needs - open cubbies, locker like cabinets with or without doors, lower cabinets with a countertop to throw stuff on - lunches, projects, purse, keys.

Have coat hooks above the bench and along the back narrow wall space. Yes to @Jennifer K soffit and ceiling comment.

Sorry, but that is a whole lot of dollars wasted, and not very attractive, either

One: CLOSE in the sides....don't expose the side of the bench or anything above. Drywall, ( cheapest ) or trimmed panel. I'd be just add framing and dry wall. Your "big" visual will then be the back wall. Tall closed storage, at bench depth!

It's common to think that the more you carve ways for family to be highly organized? the harder you make it. All that happens is a dumping ground, back packs, packages......a hook can be in front of a kid and they blithely ignore it.

Second. LOWER the ceiling within to no more than 102 inches. All that will happen with more is you will forget the stuff up there, fill it with the outgrown and then forgotten......as seasons change.

GO VERTICAL and narrow ( PIC BELOW ) on cubby shelving/baskets/ for at least two ends of the space! Far more will be accessible and far easier. It also helps take the very top heavy look out of the room.

You do not need exact hook placement now. I find 42 inches clearance above the bench height is usually fine.

I'd use NO closed storage at the very top. Open, all matching baskets, horizontal vertical etc.

Go VERTICAL.

The terrible TRUTH?

The best look is closed storage at the bottom. The problem is, it is NOT reality based.

The happy medium? Is large baskets for each kid, and their shoes..................combined with prayer. : )

This? Nice! But not happening . Result is shoes all over the floor. Yes, the hooks are a bit high.

I have to say that I have been in many houses with mudrooms and 10 ft ceilings - kind of standard feature over $1M. I have never seen a soffit although I might not have noticed it. I am also pretty sure that I have not seen cabinets to the ceiling and if I did, I would have thought what a waste (and I have them in other rooms).

We have 10 ft ceilings and cubbies that are 88 inches tall with casual artwork on top - sitting on cubbie and tilted. Our hooks are 57 inches and 65 inches. Our only child was 8 when we were building.

I never gave it another thought.

We do use baskets on the shelf above the 65 inch hooks - for occasional things.

I agree that the inspiration pic has was too much bench space. I don't see where you would need more than 4 seats ever. We have 3 but the reality is that things are on there and only 1 person can sit at a time - which is fine because that is never an issue. If you have a number of kids, then I can see the need for more but you don't need a seat for everyone at the same time - this isn't dinner.

Added to my comment above. The more I think of every one of the hundreds of these I've created??

I've come to "See No Evil".......... and yes only to 102 on the ceiling . Or 108 if splitting hairs.

Never overestimate neatness. It doesn't happen.

The internet lies: )

Yes. close entry "sides"

It’s hard to plan a space without seeing the whole plan. Maybe an L shape makes more sense if you have more than one kid. 48” is very narrow for two people wrangling shoes, coats, etc at the same time.

Make sure any bench is strong enough for a kid (or adult) to stand on. I'd try to do closed locker style storage, one locker per person, for a neater look. A few extra hooks are nice but too many extra hooks will invite clutter.

For that extra 2' of space above, I'd use sliding doors (or panels that open awning style?) because that looks less busy than a bunch of small doors. I'd plan on storing out of season outerwear up there. Not a big deal to use a stepladder once in Fall, once in Spring.

I lowered my ceilings in all my hallways to 9'. I did it for aesthetics because when going from a lower ceiling into a room with higher ceilings, there is the the feeling of a room opening up. Have you considered lowering the ceiling in the mudroom to 9'?

Use a cased opening to close the space.

I will also have a mudroom with 10' ceilings. I considered dropping the ceiling to 9', but we're raising all the 8' ceilings to 10' (this is a reno, not a new build) and it didn't make sense to spend the extra money and work to drop that part back down again. I considered cubbies over the hanging rod instead of a shelf, but I took a look at what I have on the shelves in my front hall and BR closets and realized that I want some flexibility for height. I also measured the height of the shelves and cubbies in my designer's front hall closet (yes she's also a good friend.) I changed the interior length from 10' to 10'5" after measuring a runner that I plan to use (it's about 121".) I'm redoing all the hardwood floors and thought it would be nice to protect the floor in the mudroom. Just mentioning that to remind you to measure anything you currently have, whether rugs, tall boots, or whatever.

My mudroom is basically a galley style. If it helps, this is what I gave my builder; it's not built yet:

Here are my inspo pics:

The opposite wall will have shallow shelves, key hooks, a mirror, boot tray, etc.

@David Cary, Can you show me some pictures please?

I'm no pro, but from the rendering and layout you provided, it looks like this space was designed to make the cabinets go to the ceiling and completely fill the space as the first priority, and not with the desired end use of the space in mind. I'd back it up, and think through some key things: 1- how many people will be using this space and for what purpose? 2 - how much storage is actually required in this space (and what types - hanging, shoes, bulky items, etc.), 3 - is this area visible from other areas of the home, and is there a preference for closed/open storage? Based on those answers, you can start to design the end result.

Right now, the hooks and upper cabinets/cubbies are too high unless this space is intended for the Harlem Globetrotters. The amount of bench space is excessive unless an army of folks will be seated in here simultaneously (which doesn't make too much sense because based on the total width/implied length of the room - there wouldn't be enough space for that anyway). I think you need to consult with someone like Jan to create a custom space based on your specific needs, not creating symmetry and filling the space with a bunch of cabinets. "Mudrooms" are one of those things that are super subjective - my definition/implied use may be far different from yours. The focus should be on utility, not purely aesthetics.

Drop the ceiling

Go for easily maintainef uility

I love the tall ceilings and think if you drop the cabinets to 8 or 9' you could leave those tall ceilings and have that "English Georgian boot room" feeling in this space. Just make sure that top trim is hefty and it looks like a piece of furniture with feet at the bottom. (Check out pinterest for boot room inspiration... you'll see all types of styles with this format - tall ceilings, shorter cabinets) .I personally love adding art above because it makes an area that is full of utility, a little more whimsical. But you could add pots or vases or crocks or baskets (I love baskets above cupboards) if you don't have art yet.

Just know that many very stately and finely finished homes do not all have cabinets to the ceiling. And... please ignore all requests to drop the ceiling. You are not going to save that much energy by dropping one or two ceilings. All my favorite homes have crazy heigh ceilings. Even, yes, in powder rooms. Use the wall space as a gallery! So many ideas.

@JP L this is for 7 children and 2 adults