Laundry and mudrooms are often the hardest working rooms in the house. They need to be designed right to function well. Here are some design tips:

• For mudrooms, consider designing a cubby for each child and adult. Ideally, each cubby has a place to store coats (on hooks works well), shoes, some sporting gear, and a place to put things like wallets, scarfs, gloves, and keys. 
• Plan a location to charge cordless vacuums and store brooms, and be sure there are enough electrical outlets for all chargeable items. Don’t forget about your robotic vacuums. Install electrical outlets in casework so robotic items can easily dock and charge. This also creates a clear path for the robotic items to find their way home so you won’t have to rescue them from the other side of the house.
• Install a sink if you have the space. Laundry and mudrooms can become more than a utility space when you add a sink. Suddenly arts and crafts such as painting or pottery become a possibility. Sinks are also useful for cleaning up the paint brushes when you repaint a room in the house.
• For large families, there is a trend to install two washers and dryers. This is certainly a luxury, but it can help you get through the loads more quickly. Also consider installing the laundry machines in two separate rooms near where the laundry is generated. We’ll often have a main level laundry room next to a master bedroom, and then a smaller laundry room near the kid’s rooms, where all their laundry is generated. This helps reduce the amount of laundry you have to carry through the house. And eventually, with some luck, you can get the kids to do their own laundry!
• Design a place to work. A mudroom is a great place to do things like wrap gifts or a crafts project. Consider designing this at 36” height so a counter height stool can be used to sit at the counter, or you can stand and fold clothes or create artwork.
• When possible, plan for the mudroom in a central location, near the garage and kitchen. It often works as a good connector between the two.
• Consider hard wearing flooring like tile. In areas where there is water, tile will last longer than wood floors. Sheet products like Marmoleum are also excellent choices and are easy to clean up.
• Include an area to air dry clothes. There are even hang dry machines designed to do this faster than just hanging them on a rack. If you plan ahead you can incorporate enough space for equipment like this.
• Don’t forget our four legged friends. If you have a dog or a cat, they may need a cubby too for their toys and leashes, coats and other things they need by the door.