Mudroom; A small room or entryway where footwear and outer clothes can be removed before entering a house. 

Mudrooms are something that we are seeing a lot more of in Australian homes, and in ones that aren’t necessarily the traditional farm house style. When we think of a mudroom, we often think of large built in cabinetry either located at the entry of a home or perhaps in the laundry. Scour pinterest and you’ll find that most images containing a mud room are in American homes, and one’s that are quite grand and fall more in to the line of traditional interior styles. But at the moment, browse any Australian home magazine or the social media accounts of some well known stylists, and you will spot mudrooms being used in homes of many interior styles.

So what exactly what is a mudroom? And what does it contain? Mudrooms are area’s of the home where you can pop your bits and pieces as you enter it. The perfect place to hang your handbag, sit down and remove your shoes and chuck them neatly out of the way. Having an area like this is especially handy when you have kids. By removing their dirty shoes, wet jackets and hats and leaving them by the front door, it stops them trailing the mess through your home. As I mentioned previously, mudrooms can be large and grand. However, if you have a standard sized home like mine, you can add in a simple bench to sit on, as well as adding a few baskets under the bench to pop shoes in. Hang a coat rack on the wall above it to give you somewhere to neatly store bags and coats. It’s so simple to create these areas in your home with just a few furniture pieces.

Enter Willow & Wood. An Australian small business based in Melbourne. Owner and ‘head furniture chick‘ Rebecca created her first piece 25 years ago with help from her dad. A piece she still has today which has lasted the test of time due to it being built with love and made to last. Rebecca continues to carry this philosophy in to every piece created and sold via her business. All of the pieces are designed by the family owned business to be quality, timeless pieces that are both functional and decorative. To view their extensive range of beautiful timber pieces, which are not only perfect to use in entries and mudrooms but other areas in the home such as bedrooms and bathrooms as well, head here to their online store.

Using four pieces from the Willow & Wood range, I have created both a mudroom space in our entry, as well as using some pieces from their range in two room within our house. Our home was built in the late 90’s and is a very stock standard design which lacks character. The walls are square and gyprock. The overall design of the house is very basic. So to give it life and create interest, I’ve had to add the character in to it myself. Adding something like a mudroom to the entry of the house brings in some life with the addition of warm timber and eye catching pieces.

The entry space to our home is basically one wall. So I had to make sure that whatever went there wasn’t in the way upon entering. In the past I’ve had floating shadow boxes and framed prints on the wall which looked great but wasn’t overly functional. So by adding in the Country Farm Bench as well as the Recycled Timber Hooks in white above it on the wall above it, I have created an area to hang my bag when I walk in to the home, as well as a place for us to sit and put shoes on or off as well. By adding a few decorative baskets to store shoes in, the space is now not only functional, but looks great as well. To finish the space, a small jute rug to wipe dirty shoes on before popping them in the baskets. For decoration, a simple dried floral arrangement hanging from one of the hooks to a pop of colour with greenery which is all the space needs to feel complete.

In our master bedroom, I used the French Country Bench at the end of the bed. As the room is quite large, I like to extend the bed and fill the space with the use of a bench. This design instantly brings character, charm and warmth to a room with the tone of the recycled timber and stunning crisscross sides. It again works as both a decorative and functional piece. The perfect place to sit and put your shoes on while getting ready, or somewhere to place clothes on at the end of a busy day. To match this piece is the Country Timber Hooks. Also made from a recycled timber, it is the perfect piece to accompany the bench seat, or is a stand out piece on its own. I have used ours as a decorative feature and somewhere to hang a hand towel and some decorative items from in our laundry. A piece which could also be used as a towel rack in a bathroom.

So when you enter your home via the front door or perhaps your laundry and don’t feel like that space is quite right, consider a mudroom. A practical and easy to install addition to any home that is not only functional, but can look amazing as well!

Zoe Gilpin – The DIY Decorator