Source: “Kitchen Fresh” by Jan Rutgers
When I first began my kitchen design career, the mudroom received no attention. In the early years as a supplier of cabinetry the only other rooms looked at were the bathrooms. Most existing homes did not have a mudroom space and very few new homes identified one on the blueprints. If there was a “mudroom” on the blueprints, it was typically a main level laundry room with a closet.
I soon realized that there was potential to improve clients lives through the design of functional mudroom spaces. One of the first designated mudrooms I worked on was for a family building a country home. The homeowner was realistic about her needs. At the time she had two young boys that loved to be out side rain or shine. When it came time to design this room, I was lucky to have a lot of space to work with. The homeowner, the interior designer and myself thought a lot about this room. Clean up and maintenance were high on the list. We specified a floor level attachment to her built-in vacuum system called a vac pan to allow for easy sweeping away of loose dirt. It was decided to take it to the next level and install a drain in the middle of the tiled floor for “hosing” down of the room. Since rain plays a big part in the West Coast lifestyle, a drip dry area was incorporated. This was an excellent place for hanging rain coats and for the occasional dousing of a muddy child.
Read on to find how a mudroom can reduce household chaos…
