Our mudroom is in the same room as my office. So whenever I take a video call, the background includes the cabinets for our mudroom. These cabinets have to be organized! Because if they weren’t I would get really annoyed while on video calls having to look at that mess in the background! I know that no one else will care, but I do. 

So I have to make sure that I declutter and organize our cabinets for our mudroom often.

Our Mudroom Cabinet Set Up

Our mudroom is right off of the garage. When you open the garage door, our cabinets for the mudroom are to the right. They are floor to ceiling cabinets that have tons of hooks. We also added shelves to hold shoes on the bottom. And cabinets with doors to hold off-season items on the top.

The middle of the cabinetry is open with seven hooks on each section. And we have one section for each family member.

We also have a bench in the open section. The bench is the area that I have found collects the most stuff. The kids end up putting toys, markers, and other items on the bench. So it collects a lot of clutter. 

We also have bins to hold the kids seasonal gear. I have a bin for summer hats, sunglasses, and dance shoes. And I have another bin for winter hats, gloves, and mittens. Depending on the season, the off-season bin is in the cabinets above the cubbie. This helps keep all those items tidy.

On the hooks, we have school bags, dance bags, sports bags, jackets depending on the season, and purses. 

The hooks also collect a lot of clutter because of the bags and purses.

Declutter And Organize

Every few months I do a big declutter and organize session of the mudroom and entryway closet. I recommend doing this to my virtual clients every season. This will help reduce the amount of stuff that can pile up in your mudroom. 

To actually declutter and organize we are going to follow a few easy steps.

I like doing these two areas together so that you can see all the jackets and gear you have for the upcoming season.

Step One

Empty out everything in your mudroom or entryway closet area. That includes coats, jackets, bags, shoes…all of it! Start with a clear space.

Pile all the items up together from both areas. I like doing this so you can see everything you and the family has. 

Step Two

Clean any surface that needs cleaning. In the entryway closet, vacuum the floor of the closet and dust the hanging bar.

In the mudroom area, dust any hooks or shelving before going onto the next step.

Step Three

Group things together for each family member. I like making piles for each family member so I can see what items we have.

I group all the jackets together. All the shoes together. And all the winter gear together for each individual family member.

All the bags go into one pile.

Step Four

Go through each pile and check to make sure things fit. Every year, I go through our snow gear and order items that will fit the kids for the upcoming season. That way when the snow falls, I don’t have to worry about running out to find them boots. They will already have them because I ordered them during my mudroom declutter session.

I create two piles: hand-me-downs and keep. The hand-me-downs go to my nephew and the keep go back in the closet or mudroom. 

I like to keep trash bags for garbage I find in the mudroom bins and baskets. And I use paper bags for the hand-me-down clothing This way I can easily see what items belong in each category. You can also write on a piece of paper as well. I just like the visual.

Step Five

Hang up the items that belong in the entryway closet. Hang up the items that belong in the mudroom.

My rule of thumb for this step is to see what is the upcoming season. Have those items out in the mudroom so you are ready. The remaining items can be stored in the entryway closet, as we don’t use that closet. 

Now if you use the entryway as your main closet location, then store those items in that location. Look at how you use your space in your home, and remove things that do not belong in that one area for that upcoming season.

Step Six

Go through remaining items that are left on the floor to decide if they are needed to keep in your home. Most of my items are bags. And a lot of those do not need to stay. So I donate them to our local donation center because they request reusable bags for their store. 

If you notice things need to go in a different spot in your house, then put it away. 

Step Seven

Always know that you can tweak or change any organizing and decluttering system you put into place if it isn’t working.

A few years ago, I found out that the hooks in our mudroom were too high for my kids. So I had to use 3M hooks that they could hang their backpacks on by themselves. This was a quick tweak that I had to make so that I could keep our mudroom clutter free!

So know that tweaking what you did is something that goes along with every organizing project. So be prepared to do that!

More Blog Posts You May Enjoy

How to Organize Your Mudroom Like a Pro

Creating Mudroom Storage Like A Pro

How To Declutter All Your Shoes

Maximizing Mudroom Function

I am going to guess that your mudroom is used for everything. So to maximize the function of your mudroom, you need to look at what you use it for the most. 

For us, it is our command center. It is where all the backpacks and school assignments and shoes and jackets are stored. So knowing that we use it as this hub, I have to create function to keep it running that way.

To do that, we have baskets that hold items that could get lost of the shelves or bench. In our baskets, we hold different things for different family members.

My kids baskets hold their hats, sunglasses, sports glasses, and dance shoes.

For myself, my basket holds my masks and hand sanitizer.

My husband’s basket holds random items that were in his pockets or backpack.

Another way we have maximized function is by having seven hooks in each cubbie area. This allows for bags and jackets to have their own hooks. Plus, the hooks have two-prongs so they can hold twice as much as a single-prong hook can.

Our shoes are on shelves which can be adjusted. I love this feature because my boots can fit on the bottom shelf since I raised it higher. Plus my heels can fit on the bottom shelf as well. Same goes for my daughter’s shelves.

The cabinets above each person’s cubbie holds different items. Above mine, I store my purses and winter gear.

Both kids have their off-season gear stored above each of their cubbies. My husband’s cabinet above his cubbie stores all his extra hats, winter gear, and shoe shine kits.

Because we have created ways to create more function, we are able to organize the cabinets in a way that works for how we use the space.

So decide how you use the space first, then create a plan that will work with how you use the space. It will help you actually keep that space organized!