Our Tiny Mudroom Tour

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to recommend any products, I just wanted to share our latest project in our organizing adventure :)

Hi Honeys,
Well, we finally (other than a few finishing touches) finished work on our teeny tiny entryway/mudroom and I thought I'd share.  

You might remember that we organized items such as bottled water and bottles of soda in this little entryway because it's always cool out there using green crates organized as cubbies.  This system worked really well for quite some time but we wanted a change and now that it's done, it looks like a completely different space and we couldn't be happier with it :)

Let's take a look then will we honeys?
As we open the front door to our home, the first thing we see straight ahead is a glass paneled door which leads into the hallway and the rest of our home...

Have you ever noticed honeys that you "see" things in photographs that you haven't noticed while taking the photo?  I've just glanced at the photo above and what's jumped at me is 1. look at the dust on that mirror!! It's been cleaned since these photos were taken though but still! 2. Hubby hasn't painted the "seam" nearest the locks on that front door! Now if I point that out to him he'll say it still needs a second coat but still.... :/

OK, my minor moans aside :) So, straight ahead as we come in through the front door is the glass paneled door.  To the left hand side (or straight ahead in this pic) is one of the Trones shoe storage units we bought quite a while ago from Ikea.  These are supplied in a set of three units and have been sitting till now upstairs against the wall at the top of the stairs waiting for a place to be useful.  Oddly enough they ended up acting as "over spill" storage for our furbaby Jade's toys and tennis balls :)

This unit is now the perfect place to store umbrellas as well as my two walking canes (which fold down for storage.) Sitting on top of the trones unit (for now) is a pretty little solar powered fairy cottage :)  I have plans to make a fairy garden outside but haven't had time to properly work on it yet. Above the trones unit, next to the mirror, is a cute chalkboard I found in the sale at Asda a while ago.

To the other side of the glass paneled door is the door to the under stairs cupboard.  It has a louvre door with an "over-the-door" coat hanger on it.  Either side of this door Hubby has fitted three of these adorable pet themed hooks, again from Ikea.

The first three hooks, in the above photo, are now home for three of Jade's jackets...

Next are Hubby & I's jackets and on the other side of those are three more of the pet hooks for Jade's things...

On these three hooks are.....

The top hook has two of Jade's harnesses for walkies with her Dad.  Walking dogs by attaching a lead to their collar can hurt their spine and neck honeys, it's much safer to walk furbabies using a body harness.

The middle hook has a pink organza drawstring bag attached. Inside is Jade's little "kong" grooming brush.  I love this, it makes her fur so soft and since Jade moults a lot it helps stop her becoming a canine snow globe when she shakes :)

The bottom hook is home to three little drawstring baggies, each containing a little rain mac :)

Jade's little coat hooks take us into the corner and the next wall (facing the mirror) looks like this...

If you look closely at this image you'll see that the little wooden plaque (with a Beatles quote :) is hanging on a crystal door knob.  This is because this is actually a "hidden" cupboard, this is where the electricity meter lives.  You might recognize the little crystal knobs from our bathroom makeover :)

Below the door to the meter cupboard is a Sunnersta rail from Ikea.  This is the new range that seems to have replaced the Ikea Bygel range (I went into detail in this post honeys).  On the rail are three of the sunnersta containers and two sunnersta hooks.

The containers are home to (from the left hand side):

1. Doggy bags for Hubby to grab when he & Jade go walkies.  
2. Packs of paper tissues.
3. Bottles of hand sanitizer gel, I work in retail and handle money honeys, I wouldn't go to work without this. 

The two hooks are for Hubby & I's lanyards from work which hold our work ID, swipe cards etc.

Directly below the little containers and hooks you'll just see the blue gingham top of a small ottoman. We've added this to the entryway to give us somewhere to sit down while removing (or putting on) shoes.  I'm fed up with having dirty feet (and paws Jade :) walked through the house so we now have a "no shoes beyond the glass door rule :)

I've even set up a couple of little systems to control the flow of outside dirt, but more on that in a minute :)  If you open the tiny ottoman you'll see this...

You might remember honeys we used to store these shopping bags inside a basket sitting on top of the cubbies?  I much prefer this idea. The bags are accessible but are tidy and out of the way until needed.

The little ottoman takes us into the corner and brings us to the last wall, which faces the coats hanging opposite.  High on this wall is a little shelf unit with two cubbies, each holding a little basket with blue gingham liners.

Inside these baskets (Hubby & I have one each) are gloves, hats and scarves. I've used individual clip seal bags to store them in to keep them free of dust.

Fixed to the wall under the cubby/basket unit are the other two remaining trone shoe storage units.    

Hubby & I have one of these trones units each. Our slippers are inside, as I said a "no dragging dirt from outside through the house" rule is now in place :)

On the door of the meter cupboard in the above photo, other than the little wooden plaque with the Beatles quote, there is a melamine plate decorated with bunting and saying "love and sunshine"  I do like this plate, it makes me smile :)

Next is a wrought iron key rack in the shape of kittens :) Hanging there will be our keys (just mine in this pic, Hubby was at work :)  There is also a torch for Hubby & Jade's night time walk.

This takes us to the top of the Trones units, under the cubbies...

From left to right we have the adorable earthenware jar we found at Ikea last week.  Then a photo of our furbaby Jade.  She's loved honeys. A lot. A really lot :)  Next to our baby is a pink crystal heart :) and next to that is a crystal Hubby bought me many years ago (I'm so old!) if you hold it to the light you see a bouquet of flowers :)  There is of course a hat hanging up. Have I ever mentioned that I adore hats :)

On the floor, behind the front door and under the trones shoe storage units is a little cast iron door stop...

This matches the key rack on the wall and we've had them for so many years.  I'm so glad they've found a permanent home now :)

Do you remember honeys I said I'd set up systems to stop dirt being trekked through our hallway and into the house?  First was to set up a seating area just inside the door, to sit down and take off shoes. The shoe storage units are alongside this seating area and stored inside are slippers.

I don't think it's in these images but there is a small rug on the laminate, behind the door, to catch muddy paws :) On the floor, under the coats hanging up, we have a plastic tray...

I've put this tray here to have a place for dirty/wet/muddy shoes to go until they dry and can be cleaned and put away.  I know you can buy special trays for this purpose but this plastic tea/lap tray does exactly the same thing and only cost around £2 from Ikea but you'll find similar ones in pound/dollar stores.

What do you think honeys? Do you have a system to keep your floors clean?  It took us around three days to re-organize both this little entryway/mudroom and also the cupboard at the back door (where we moved the green cubbies to.)

I'm so happy with how it looks, and works, now.  When I get home from work I put my keys on the rack, hang up my lanyard & coat, take off my shoes and my slippers are waiting for me :) Joy!

I think this is my new favourite organizing project honeys :) Till next time dear ones, when I'll share you how I re-organized our bathroom window ledge, smile lots and hug even more, huggles always xx