More than mud room
I grew up in Vermont where we had five distinct seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall and MUD. I’ve always called our entryway a mud room, but the definition really isn’t fitting. While we don’t have as much mud here in Maine, our unpaved driveway results in a ton of gravel being tracked into our house. The result? A gravel room…
The winter is when the gravel is really the worst, mostly because of the salt, sand and dirt that our heavier treaded winter shoes track in. The good news is that we are pros at taking our shoes right off so that the dirt isn’t tracked everywhere. The bad news is that our entryway is usually covered in gravel, which doesn’t make much of a first impression when you walk in.
My sweet husband kindly suggested that we get a shoe rack for our entryway. I kindly reminded him that we have a shoe rack in the entryway closet, but that somehow his our shoes never make it all the way there. This really is for good reason, though, because who wants all the wet, drippy, gravely shoes in the closet?
So, I am dreaming of a different solution; one that looks a little like these photos:
marthastewart.com
maillardvillemanor.com
myosowonderfulcrafts.blogspot.com
I like the idea that the river rocks or stones give a place for water to drain off, yet they keep the dirt disguised. I might have to put this plan into action.
Now I just need some cute wellies to put on the tray instead of my running shoes…
How is the mud/gravel situation at your home this winter? Any creative water and dirt catching solutions in action in your entryway?
I have a boot tray in my entryway (someday, I hope to have a real mud room!). Although the rocks look lovely, it would be a pain to remove them each time I wanted to wash my boot tray. By being unencumbered by rocks, I can just hose it off and let it air dry.
[Reply]
I love that idea!!! It’s so much prettier than my muddy trays I have. I wonder if my three kids and two dogs would keep the rocks where they are supposed to be….hmmm…may have to wait until they are a little older!
[Reply]
I love that first photo from Martha. I don’t have enough room in my front entry to pull it off though! Booo.
[Reply]
I agree about the rocks. Maybe a good substitute would be one of those “rock mats”.
Like this one:
http://www.windandweather.com/product.asp?pcode=1666&cm%5Fmmc=Tagged%2D%5F%2DNA%2D%5F%2DNA%2D%5F%2DNA&mr%3AreferralID=NA&mr%3AtrackingCode=NA
[Reply]
Ours is half called a mudroom and half called a sunroom, depending on if you’re talking to me or my husband (he grew up in a place where mudrooms don’t exist [hell, foyers don't even exist there - it's truly farm country, but with really small houses instead of gorgeous plantation houses]).
In the winter the rug & floor are always muddy from tracking in dirty snow. Yuck, I hate it! It’s taken me nearly two years of training my husband but I think he’s FINALLY understanding that I really do mean for him to take off his shoes in the mudroom instead of tracking it all over the house. Especially since he won’t help out with mopping the floors.
[Reply]
I love the photos …. but the reality of the river rocks is a bit different. I tried that system out for almost a year and it’s not quiet as practical as it is pretty. If you have pets, expect to have all kinds of pet hair mixed in with your rocks. And if said pets include a dog that happens to go out the door near the river rocks, expect to find those rocks scattered if the tray gets run into by said dog. The rocks also get muddy and really…how do you clean them? I rinsed them off a few times but it really is quiet a chore. I wanted so badly for this system to work in my home but it really was far more of a hassel than it was worth. I hope it works way better for you and you don’t have some of the same obsitcals that we had.
[Reply]
Erin Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Thank you for this insight, Mandi! I am definitely glad to hear from someone who tried it…I knew it couldn’t be quite as easy as it looks!
xo,
- e
[Reply]
I’m in the SF Bay are and we don’t get too much mud although we tend to come and go through our garage into the house and leave our shoes/boots in an area in the garage. I did get a real fun pair of leopard wellies….believe it or not at Costco just the other day. They are great for walking the dog on those rainy days.
[Reply]
First of all, did I know you were from Maine? Because I just had an OMG she’s from Maine moment, but I also have a horrible memory so I could have had the same moment a month ago. I grew up in Freeport and loooong for Maine every day. Can you send some snow to DC/NoVA please?
In re: boot trays, S and I each have our own shoe tray (xmas tree shops cheapo) along the driveway side of the wall in our dining room, on either side of the little chest thingy under the window. I put each tray on a matching 2×3 rag rug from Crate & Barrel to keep them from sliding around and scratching the floors. S’s is in the far corner because he keeps everything on his tray and I can’t handle looking at it – boots, shoes, returns, battery charger, drill batteries, etc. I keep three pairs of shoes, one boot, one sneaker and one slip-on dog walking pair neatly lined up with a folded gray towel on top for Feeney’s paws. I’m loving the river rock idea. I may scrounge around in one of my crafts boxes to see if I have enough to fill the trays.
[Reply]
Here in Oregon I get so much dirt/mud and FIR NEEDLES (they get everywhere!) in my entryway that I really have pretty much given up cleaning it unless I know there is company coming over! I really like the look of the river rock trays but I don’t have much space for them- maybe I could put them outside? I’ve also seen the idea of just a tray (like a large jelly roll pan) with nothing in it to put dirty shoes in- that isn’t nearly as cute but it would be easier to clean. Maybe Mod Podge some cute paper onto the inside??
[Reply]
No mud room needed here in LA, but I love the look of the rocks! We still take our shoes off at the door, and I’ve been trying to find a cute way to store them. May have to try this!
[Reply]
YES! I love the boot tray. Great idea and so much prettier than a plain boot tray. I think I have to try this, too, for the new house.
[Reply]
I have been looking for a good shoe rack to go by the door for a while. My first thought about these echos others’ thoughts about the accumulating dirt and cleaning all those rocks. This is why we still don’t have anything other than a giant waterhog mat from LL Bean. I can poke holes in just about any style I have seen….
[Reply]
I have a similar problem in my mud room. For some reason, I feel like I never want to clean the floor because the second I turn around it is filthy again. And so it remains a mud/gravel mess.
I think that the rock idea looks really cute. Although, in actuality, it probably isn’t as neat and tidy as it looks in the pictures. I’m sure that it is a pain to clean the rocks once they get all muddy. Not to mention that little Ike will be movin’ and groovin’ around on that floor in the blink of an eye and he will be all over those rocks!
I have just accepted that the ugly plastic boot tray is going to be a winter/spring staple in my mud room, even if it doesn’t look very pretty! If you do happen to find a pretty solution to the mud issue….please let me in on the secret!
[Reply]
What a cute idea! I think in practice at my place it would be a disaster though, my little one year old girl loves to pick that sort of thing up and try it in her mouth, and I know they would end up ‘hidden’ around the house as she is at the stage where she loves putting small things inside larger things! One of our dog loves to pick rocks up too, so even out on the sunporch where the baby doesn’t roam freely wouldn’t work as then the dogs would move rocks around… Guess I’m just going to have to keep saving for some of those waterhog mats. Looking forward to seeing your solution!
[Reply]
Love that solution! I’ve never seen something like that before. It’s a great idea… we would just have to actually get into the habit of taking our shoes off in the house. Thankfully we don’t have a gravel or dirt driveway so our floors never get too messy. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. <3
[Reply]
I read through everyone’s comments and thought….what if you hot glue gun down the rocks. That way you could still hose down the tray outside and the rocks would stay in place. If you really want the rocks off the tray just peel them off. It is not like you need to eat off the tray. Just a thought. It really is a cute idea.
[Reply]