I recently spent a weekend with my in-laws and got to enjoy their gorgeous new home. Being a city girl, the spacious kitchen and formal dining room drew my envy of course (though I've gotten creative with my 1,400 square feet, there's only so much you can fit in a 2-flat) but the thing that really turned me green was - of all things - the mudroom.
Just imagine having so much space you can dedicate an entire room to dirt! It was perfectly organized to house boots, coats, mittens and all of the other outdoor-wear you could imagine in its perfectly designed cabinets and cubes. There was even a beautiful granite countertop and sink for rinsing those messy pieces before stowing them. The happy owners of this mudroom, my husband's brother and his lovely wife, instantly became genius in my space-deprived eyes. So, imagine my surprise when I sit down to check out the real estate section of the Tribune and find an entire article dedicated to - what else - designing a mudroom! Apparently everyone is catching on!
And why not? If you've got the space - and especially if you've got kids - the mudroom can be the saving grace of your home. Usually right off of the garage, it's a place where you and the fam can stomp in wearing your dirty or snowy boots and not worry about tracking in dirt. Slide off the wet, messy outerwear in the mudroom and spare your pristine hardwood or tile from the elements!
So, I while I still think the in-laws are quite the savvy homebuyers (after all, they did pick the home with the mudroom), I'd like to meet the gal who actually invented it. Now, there's a genius.
