What do you use your mudroom for?

thaiblue12 · #1 01/17/10, 04:22 PM

I have a mudroom that contains the washer and dryer and right now 4 bottle kids

I was told today that I must be crazy as that is not what mudrooms are for, I say

The mudroom has been the most useful room in this house for farm living. Yes it contains mud at times. Muddy dogs get stopped in there and cleaned before coming back into the house, muddy shoes get left in there as well.
But that room has raised alot of chicks, some goat babies, a trio of feral kittens, I use it instead of a dog crate and well I love that room!
The floor is easy to clean or cover as it is not huge and honestly it saves me time caring for them instead of treking outside and tracking them down.
So what do you use your mudroom for?

manygoatsnmore · #2 01/17/10, 04:35 PM

Well....right now it is holding a full size LaMancha doe as she recovers from whatever the heck she had. The floor is covered with a tarp and shavings, and the folded down milking stand with the headstall on it is being used to keep her in the utility room, as well as holding her alfalfa pellet bucket (no door between the mud room and the kitchen nook). I thought I was going to lose Maggie, and it's been a long haul back, but I think she's likely going to make a full recovery.

I AM looking forward to the day when she can rejoin the "outdoor" goats!

Ravenlost · #3 01/17/10, 04:38 PM

I guess what I call the laundry room would be our mudroom. It's adjacent to the garage door, but no one ever leaves their muddy boots, etc. in it. It has a large utility sink, the washer and dryer, my upright freezer and a storage closet in it. The downstairs litter box is also in there.

The only animals I've ever kept in there was an injured cardinal (mean little bird) and a baby opossum that we raised until it was old enough to be set free.

willow_girl · #4 01/17/10, 04:39 PM

Thaiblue, when I had goat babies in the house, I'd get a large cardboard box -- like an appliance box -- and line in with a tarp, and cut some round holes in the sides so they could look out and see what was going on. It contained the mess a bit!

FarmerChick · #5 01/17/10, 04:45 PM

I just built a 12 X 16 mudroom along with my daughters tv/playroom addition.

I wanted this for so long and finally got it completed about 6-7 mos ago. YIPPEE for me finally!!

My mudroom is wonderful. One wall is all countertop with monster deep sink. Big window.

Other wall is all closet for hanging Tony's farm and hunting clothes. Shoes/tons of boots etc. on the floor underneath.

One wall has all my egg cartons lined up.

My mudroom is for washing eggs for market.
Controlling farm mud etc
Wet stuff

injured animal if need be but hopefully not..LOL

wally · #6 01/17/10, 05:05 PM

We have ofter used ours as a hospital for kittens, puppies and piglets and sometimes when the weather is terrible to house the dogs overnight

meanwhile · #7 01/17/10, 05:31 PM

Ours is a Laundry Room plus Linen Closet. Each family member has a shelf for clothes. We wash / fold and then put everything up on a shelf. There is even a box for all those socks and gloves.

Then we have a whole wall with shelves underneath for shoes and boots and pegs all above for coats, hats, etc. It also have window seat boxes in which we store blankets and quilts.

Next it has a huge window with metal bakers rack plus more metal shelves above. This is where I start my garden plants, Doctor on sick ones, later dry herbs and anything else that needs drying.

I have a huge old metal farm sink in there that is used for plants, washing shoes, hand wash clothes - today we have to fill up 5 gallon water containers to take to neighbor.

The dogs hang around out there, we store the vacuum and bean bags there, it has an indoor Clothes Line that goes the full length of the room (I use a fan on low to speed up the drying plus the fan forces the moisture to the rest of the house) and we use 3 wooden drying racks out there for clothes drying too.

Shelves are there for storing tents and camping gear. And....fabric for projects, storage for my "back up" toilet articles and emergency cleaning products. And last but not least the boys keep an old TV out there that hooks up to that Wii machine they use to play games and do Yoga with. I hate that gadget and so it is banned to the Back Room!

We built the Mud Room - Laundry Room ourselves and I am very proud of it. I love the space and it works wonders in our house.

Oat Bucket Farm · #8 01/17/10, 05:34 PM

We don't have a mud room but wish we did.

Queen Bee · #9 01/17/10, 05:45 PM

I have "Mud Room" envy! We don't have a mud room so there is a mess at both doors! A mudroom is something I WILL have at our forever home...

So, How large is all of your mud rooms???? Pictures would be wonderful..

I am gonna love this thread...

Scott SW Ohio · #10 01/17/10, 06:00 PM

When I rebuilt and enclosed our back porch in 2008 it became our mudroom. Two walls are windows all the way across so it is a bright space. We have pegs for hanging coats and a plastic trough on the floor to park our boots and garden shoes in. There is a wicker chair and footstool in one corner, where I sit and read on warm days, and along one wall we have a pine stepback cabinet with overflow kitchen stuff in the upper half and hats, scarves and mittens in the drawers below. The whole space is 6 feet by 10 feet.

Life is better with a mudroom.

mandidawn · #11 01/17/10, 06:12 PM

we remodeled our mudroom last year and I love it! it's about 10X10. there are doors on two walls (leading into the back yard or into the kitchen) there is one wall of floor to ceiling shelves, and the other wall has our freezer placed against it.
It's not heated so I store all my apples and squash, onions and potatoes there all winter. It's also our pantry, coat closet, ect.
it contains the mud coming in from the back yard quite well.
I love it, dont' ever want to be without one.

**Tiempo** · #12 01/17/10, 06:14 PM

Mud room/laundry room/pantry/tack room/cook book library..oh, and the fridge is in there too as the kitchen is too small.

Ohio dreamer · #13 01/17/10, 06:41 PM

This time of year it holds "off season" coats and a stack of newspapers. It's is VERY un-heated and keeping ones boots in there can make them painfully cold to put back on. But then, our mud room is tiny about 6'x6' with the walk way going diagonally through the middle. It's a very nice staging station for bring things in or out of the house, though. It keeps us from tracking too much mud into the kitchen.

Linda J · #14 01/17/10, 06:42 PM

We have a laundry room, but is just a pass through with a washer, dryer, and extra fridge. We put our baby chicks (in a box) under the warmer light at least once a year in there. I wish it were bigger to hang coats, muddy shoes, a dog shower for muddy dogs, oh, I love idea of shelves for cook books, and those big pots and pans I only need once a year! One time, I had a baby lamb in the laundry room, but my hubby said to take it back out and give it to its mommy, she's calling for it. The lamb was so sweet, but he was right and she did just fine with mom.

FarmersDaughter · #15 01/17/10, 07:20 PM

Ours has our extra refrigerator, the chest freezer, a metal rack with lights that I start plants on, and a large closet that stores winter coats, boots, cleaning supplies, and many other things. Right now there is another cabinet in the mud room as well, but I'm going to remove it and put a work table in its place to use for various projects. The room is 14 x 12 and the closet in the mudroom is 4 x 12.

soulsurvivor · #16 01/17/10, 09:44 PM

I don't have a mud room, but the laundry room is about 5 steps away and is where coats, boots, stuff gets stashed. Everything is in the laundry room including the washer/dryer, hot water heater, furnace/AC indoor unit, and pantry.

Backfourty,MI. · #17 01/18/10, 05:49 AM

I call it the laundry room or Back room & DH calls it the mudroom.
It has our washer & dryer in it & it is the first room we enter after coming in through the garage so muddy boot's are there & farm coats hung up, etc.
It has been a real plus since I can't imagine everything that gets on the floor there being tracked through the house or in the family room carpet.

Sorry thaiblue, I haven't ever had goats in there but there's always a first time I guess. I don't bottle feed so it would have to be a sick goat & I'm surely not wanting one of those.

triplejmom · #18 01/18/10, 07:09 AM

we have a mudroom but we call it the back room. The washer and dryer are there,extra fridge and small chest freezer. We come in that door from the barn, that's where the barn clothes are kept as well as boots and any "around home coats". This room is heated and has a drain in the cement floor (very handy). This room is used for a lot of things including bottle kids..lol

BlueberryChick · #19 01/18/10, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Queen Bee

I have "Mud Room" envy! We don't have a mud room so there is a mess at both doors! A mudroom is something I WILL have at our forever home...

So, How large is all of your mud rooms???? Pictures would be wonderful..

I am gonna love this thread...

Amen! We don't have one either, but I would love to add one in the next few years. And, yes, pictures please.

Jenn · #20 01/18/10, 07:27 AM

I have envy. Laundry room separate next to Mbath which is good but very small. "Mud room" tiny space with door to it off back door hall and it is so full now with freezer and stuff we chuck there I can;t even reach the sink without stepping on a bag of dog food and other piles of stuff. Wish the whole hall were open so I'd use the sink and have convenient storage like FarmerChick. May remodel someday but I doubt it.