Five reasons you want a mud room

1. Stash your stuff

While a mud room’s function is to filter the disarray, it needn’t be messy. The secret is planning. A separate compartment for each family member is a great way to keep everything tidy and to encourage kids to be responsible for their belongings. Include a bench seat, sturdy coat hooks for each person, and storage for shoes underneath in pigeonholes or drawers.

Armelle Habib

2. Create an out-of-pool place

If pool users are regularly trekking through the back door after a swim, only to drip chlorinated water over the hallway carpet, it’s worth killing two birds with one stone and installing a shower. Including a cupboard will give ready access to clean towels, and a toilet and basin let the space serve the double purpose of allowing playing kids and green thumbs to use the facilities without tracking in mess.

Nikole Ramsay

3. Double up with a laundry

A combined mud room and laundry is a logical pairing, allowing grubby sports kit to be flung directly in the washing machine or sink. Practical material choices are important, but needn’t be super-expensive. Make use of organisational gadgets like pull-out laundry baskets, broom and mop rails and wall-mounted ironing boards. 

Armelle Habib

4. Give the dog a home

The mud room is the perfect place for man’s best friend, giving your dog a warm indoor space to hang while the family’s out, without allowing him the run of the whole house. A dog door to a secure backyard is a first step, along with a cosy corner for the dog bed and feeding station. 

Cath Muscat

5. Create a secure parcel point

If you run a business from home or shop online regularly, planning safe delivery is a must. This is where new smart home technology comes in, allowing you to create a parcel delivery point with a secure door from the mud room into the rest of the house, and remote access locks fitted to the outer door. Lockwood’s smart door locks can be operated remotely via your smartphone or tablet, so when your courier arrives, you can let them in, wherever you are. Fitting a remote-operation wi-fi HD camera allows you to check who’s visiting your home while you’re out, as well as letting you keep an eye on what your furry friend is up to. Both devices – as well as a host of others such as motion sensors, smart lights and thermostats – will all be operated by the new Telstra Smart Home platform that will be available later in the year.

Sponsored by Telstra.

Chris Warnes