I think all moms dream about an organized mud room with all the shoes and coats neatly lined up. Something with big beautiful storage like this maybe?
I don’t have space (or $$) for something like that but I do have a nook perfect for a mud room right beside the backdoor. I purchased a clearance shelf from jcp.com and added a white bench that used to be in my daughter’s room. Done! The perfect place to corral shoes and hang up coats!
Except…it wasn’t looking so hot.
The “mud room” became code for the “dumping ground”. While I love to throw all the shoes on the bottom shelf to get them up off the floor, it just looks unkempt. And let’s not even talk about the thoughtless arrangement of knick knacks on top of the shelf mkay?
A few weeks ago while browsing at The Container Store I found the perfect totes to fit inside the bench cubbies. And they even had beachy stripes with rope handles. The price wasn’t terrible at $9.99 each so I bought them. Once I got those totes home I knew I had to give the honey colored baskets a shot of spray paint as well to tie the whole look together. Here’s what the corner looks like now.
I even managed to pull together a lovely arrangement on the shelf using items I had around the house: black and white framed photos of my kids, a chippy window frame, a canning jar and specimen art I made myself with a frame and pack of sand dollars.
The shoes are hidden and the color palette so much more sophisticated! The look just makes me feel calm.