How To Organize Your Mudroom When Transitioning From Summer To Fall

Out with the beach bags and in with the boots! As fall approaches each year, it's time to reorganize the mudroom. There's a practical reason why the mudroom is often out of plain sight, used as a secondary entrance to a home: it's typically pretty messy. At the end of summer, this space can be especially disorganized. During this time, you might feel traces of sand under your feet and have to kick aside a couple pairs of swim goggles as you try to find a clear path into the house. In order to get your mudroom ready for fall, you'll need to organize it properly. Our tips include storing away your summer items, decluttering anything you don't need, cleaning the space, bringing out the cold weather essentials, and adding decorations.

The first step is deciding what to keep in your mudroom and what to store away. While you may be tempted to clear out all the warm weather items and start fresh, this may not be the smartest move. It's likely that the temperatures may take time to turn, which might mean more picnics on the beach or twilight sessions catching fireflies in the backyard. Because of this, place transitional items such as sunscreen, hats, and towels into a basket. Everything else for hot weather — floaties, water shoes, pool noodles, bathing suits, shorts, etc. — can be boxed up and stored until next year. But, wait, you may be wondering if you should you wash your seasonal clothes before storing them. Well, the answer is yes, especially for anything with grass or other stains that might be hard to get out.

Once you've decided what to keep out in the mudroom and what to store away, you'll then need to go through all your items again and pick out things that should be donated or thrown out. This includes any summer party favors, flip-flops the kids are about to outgrow, and tattered beach towels. 

At this point, your mudroom should be quite empty, making this the perfect time for a deep clean. There are some easy ways to keep your mudroom clean, such as creating a close-at-hand station with bottles of all-purpose spray, sponges, and other products and supplies. Wipe down surfaces, dust cubbies, and get everything in order. Before you know it, you'll be cleaning curled-up, dried-out leaves out of your mudroom, but at least your space will be ready for managing the household schedule around school, sports, and long walks with the dog during the autumn season. 

Once the summer items are out of the space and it's clean, fill the space with your basket of transitional items as well as some autumn staples. These include light jackets, boots, sweaters, and umbrellas. You can also bring out the school supplies and fall sports equipment. If you don't have a shed or a spot in the garage, consider bringing in a rake and some leaf bags, too. Looking ahead, lasso up cold-weather items such as snow boots, warm coats, knit caps, and insulated pants as well. Have those at the ready for your next transition from fall to winter. 

There are many mudroom ideas that will help you transform your space, and adding elements like shelves, hooks, drawers, cabinets, lockers, and sitting areas will help you keep the space orderly in every season. If you don't have a large budget or a dedicated area for a mudroom, even carving out a corner in the house and creating storage out of repurposed furniture or just a few storage bins will help. Some use tote bags or baskets to get organized. They can be used for all kinds of go-to mudroom items, including fall bulbs, gardening supplies, bike helmets, other sports gear, and even dance shoes and other autumn extracurricular activity supplies.

Getting the mudroom organized for the season might also mean changing up the decor. Consider incorporating fall colors such as orange and gold through paint, pillows, and wall art. Some like to bring in fresh or faux flowers, throw blankets, and Halloween decorations as well. A well-placed wreath with autumn colors can help signal the change of season, as can fresh or fake gourds and pumpkins or witchy brooms. Also think ahead to winter, where you'll be able to include garlands, mini trees, ornaments, and other Christmas staples. If you beautifully decorate the space, you may be more likely to keep it organized, leading to a tidier home overall.