A $200 mudroom that is seriously improving our home's functionality

If you're home isn't working the best it could for you, does it even feel like home?

Evaluate your needs honestly before you transform your space into something that WORKS for you and your family. What season of life are you in? Where's the most ideal place to put the stroller (near or in the garage)? The piles of shoes (near the frequently used door, but do you even wear them all)? The baseball bat you hope your son will use one day (storage, OR the DONATION BIN - gotcha 😉😂).

I created this less than $200 "mudroom" space - a great place to hang up the diaper bags, hubby's backpack and store a bunch of kid equipment that was taking up valuable laundry room countertop and cabinet space.

This is a "try before you buy" for us - it's working great right now, and since it IS working so well, we'll plan to do permanent cabinets in this area in the future.

It was an empty hallway for 2+ years and went from nothing to good-looking and  functional with things we already had around the house! If you bought this new, it would still only cost $200.

We use this space to hang bags /backpacks and store equipment, travel gear and a few other things for the kids.

The only things I specifically bought for this area were the heavy-duty Command hooks (they were black - had the brushed nickel spray paint!) and the foam for the bench seats. Yes, the hooks are holding my diaper bag and are incredible. The IKEA Kallax units are my favorite inexpensive and versatile shelf units ($49.99 each for these 1x4 cubbies). They have been with us for years and have moved from all different rooms and served many purposes!

Here's what you would spend if you bought everything all at once:

$49.99 x2 - Shelf units (IKEA)
$10 - Cube bins (Amazon)
$10 - Rug (at auction)
$50 - Foam (Joann)
$10 - Home decor fabric remnant (Joann)
$20 - Hooks / spray paint (Amazon)
$0 - Painting (hand me down from my grandma!)

Have any spaces that you can repurpose and change up in your own home to improve functionality? Sometimes all it takes is a little switcheroo!

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