As a wet spring & summer approach, it’s time to evaluate whether your mud room is up to the task. This list of must-haves can help keep your house organized.

Spring has come to Baltimore, with warm, temperate weather making a mockery of March’s lion. That means a couple of things: the first is that it’s time for everyone to go outside. You may enjoy hiking, biking, or being in an ultimate frisbee league, and outdoor sports are starting back up for the kids. Soccer, field hockey, baseball, softball, lacrosse . . . And those lead to the second thing spring means: mess. Dirt and mud come hand-in-hand with the season. Spring cleaning? I’m more worried about spring messing.

A Rainy Year Ahead For The Mid-Atlantic

Baltimore and the Maryland area generally get a good amount of rain. The state of Maryland, including counties like Anne Arundel and cities like Chevy Chase, gets nearly five more inches of rainfall every year than the national average. Baltimore, at 41 inches, is just about at the national average. Spring is obviously the highest season for precipitation, and this April alone we’re expected to see rain half the days of the month. Summer usually grants the region some reprieve.

Not in 2016, though. This year is expected to be a rainy summer, far higher than average. It’s also expected to be a lot hotter. We can expect a rainy and muggy season, but we also know that won’t keep us from heading outside. There’s a life to be lived, regardless of the weather. But there’s a good chance we’ll be muddier, sweatier, and just plain dirtier when we get home. If you don’t want that all brought in your house, you’ll need to stop it at your mud room.

What Makes A Great Mud Room

A well-organized mud room can be a key part of keeping the rest of your house more organized and clean, no matter the season. It provides specific locations for items that don’t need to make their way into the rest of the house—and also provides a staging ground for items that you’ll need to take with you.

If you are ever running out of the house, say, taking two kids to two different practices in two different sports (in two different locations), you can understand the importance of having gear, shoes, jackets, and anything and everything else in one place, neatly organized, accessible right as you run out the door.

Making your mud room a space that is efficient and clean keeps your life focused and organized (and clean), despite your hectic schedule. Your ideal mud room should have:

• Hooks for coats and other items. A good durable chrome hook is the key to an organized mud room. You can hang coats up there, or jerseys, hats, purses, or bags. They are sturdy enough to hold a full backpack—and we know how heavy backpacks can get. You’ll probably want at least two hooks per person, as everyone is going to have a bunch of stuff they need to hang.

• Lockers and shelves. Have work boots you need to take off but can’t bring in the house? How about a science project that you cannot forget in the morning? Looking for a place to toss a mitt after the big game? Shelves and lockers are ideal for storage and organization—if everything has its place, there’s no muss, no fuss, and no frantic searching.

• An easily cleaned floor. A mud room should have a tile or wood floor, something that can be easily swept or mopped, because that’s where you’ll ideally be leaving most of the mud and dirt you don’t want inside. To stop it there, make sure you have your cleaning tools stored nearby (probably in those handy lockers!).

• Baskets. Slide-out baskets that fit seamlessly into your custom-designed mud room setup provide easily identifiable and accessible storage perfect for balls, pucks, and other sporting equipment. Baskets are also a great place to store cold-weather gear like gloves and hats during the season.

• A nice bench.  A small bench is a great way to encourage people to use the mud room to take off and put on their shoes. You don’t want anyone to think “Nah, I don’t feel like bending over now—I’ll just bring the entire soccer field into the kitchen.” A homemade bench is surprisingly simple, and adds another homey and warm touch to a room that, with your redesign, has already moved from the utilitarian to the elegant.

Closet America’s Mud Room Solutions

If you work with us to redesign your mud room, you’re sure to get exactly what you need, tailored precisely to your specifications. Does every person in your house need their own storage area, or should things be organized by activity? Do your 5-year-old’s hooks need to be within arm’s reach, but also work for her as she grows? Just how many pairs of cleats and work boots do you have? Closet America takes this all into account, and we apply our expertise to finding the perfect solution. Whatever your space, whatever your needs, we’ll create what works best, and our process, from design to production to installation, is seamless and painless.

I know that your mud room isn’t the pride of your house—it’s a utilitarian space (much like a laundry room), after all, and we primarily think of those for their function. But just as a laundry room can become simultaneously beautiful and more useful, a mud room can be outfitted in a way that beautifies and organizes the space, while allowing the rest of your house to remain pristine.

At my house, we’re excited about the spring and summer. We know it means taking advantage of the scenic mid-Atlantic area, and really enjoying our time outdoors. And even though it is going to be a wet one, we know that we can keep it clean. Your whole house doesn’t have to become a memento to what you and your family did outside—having a custom-designed mud room which makes efficient use of your space can keep your house clean, your life organized, and the outdoors where they belong.

Closet America is the D.C. area’s leading creator of custom-made designer closet, office, garage, pantry, mud room, and laundry storage spaces. Our experienced team of designers and engineers help create unique solutions that are customized with your needs in mind. With Closest America, you can have everything in its place, perfectly. Connect with us today to learn more!