The mudroom often serves as the drop zone in a home and a challenging place to organize for families. It’s where we start and end our days. It’s where our backpacks, coats, sports gear, shoes, or more are kept. It’s the first thing we see when we enter our homes. And who wants to look at a mess every time we come home?
Recently, The Local Moms Network spoke with Closet Factory’s Senior Designer Kathryn O’Brien on her process for creating a functional and aesthetically pleasing space for the mudroom. Kathryn is a mom of triplets and has been working with builders since the 1990s, designing
kitchens, bathrooms, and great rooms. She has a love for interior design and talent for spatial recognition which allows her to solve design related problems. Below Kathryn shares how she used Closet Factory’s Five Step Design to create a workable mudroom for a local family.
At the initial appointment, Kathryn spends time meeting the family to better understand their vision for the space. She wants to understand:
Who is using the space?
How do you imagine using the space?
What type of activities do you do?
How are you currently using the space?
She looks at the rest of the home to ensure the design for the new space flows. This makes the new design look seamless. For this project, the family was incredibly active, participating in many outdoor activities. Their needs include lots of storage for jackets and shoes ready to go at all times. They also envision additional storage for items that are not used every day, like boots.
After Kathryn gains a solid understanding of the space and the client’s vision, she moves forward to the collaboration stage. During this phase, she shares a 2D and 3D rendering with the client and optimizations are made. At this point, Kathryn will also discuss colors, finishes and accessories. There are thousands of options to choose from and changes will be made to fit any budget.
For the family, Kathryn was able to create a design addressing their organizational pain points. The design includes curved cubbies for each family member to store jackets, shelving for grab-and-go shoes under the cubbies, and a fully accessible bench above. Since the family is very active, a separate custom piece with wrap around shelving adds an organizational element for the items they don’t use or need everyday. Drawers provide ample storage for things like gloves, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
Once the design is set, installation begins by a team of Closet Factory’s expert installers. They will remeasure the space and then install within a day or two. One of the benefits of working with the Closet Factory is your designer stays in contact with you throughout this part of the process. Once the install is complete, the client enjoys the organization and ease of use a new system from Closet Factory offers.
Closet Factory works individually with each client to create personalized solutions that are truly built around the client’s organizational needs and aesthetic desires. To see more of Kathryn’s recent projects, see below.
Garage transformation – Before
Mudroom storage unit
Entryway storage and bench
Garage transformation – After
Inside of the mudroom storage unit
To set up your FREE consultation, please call 203-549-1287. Visit one of Closet Factory’s showrooms at 100 Wooster Street, Bethel or 110 Post Road, Darien. Closet Factory is open Monday – Friday from 9:00AM – 5PM and Saturday by appointment only. Visit them on the web here and follow along on Instagram here.
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