Mud Room: Mistake to Avoid

As a follow up to my post on mud rooms, I wanted to point out some mistakes to avoid. In doing so, perhaps this list will trigger other thoughts for your mud room. For those of you who are lucky enough to add a mud room to their home, remodel an existing mud room, or are designing their dream home which includes a mud room, let’s make sure you think of everything and make no mistakes!  Any additional mistakes to avoid or other comments are welcome to be added by clicking on the word comments at the end.

By the way, My Domestic Bliss happened to do a post on mud rooms this week. Check it out by clicking here.

Mud Room Mistakes to Avoid

Door

• direction of door swing
• adequate width of doorway for your needs
• doggy door attached to door
• adequate threshold height so door does not get hung up on floor mat or rug when opened

Floor

• non-slip surface
• water and stain resistant
• color or pattern that does not show every speck of dirt
• grout color that will not get dingy over time
• drain in floor if necessary
• height of actual drain lower than the floor surface

Plumbing

• faucet on the wall with sprayer for cleaning floor if necessary (great for sandy areas, farm/ranches, hunting areas, and rainy climates)
• sink in area for miscellaneous use
• dog bath area
• powder room off of mud room

Electrical outlets

• on shelf or in cubby to charge cell phone
• for automatic dog feeder
• for boot warmer or dryer
• for 5-gallon water dispenser
• for vacuum cleaner
• camera battery
• other items that need charging

Backing

• for support holding coat hooks
• for the built-in cubby holes and shelves to attached to the wall
• for a mirror (nice to have a mirror to take one quick look before you leave the house or to put on lipstick as you go out the door in a hurry)
• for other items that might be mounted on the wall

Lighting

• adequate lighting to see what is in a cubby hole or locker
• specific lighting fixture to use as a night light

Built-ins: lockers/shelves/cabinets/cubby holes/drawers

• correct size for tennis racquet to fit
• correct size for skis to fit
• correct size to hang jackets and coats
• adjustable shelves and cubby shelves
• ridge to keep balls from rolling off
• large enough area for dog bed
• area for cat litter box
• place for pet food and pet equipment
• place for dirty clothes basket
• place for dirty shoes box
• enough shelves, cabinets, and cubby holes to hold all items you plan to store (make a inventory list of what you want to store)
• enough drawers to hold all items you plan to place in a drawer (make a drawer inventory list)
• not enough lockers for all household members (don’t forget live-in helpers, elderly relatives)

Hallway or Room

• wide enough for your built-ins to fit
• wide enough for your rug to fit
• wide enough for your door mat to fit
• long enough if you want a to locate a specialty room or powder room off of the mud room
• wide enough if you are adding a piece of furniture such as a bench or chair
• space to place an umbrella stand if you so desire
• a place designated for a bike if you keep your bike or bikes inside

Misc.

• not enough coat hooks for jackets, hats, etc.
• no place to sit down to put on and take off shoes
• not enough space for shoes and boots
• clothes drip area for clothes or umbrellas if you live in a rainy climate or run or bike outside even if it is raining
• drip area for waiters to dry if you are a duck hunter (I have seen a pulley system in a mud room that hoists the waiters up off the floor for drying)

After being away for nine days, I have been trying to catch up on reading the posts on the blogs I follow, scanning photos and writing the posts for my blog, and playing catch up as we all do when we have been away. Unfortunately, a few days after returning home, my 30 year old friend’s heart decided to start racing and he ended up in the ER on Monday night. What a crazy story. His parents are both deceased; his mother died a few months ago. Michael called a mutual friend and told her he was jogging and all of a sudden his heart started racing. So this friend said she was coming to pick him up and take him to the hospital. As the friend was driving to pick up Michael, he called her and said he decided to drive himself to the ER so meet him there. Our mutual friend said when they arrived at the ER and Michael got out of his car, he began vomiting and was clammy. He should have never driven himself to the ER! The nurse took his blood pressure and pulse and quickly put him in a wheel chair and rushed him to the trauma room. Having his heart race has happened to him twice before in the past couple of months but his heart calmed down after a few minutes. Our mutual friend begged him to see a doctor back then but he ignored it. The ER doctors assessed the situation and ended up stopping his heart with medicine. It restarted itself. He said it was surreal to have a team of doctors and nurses standing over him including one holding shock paddles and being told they were going to stop his heart. He said all of a sudden he couldn’t breathe and then his heart started beating. When I arrived at the ER, he was telling jokes and cutting up. He was trying to talk the doctor out of admitting him to the hospital as he was totally in denial of the seriousness of the situation. I spent quite a few hours in the ER that night and visiting him in the hospital the next few days. He went through several tests the next two days and the cardiologist determined he actually had suffered a mild heart attack. He has some sort of a congenital issue with his heart rhythm. He has been released from the hospital but has further tests to undergo as an outpatient. I ran into Michael at a restaurant last night. He is out and about as if nothing ever happened. Please pray that he has a proper diagnosis, responds to the treatment, and realizes even though he is only 30 years old, this is serious!