How To Build A Mudroom Wall With Kitchen Cabinets

Article may have affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. Big thanks for supporting my small business.

Today I am sharing our gorgeous mudroom makeover and how to build a mudroom wall with kitchen cabinets – locker style. We did not have a designated mudroom in our home but after we remodeled the kitchen, we had an empty wall that was the perfect space to build mudroom locker style cabinets. 

I am going to show you how we used the same kitchen cabinets to create a closed mudroom storage wall, pull out drawers and a built in bench over the heat register at our previous house.

Building a mudroom wall with kitchen cabinets is a great idea if you need a spot to store coats, shoes and backpacks. Having a functional drop zone is important!

How to Build a Mudroom Wall

If you are building a mudroom wall from scratch, you can use stock kitchen cabinets from your local hardware store.

We happened to build our mudroom wall in the same timeframe as renovating our kitchen so it made sense to use the same kitchen cabinets.

I searched google and pinterest small mudroom ideas and design ideas and this was the best idea I could find to build over the baseboard heat register.

If you haven’t seen our modern kitchen remodel at our old house, check it out here.

This kitchen wall below not only had a window but a baseboard heat register which posed a problem for installing cabinets to create a mudroom wall. 

We decided to build the mudroom wall (which is right off the garage entrance) around the window and made a built in bench with legs which was installed over the heat register.

I cannot even tell you how much we needed this built in mudroom wall with closed storage!

If you are looking to build your own mudroom wall or looking to convert a small space into a mudroom, upper stock kitchen cabinets and pullout drawers are the perfect solution.

Here is the kitchen wall space before. This room was “random” room in between the old kitchen and our family room.

Growing up as a kid, this room was our living room / TV room before we put the family room addition on.

Part of the kitchen remodel was tearing down a load bearing wall and opening up these two rooms, creating one large kitchen.  The amount of natural light that we gained was also a bonus!

What is a mudroom?

A mudroom is a dedicated room or wall usually near an entrance door. Many mudrooms are located off the garage, part of a laundry room or next to the front door so when you walk in the the house, you have a “drop zone” and place to hang your coat and put your shoes.

Mudrooms have evolved over the years and essentially a traditional closet, is now a large walk in room with fancy mudroom storage cabinets, drawers and a bench for seating.

Mudroom Wall Ideas

We opted to use the same kitchen upper and lower cabinets as our kitchen remodel (see post here) and create a mudroom lockers on the opposite of the refrigerator.

1. Use Upper Stock Kitchen Cabinets

The tall cabinets with doors created the locker style closed door storage solution and a floor to ceiling look.

The blue/green paint color (Rainwash by Sherwin Williams) on the wall and the white cabinets look very clean and fresh providing that modern kitchen feel we were going after.

2. Install Pull Out Drawers

The drawers under the bench area for hats and storing small items.

The drawers are perfect for hats and mittens. This wall space is now a functional entryway and provides a proper mudroom in the perfect spot.

3. Build a Mudroom Bench 

The mudroom bench color is called Cataile and coordinates perfectly with the bar stools.

If you search Google for mudroom bench ideas, you will find several built in benches or “stand alone” benches. We opted to have our cabinets “sit” on top of the bench to create a custom built in look.

Installing a floating bench or a bench connected to cabinets is a great solution if you are working around a heat register. You do not want to block the heat source so the bench idea is functional and stylish!

4. Install hooks inside the cabinets 

The mudroom cabinets are actually kitchen pantry cabinets which we converted to a locker style coat closet by adding satin nickel hooks.

You can see I have my shelves stored in the top shelf. This way, if we ever do get a coat closet, we can use these cabinets as a food pantry or for dishes by simply adding the shelves.

Small Mudroom Ideas

This mudroom wall is one of my favorite features in our new kitchen. Having a bench right near the door is not only convenient but a great place to decorate!

A small mudroom or designated mudroom wall can be packed with storage and a functional drop zone if you plan properly. Small but mighty is how I think of our new space. 

Mudroom organization ideas can vary from elaborate or something as simple a baskets for a drop zone.

Short rectangular baskets underneath this bench would work great for shoe storage and smaller items.

Shop X-Back Wood Counter Stools  (click here)

The built in mudroom wall with lockers and a bench keeps everything so organized and the clutter hidden.

Pendant Dome Lights ( click here)

This is one of my favorite shots with the sliding barn doors. The bench stain color, bar stools and barn doors add so much character to the kitchen.

Click through this post, sliding barn door tutorial to see the wall before we installed these beautiful doors.

Unfinished Barn Door + Kit (click here)  (we installed 2)

Our pendants are from Restoration Hardware and are out of stock.  These silver dome pendants are identical (click here).

Board and Batten Mudroom Wall

If you are looking for a quicker mudroom wall idea and purchasing stock kitchen cabinets is not in your budget, check out my diy board and batten mudroom wall below I made in an afternoon a few years ago.

Here is this same wall a million years ago.

Board and batten mudroom ideas can turn into massive diy projects. Your budget and space will dictate how elaborate your project will be.

I didn’t have a lot of money to spend so I created a board and batten mudroom wall on a Saturday afternoon using hooks and mdf to create my batten pieces. 

With a little white paint, some quick measuring and black oversize coat hooks, I had a mudroom wall that was functional and served a purpose. 

After I made the board and batten mudroom wall, I used an old toy box that I converted for shoe storage and used that as the bench under the window.

If you are looking for mudroom bench ideas that won’t cost a lot of money, look around your house, you may find something! There are many built in mudroom bench plans online as well if you are handy and enjoy diy projects.

Fast forward 5 years, we decided to renovate the kitchen and combine these two rooms which meant, we could build a larger mudroom wall out of cabinets.

Here is the kitchen wall with window once the wall was torn down between the kitchen and living room.

As you can see below, the final built in mudroom wall fit perfectly in our kitchen and provided storage and functionality.

See full kitchen remodel before and after here. 

Did you miss this DIY kitchen renovation series?

Checkout the entire series below by clicking each link.

Kitchen Series Step by Step Posts:

Kitchen Before

Delivery of Cabinets

Ripping out old Cabinets

How to choose kitchen cabinets

Installing the hood vent

Installing the new cabinets

Kitchen Reveal {before & after}

Kitchen Barn Doors

Christmas Kitchen 2015

Kitchen Mudroom wall

If you are looking for more mudroom wall ideas or mudroom organization ideas, click through this post, 12 small mudroom ideas that anyone can do.