I think the garage would work as well. Perhaps if you put doors on your lockers, the mice and spiders might stay away. Maybe there are sprays etc that could be used to further reduce the spider problem -- definitely want to address that as a spider in a shoe would freak out my kids (and me too). Recently, on the home decorating forum one member posted a picture of her garage with the most gorgeous epoxy floor (speckled with silver). If I was to have my mudroom in the garage, I would want to make the space feel a little more like interior space. That could include spiffing up the floor, adding more lights, even a window or replacing the man door with a window in the door to brighten it up.

Other than these ideas above, I would think a garage is a great space for the mudroom function given you have the space. Good luck!

Carol

Have you seen this popular pin on pinterest? Maybe something like this except with drawers instead of baskets on the bottom to discourage bugs? Or, maybe bugs would like those dark spaces better? Don't know, but thought you might like this inspiration picture:

{{gwi:1490274}}

Source: Uploaded by user via Dayna on Pinterest

Kirkhall--I have actually pinned that picture as well.

Ontariomom--dh did our garage floor in the same type of flooring--it almost feels a little rubbery--with the "sprinkles" mixed in. Makes it really easy to clean the garage and it looks nice.

The only pic I could find of the garage floor clean --the day of dd's wedding. Ignore the borrowed car and it's goofy occupants.
{{gwi:1490275}}

Yes! I have that picture pinned myself, and it is one of the things that got me really going on this. I LOVE the epoxy floors, and I was hoping that we'd do something like that as well. I was kinda hoping in one part maybe we could do laminate floor, and then where the cars sit to do the epoxy w/ the flecks.

Kirdyq--here's better pics of the epoxy floor. Our steps are just plain wood that took the paint well.

Excuse the mess. Boys---need I say more.

Yowzah! that's one fancy garage! You could have dinner parties out there!

It's really a disaster most of the time. Bikes, scooters and boy paraphernalia everywhere. But, thanks.

Red lover - do you have snowy winters where you are and the epoxy floor has held up fine? If so that is very tempting - looks like it stays so nice!

At least it looks like you still have PAIRS of shoes - my boys are always missing one shoe because they literally kick them off and they stay where they land!

Oh shoes and kids! Our 13 y.o. son plays baseball, basketball, and football and our 15 y.o. daughter plays tennis. Between them, DH and I you'd think we had 20 people living in this house just based on the shoes!

I vote a big yes for the lockers in your garage. We have a small stretch of hooks, bench, baskets below and shelves above. I'd love it to be twice as big!

Can you post a layout of your floor plan including the garage? Maybe someone can come up with a clever way to incorporate the mudroom as it's own space. Otherwise love the doors on the lockers idea.

Below is a picture of part of our mudroom (W/D and sink are behind the wall with the bulletin board.) Where the shoes and boots are at the bottom, we have removed those shelves and put baskets with lids there. (Because when the dog was a puppy he would chew on the shoes.) Now I really wish we had made those drawers. For us, baskets are just too much of a pain to pull out and take the lid off so the shoes in there are kind of forgotten about. I know that sounds lazy but when you're running out of the house it's nice to have quick access. Ideally the bench would be higher and we'd have tall drawers with removable plastic liners so we could clean up after mucky boots and shoes. And I'd like a bigger spot for storing gear (balls, bats, pads, etc.) We have one of those wheeled basket things to the right of what's visible below, but you have to dig in it to get what you want. In your garage, you could set up some of those ball claws, etc. (Our garage is detached so not as handy for that.)

{{gwi:1490278}}

Autum4: we have one of those epoxy floors in our garage. We're in the Chicago area so we get snow and rain. Our floor has held up marvelously (it's now about 4 years old.) It's easy to clean. It is a little bit slippery when wet, even though we chose a version with some texture. (We had 3 options - lowest end was very smooth and that worried us, highest end was really cool but expensive so we went mid-range.)

kirdyq: I mentioned the ball claws above. We have these for footballs and basketballs (we have some signed ones in DS' room and DH's office) and they're great. You might find these handy in your future mudroom space. You can find them at Container Store, Amazon, and I think even Target.

Although I have a mudroom...I think this is a great idea for older kids. I have babies now, but am sure the mess will pile up soon enough. Can you still fit the cars in with this?

Thanks Chicagoans. I am just over the lake from you. :) I think we will definitely consider doing this. On a side note - ours is just regular poured concrete and it is plenty slippery when wet so this may be an improvement in that regard also. And - I LOVE your entry floor - very cool!

Gaonmymind - you can count on it...and I've heard with girls the amount of shoes is 10 fold over boys - YIKES! I don't which category you are in but I don't have personal experience with that. ;)

Chicagoans--OMGosh. Those ball claws are so cool. I love yourmudroom floor. What is it?

Autumn- those shoes in the garage are just the tip of the iceberg. I have so many pairs of shoes in my mud room, that the drawers are overflowing. And I'm the only one it bothers. I fight the battle of the shoes every day. Between my dh and my 2 sons, I am always messing with shoes and I always have missing shoes. I would love a huge wall shoe rack in my garage.

Ga--you should definitely do the mud room space in the garage while it's the perfect time to do it. I have two older kids(girls) and they were never messy, but you never know. I wish I had a garage space like that. I agree, I would love to help the OP design her space...live vicariously.

We are 3 hrs south of Chicago. Mild winters, little snow. Floor has held up well. It does get slick with patches of H2O. Water doesn't seem to dry as quickly as it does on plain concrete. Very easy to clean.

Chicagoans - I love your mudroom! :) And, I would love to post our layout. Does anyone have a good suggestion of how to do that? I have a set of our houseplans, but they are on the huge blueprint paper. Those ball things are neat! Our oldest is just 4, and he is just starting soccer in the fall. I'm sure we are going to have lots more sports stuff in the upcoming years to store.

Red Lover - I love your epoxy floor, and I really want to do something like that. We must live fairly close to one another, as we are from central IL!

Kirdyq-

Emailed you.