Also, NOT having a mudroom — or whatever-you-want-to-call-it — is darned expensive. Every time you open your front door, all that expensive heat goes rushing outside! Something of an airlock makes a huge difference on heating bills, and is much more “green”.

In Wisconsin, you don’t want to open the door from the heated house right outside! (or vice versa!) In addition, if you’ve never been in a house with 5+ people in a Real winter (aka, you have to wear 2+ layers, and 2+ socks, &c), then you don’t really understand the amount of space it takes up.

That being said, do you need something like this in LA? No, of course not!

http://www.plowhearth.com/prod.....2D%5F%2DNA

We also have hooks there for backpacks, dog leashes, coats, and anything else we think needs to be in that area. It’s not an entire room but simply an area by the garage door that functions well. I keep my keys and cell phone in my purse, which has its own hook in the kitchen; my husband keeps his cell phone and keys in a drawer in the kitchen that is specifically for him. Mail is handled immediately upon entering the house .. bills go on my computer desk, junk gets shredded .. we keep the shredder right under the counter in the kitchen.

It took me years to get here but it runs like a well oiled machine now.

I used to live in New Hampshire and there we DID need an entire room, or hall, or closet sans door, for a mud room as you have parkas, boots, hats, scarves, gloves, etc .. it takes up alot of room. We live in the south now and never need more than a heavy sweater .. maybe four times a year.

I’ve heard people in PA call them mudrooms, but that was mostly for farmhouses. I know I’ll judge entrances whenever I look for a house.

I also do not have a pantry, and my cabinet space is extremely limited. Coming up with ways to store the staple food such as flour, sugar, and rice that we use in addition to our weekly food creates more clutter and chaos than a pantry ever would.

But we entered the house from the rear (due to the front door always being sticky/uncooperative from poor construction). It opened directly on the dining room/kitchen, so more often than not, bookbags and shoes got stowed next to the back door. It was sufficient for us. If your shoes were wet/muddy, we’d kick them off on the porch.

Growing up in California, the small entry way in our home was more than sufficient for dealing with home entry clutter.

However, when I went to school in freezing cold Idaho the need for a mudroom quickly became apparent. The combination of snow + walking around campus meant our living room carpets were constantly wet and/or muddy in the winter. You also ended up with a huge pile of shoes and coats right next to the door since this was the only way to keep said muddy/wet carpet under control. Since apartments were already cramped, mudrooms would have done wonders in keeping the house more livable as well as avoiding roommate conflicts.

I think a mudroom type space is more of a necessity in rural environments. Those of us in cities can get by with a simple landing strip area to ditch out cellphones and take off our shoes.