I've been looking forward to this project since we first moved in! Our goal here was to create an organized wall that could hold different things through the changing seasons: things like our rainboots and gardening tools. Our mudroom is located just inside our back porch, so it's kind of the spot where indoor and outdoor living meet up.
We purchased three large wood crates from Michaels and used Cabot stain in Pecan. To get a lighter stain we brushed on one coat of stain and then wiped it off with an old rag. The darker pieces had two coats without any wiping.
We chose to hang two boards (both 5.5 inches wide). The top board has clips for family photos, and the bottom board has hooks for coats, purses etc. I thought it would be cute if in the future the hooks were designated for different family members with their photos (we need babies!), but for now I used some old family photos that mean a lot to me.
Emma hung these boards (thanks Emma!). Emma's #1 tip: Any time you hang anything on your wall, especially if you will be adding holes in the process (drilling or hammering), be sure to measure everything twice and use a level if you have one. This is something my dad has, um, aggressively encouraged, and I think he's right. There is nothing worse than hanging a board (or hook or picture frame), taking a few steps back to admire your handy work and noticing that it's just a little bit crooked. (!!!!!!!!)
Since our mudroom is located between the back porch and our kitchen, I decided this would be a good spot for cookbooks too! 
xo. Elsie + Emma
118 Comments
Such an adorable space 🙂 I never thought about staining crates like that. Great idea! I’m redoing my studio space so I’ll have to steal that 😉 ♥
i love it
http://www.petiteandhungry.blogspot.com
What a perfect stage for your Hunter boots!!
http://sarahthearchitect.com/
I absolutely love this! I have a few stained crates up on my walls as bookshelves, but this is too cute!
Oh, after reading your yummy french toast recipe I think you’d really like the breakfast recipe I just posted! P.s. darling moccasins!
I have the same purple Hunters and I love a good mudroom! The clipped pics are fabulous – and love the crates!
Kelly
I love the simple photo board idea, so adorable 🙂
oh and those purple Hunter boots! They look great!
xx 🙂
Absolutely love this! Such an original space 🙂
Love the photo display Elsie! Great mudroom 🙂
xx Allison
http://www.thrifted.ca
I’m in love with those wooden crates/boxes!! Lovely idea and cute photos to make you smile everyday 🙂
Lulu xx
https://www.luluslittlewonderland.blogspot.com
Aw I like the pictures on the coat rack!
xo Jennifer
http://seekingstyleblog.wordpress.com
So functional and looks really effortlessly stylish. I like the boots lined up, so cute! We keep all of my son’s toddler shoes and boots in a crate by the door too
Uhg! You guys are killing me with all this home decor! I can’t wait to own my own home! Amazing, but what else is new. ha!
Such a gorgeous space you’ve created!
Love this! Totally agree with Emma’s top tip, I used the same rule for this project:
http://www.turquoiseflamingo.com/2013/02/diy-nancys-wardrobe.html
Cathy
Turquoise Flamingo
The clips for photos is such a nice personal touch! Love the mudroom!
xx Kaisa
http://reindeertrails.blogspot.com.es
gorgeous! love those crates
kw ladies in navy
I may have to steal that idea with the crates! A really great way to display those wellies!
I am completely in love with this – looks beautiful 🙂
xxx
http://www.caraward.blogspot.com
Such a nice rustic feel to it, I love it!
And I really love the wellies, I really want a pair of Hunters!
http://spotty-teapot.blogspot.com
SO cute 🙂 Love the boards
xo Ashley
luckylittlebird.blogspot.com
I love mudrooms! What a great way to use the space.
I like it! It’s pretty darn simple, but makes a huge difference in organization (and impact!) I like it mucho.
This is so cute! Wonderful Job! By the way, where did you get those shoes?
Anna
and you can always download a level app if you don’t have one! it’s saved me from hanging and then rehanging a couple of times!
That is so cute! How inventive 😀
Ahh, it looks so nice! I love this kind of decorations. haha and great tip! (it’s true). x
I LOVE what you did with the space, and especially the area for pics at the top! Its really homey and functional at the same time. I need some hunter boots 🙂
Ko-Shin
http://www.diamondlifeandstyle.com
I like how you were able to create an effortless looking mud room with the wooden boards for coat hooks.
So adorable! I absolutely love the crates!
xo Heather
http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/
I wish I had a nook where i could do this! Love the simplicity of the clips on wood for displaying pictures 🙂
Those Hunter boots <3
I love the look of the crates. I think I could definitely find some at a flea market.
Love! I plan on doing something very similar to hang my daughter’s artwork in her room. And we use those robe hooks for so many things (aren’t they great?)! The stain color you chose is perfect!
Sweet space ladies! Love the use of woods 🙂 great design, love it!
love this! I’ve been wanting to create a large crate shelf wall, but that can get quite expensive! I love your staining ideas
I see those crates every time I go to Michaels and I kept trying to think of a project I could use them for that the boy would use too. (My craft projects are usually pretty girly) This is perfect! And it would tidy up the entrance to our apartment too. Double score!
http://www.glitterinthequarter.com/
I love this! I don’t really have a mudroom, but I’m hoping the next house will have space for one. I’m all about gardening and that would be an awesome place for those tools I always need handy and don’t want to lock up in the shed. And I love the two boards. So adorable!
This is great inspiration! I think transitioning from outdoors to indoors is difficult, but I like this area that you’ve set up!
i love the mixed stains of the wood. my husband is an engineer, so he is so much more matchy-matchy, likes things to be in neat little rows. it’s my dream to convince him of something a little more like this when we buy a house….
this sis so precious! love the crates! i’ve been searching for some for what feels like forever! i guess i should let them find me!
🙂
johanna
http://diary.johannajohnston.com/
Wow, this is so cute! I wish I had a place in the house for that sort of thing. My house was custom designed by my Dad so I’d say it’s a bit.. awkward 😛
i love the rustic feel of your mudroom and how practical it is! i still have to do mine, well, actually, i practically have to do all my rooms, since we moved in our house not long ago. i’m really looking forward to it.
love, x
http://xfallenmoon.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/xfallenmoon
I love the coat rack with board and clips for photos above it! Really cute idea! Looks so simple too. Perfect for a small entry way.
this is so nice, I love your guys rain boots, I have been wanting a pair for a while. very inspiring.
http://abeautynerd.blogspot.com/
Love the crates for cook books! I think I might have to add that to my kitchen:)
so simple but so effective. the mudroom really would be so useful as of late!
absolutely love love love this!!!!! I live in vegas with 2 little boys so ill definitely need to tweak it accordingly but I can’t wait to make this my own project this spring!! and maybe one for my writing studio too in place if the ordinary bookshelves!!! thanks for the inspiration!
sincerelywhitney.com
Love this! I’m going to make some rustic hook boards soon! Love the way they look and how you made one for pictures too. Never would have thought of that but love the way it comes together.
This is great! It looks like a good cross between an outdoorsy space and pretty ndoor storage.
I wish I had the space to do something like this!
Lovely!
Esther x
http://www.esther-aw.tumblr.com
I love how simple and adorable this is!
so fab. love how practical & diy friendly it is.
I LOVE this! My boyfriend and I are in the process of buying a house and it does not have a foyer or coat closet, so I’ve been brainstorming different, inexpensive ways to create an entryway/an area to hang our outdoor stuff that would still be cute. Jackpot! Love this little design. How much were the crates and stain all together? Reasonable?
Love the rustic, yet polished look. Just perfect. A job well done!
http://beautifuldaysgoneby.wordpress.com/
~Steph
what a cozy little space!
So simple, but so cool! I never would have thought of the crates for shoe organization but I love it! May try this in our entryway to corral the masses of footwear that collect there..
xo
Sarah
http://atticlace.blogspot.com
love it! Looks great
So adorable! I love the boards with the photos on them.
Oh how I love this. I’m a big fan of the crates on their side being used as shelves. I think the crates would also look neat painted in different colors against a white wall. Love it!
Allison
http://www.alliray.com/
A mudroom is not complete without some Hunters!
So cute! I love love LOVE the photo board. Looks beautiful 🙂
I would totally put that in my entry way!
This looks amazing. It’s so organized, but with personality too.
Thanks for sharing. I always love peeks into people’s real lives/homes. Yours is so cozy and fun, and it’s been very cool seeing the progress as you go!
I love the clips for the pics AND I’m gonna need Emma to come to my house. 🙂
I love the idea of having each family members picture above their hook! So cute!! I’m also glad to see I’m not the only one with rainboots. ^.^
<3 Sara at tinysugarbee.blogspot.com
You’ve done a great job!
LUXESSED
I have been adoring your blog for some time now. I love everything you guys do. 🙂 And I hope you and Jeremy have babies too!!
Easy and practical, perfect!
Gorgeous! I love the wooden floor as well.
very cute and rustic!!
http://fashionablyspeakn.blogspot.com/2013/02/belt-diy-inspired-by-kate-hudsons.html
I like it and the pic with a baby is perfect. Have a nice day.
http://www.fashiondenis.com/
Love this project – especially that picture board. Perfect, homely organisation {as always}. Well done!
Jess x
Wow ! You are amazing. I find it utterly awesome that you plan to do something, then you actually do it … and it looks incredible every.single.time. I love this concept, I love how it looks. love it.
xx
http://eachpeachpear.com
Cute pics ! 🙂
New post up: http://www.thestilettoholic.com/2013/02/19/2300/
Lovely!
http://fashionbrunette.blogspot.com
Perfect…such well made!!!!!!!
http://www.BonnieClydeMarni.com
http://www.BonnieClydeMarni.com
http://www.BonnieClydeMarni.com
This is awesome!
I shall be stealing this idea one day 😉
http://lifeslates.blogspot.co.uk/
That’s very cute and good idea. I’m dreaming about to do something similar but have to wait until I’ll live in my own house and have my own little garden. But my next mission is to try to grow some herbs inside. For some reason they haven’t been too long-lived in my hands… :/
It’s lovely, what a great use of space and the crates, boards etc! I’ve been thinking of how to achieve a similar look in my entry-way and am tucking your pics away for inspiration! 🙂
I love this place!!! it’s so cute!!!
DIY in my blog… http://www.thestelstyle.com
Really beautiful!
haha, we also have the donna hay seasons cookbook! 😉
xo Eva
The board with the photo clips? AWESOME!
I love this idea, especially hanging the family photos on clips. Mudrooms can be really cute if you do them up right.
love the organization! Makes me happy to see things organized….is that strange? 😉
I LOVE this. Rustic, functional, and beautiful. Definitely pinning it so I can save it for when I move out of this tiny, one-bedroom apartment.
Love the photos! It will be easy to change them out every now and then…and you could even put festive pictures up for christmas and stuff 🙂
Kim
azulhome.com
So simple. I love it!
xo
Diana
http://unusuallylovely.com
I have to reiterate the whole hanging process about measuring twice before hanging drilling etc!!
I used to work in a frame shop, and I would get people to ask me how to hang short but wide frames (think a panoramic photo framed). Due to how long it was, we had to put in the little sawtooth hangers or you’d see the wire hang from above.
I had my method of explaining it to people, but it would take too long in a comment post, but tape measure, and a LONG Level are you friends, as are pencils and erasers!
Melinda
great idea… looks nice… want the same 🙂
It’s also incredibly important to find the studs in your wall (which is where the screws are supposed to go), and not just stick them in the drywall. That will fall and rip off chunks of the wall as soon as you put something remotely heavy on those hooks. Not saying you did that, but you didn’t mention it so I thought I would.
I love this, but where do you hang your husband’s big jackets? 😉 My area never looks this cute b/c of my man’s big stuff hoggin space!
This is an amazing use of a space. I like the idea of the photos above the pegs it reminds me of being at school.
Bravo Elsie & Emma
Cleanest mudroom ever.
love this, love this!
grace
http://herumbrella.com
This is a really cute idea. I especially like the board for displaying snapshots.
Love the idea with the wooden crates and cool idea with the photos on the board! xx
http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com
WHAT IS THAT TRIANGLE WALL DETAIL IN THE LAST PHOTO??
I love it so much!!
xo
Super creative and the crates give a great edge!
Lubna
http://WWW.ELLEVOX.BLOGSPOT.COM
So creative!!! I wish we had space for a mud room, I would love to do something unique and personal like this.
Great idea! Wish I had a mud room, or space to do this by my back door. Love those stained crates, and the planks on the wall. Awesome.
This is totally charming and organized STUFF makes me so happy 🙂
I´m in love with this<33
Great idea! I really like it. Beautiful and useful! Love it! I hope I can use this idea for my corridor. Thank you.
I desperately need to do something for coats and shoes in our mudroom. Thanks for the neat ideas
this is amazing! it’s definitely the most beautiful mudroom i’ve ever seen
This is such a sweet wee space! I love the black and white photos you have made a space for. x
Great idea with the two boards.
You do have a 4 member family! You could include pictures of the pups and hang leashes and outdoor toys 🙂
I really like the stain and really like the idea of using clips for family photos. Adorable!!
The crates are super cute!
xo
http://www.leslimarie.com
Love. Love. Love. So personal, stylish, yet uber practical. On the to-do wish list for SURE!
lusichkamarie.blogspot.com
Your hubby is so lucky to have a working woman and an awesome home maker all in one. 🙂
I really tend to favor the rustic look myself for part of our house, I like what you’ve done…cute!
I really love this, especially the board with family photos. I can’t wait to have my own place one day ^_^
http://ascottandco.blogspot.com
I love one of the cookbooks, HomeMade that you have!
It fits really well in that corner – organization that doesn’t look forced!
Looks cute! I can’t wait to see more of your house! I’ve always wanted a mud room.
Sarah=)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/OwlEyeVintage
Love it – so rustic chic!
Kate xo petite-adventures.blogspot.ca
Super cute! And great ideas!
this looks really nice and organized!
Valentina
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
I’m a big fan and you inspired me to do something with the space by our door (and to also keep my boyfriend’s worn-but-not-dirty shirts from cluttering our arm chair)…. (also from letting my shoes take over my living room). Check it out!
http://kissingcardigans.tumblr.com/post/45072471473/entry-project