Why should we use mudroom cabinets to organize that family-only entry point? Because, although we call it a mudroom, we don’t really want a mudroom—we want an anti-mudroom, a place to stop dirt and clutter from getting from the outside of the house to the inside of the house. Mudroom cabinets won’t do anything to stop those muddy paws or soaking wet shoes from making their way across the threshold, but they can help to keep the clutter at bay by offering a place to stash backpacks and leashes and coats and all the other paraphernalia that walks through the door with your family members.

It’s easy to get inspired by tidy-looking mudrooms, but let’s face it: Those adorable mudrooms on Pinterest with the color-coordinated coats and the ultra-clean rubber boots? They are fake. They make for visually appealing photographs, but every time I see one of those pictures and the boots or shoes are perfectly clean, as is the floor, I think, “You’re doing it wrong.”

In my experience as a wife, mother and dog owner, the mudroom is never actually clean. (And we’ve never once had color-coordinated rubber boots!) It doesn’t matter how many doormats you put down outside the door or how strict you are about the shoes, dirt will make it into your mudroom. And then the clutter is no longer cute. Clean clutter can be cute, as in the Pinterest photos. But real mudrooms don’t have clean, color-coordinated clutter—just clutter.

Mudroom cabinets are the solution. You’re not going to keep the dirt out of the house, but you can minimize the clutter to keep the room looking neat. Plus, they are versatile. Mudroom cabinets can be built-ins that give you both a place to stash shoes and gloves, as well as a place to sit down while putting shoes on and taking them off. Mudroom cabinets can be locker style—tall, thin semi custom cabinets that can hide away coats with hooks inside the cabinets but with places for shoes, boots and umbrellas below, and shelving for items such as hats up above. Mudroom cabinets can be whatever you need them to be.

Mudroom cabinets can give your room a clean, tidy look because items can be stashed away but also because the cabinets will look polished and uniform in appearance. And semi custom cabinets  let you modify the mudroom cabinets to fit both your space and your family’s needs. Do you need additional storage in your mudroom, say for cleaning supplies or winter gear? Semi custom cabinets can be used to customize your storage to fit your exact needs. Does your mudroom have tall ceilings and you could add extra storage up there? Semi custom cabinets make it so.

Thank goodness for spouses and kids and dogs and all of the busy-ness of life that makes having a family so wonderful. But thank goodness also for ways to keep some of the messiness of that family under control. And mudroom cabinets can do just that!