Pet Station in Your Mud Room

The decision to keep a pet in the house is a big one; you need to work out where it will sleep, where it will eat, where you’ll store its food and supplies. If you’re purchasing a cat, you have a litter box to worry about, while dogs bring their own set of accidents and unpleasant smells to the table. Carving out a space in your home for a pet is every bit as difficult as outfitting a baby’s nursery or giving a child their own bedroom! But there’s a simple solution that a lot of families overlook: the mudroom. Giving your pet a safe space centered around your family mudroom is a great option that will keep your house clean and organized, and you sane as well.

The mudroom is a great place to keep your pet. This is not to say that your new dog or cat should stay in the mudroom all the time—that would pretty much invalidate even owning the animal in the first place, and probably wouldn’t be super humane either! However, keeping their necessities and gear in the mudroom, as well as giving them their own living space is a great idea. Because mudrooms are built to be a transitional space, often where kids leave their dirty shoes and laundry, the mudroom is already equipped to deal with mess and some clutter. Make sure your mudroom has linoleum or otherwise waterproof floors that you don’t mind getting messy and are easy to clean. If not, consider putting down some waterproof mats or coverings over the areas your pet will frequent. Once your mudroom is pet-proofed, you can start preparing the space.

Your mudroom gives your pet not only a quiet space they can go to get away from people, but also a place where they can eat and drink freely. Set up your pet station with food and water bowls front and center, easily accessible to your pet and not in a place where they can be knocked over by opening doors or careless tramping to and fro. You can even store your pet’s food in the mudroom, as long as the bags or containers are closed securely should your pet be hungry and grow impatient! Your pet feeding area should be out of the way and easy to clean. If you have large utility sinks in your mudroom and your pet is on the small side, this can also be a great place to clean your pet. Make sure you have plenty of towels ready and laid out before beginning a dog’s bath, however.

The family mudroom is a great place to set up a pet station that is easily cleaned up and out of the way enough that wet dog odors or the smell of your cat’s litterbox won’t permeate the rest of your house. With a little careful planning, both your family and your pet will have their own spaces yet be able to live together happily.