Can you put two water sources in the bath, one for rinsing the dogs and the other a touchless faucet for your hands (right near the drain)?

Recommend putting a hydraulic hinge on the bench seats so you can lift them up and store boots/whatever under the seats.

Cheri- that is one thought we are exploring

Brightfuturefoods- the benches have dog crates under them- they are a bench seat over dog crates- so can't put shoes there b/c of the crates.

Why not redesign the under-bench area to do away with the crates? put the crates into the garage for a trip to gramma's and just keep the dogs in these cubbies. Look at cubbies in the Alaska kitchen of igloochic--they're under the built-in benches at the window/eating area.

You can make the cubbies beagle-height.

One of the two beagles is shall we say, not the most perfectly behaved dog if left unattended in the house. Long story short, two chewed up Tempurpedic mattresses later, we've learned he's a lot happier and feels safer if he goes into his crate when we go out. It needs to be a closed crate for those purposes and it can't be in the garage b/c I don't want him getting cold.

Plus, they are fed in their crates and my other puppy is the sort that, if permitted, would take her nice big piece of raw chicken onto my bed to enjoy while lounging on my pillow.

So... crates stay. I'd move if I didn't have a place for enclosed crates!

Does the fridge have to be in the middle? You've got: tub FRIDGE sink.

What, the cabinet maker doesn't have a picture of a built-in dog crate in his system! I don't remember how the grooming tub ramp works, will there be enough space left to put one of the dog crates under the tub? That would free up some space under the cubbies for shoes and might even allow one of the benches to be lowered to a more comfortable sitting hight.

Marcolo- that bugged me to. The reason that it was done that way was b/c the grooming tub has a large stainless steel side for keeping water in. If the fridge is not next to it, we'd have tub, large stainless steel piece of tub, little sink tucked in, fridge.
The presence of the fridge next to the giant stainless steel side should diminish and hopefully hide some of the stainless-steeliness of the side of the tub!

I'm a bit annoyed, because had I revised this layout earlier, I probably would have gotten the much prettier and nicer "jentle jet pet spa" instead of the stainless steel grooming tub. Sadly, the grooming tub is here, ordered and non-returnable. I am trying to console myself with the fact that the jentle jet doesn't have a door :(

Ordering the grooming tub early was my second big mistake in this whole process (my first was the debacle of the non-returnable "blue" whitehaus sink which turned out to be purple. I'm hoping there aren't more. I had to order something so it was ready for the plumbers, though.

Well, why not sink tub FRIDGE?

OK, I didn't finish that thought. Blame the white wine. Behind and around the sink, you could use a SS backsplash, so the tub surround would blend in, and you'd have continuous stainless across that side of the mudroom.

Don't forget. I am tiling the backsplash of the grooming tub to hide the stainless on the back. Plus, the left side of the sink is where the plumbing is, so it has to be up against a wall.

Really, probably the most logical thing to do would be to get rid of the separate sink. Then I would have more counter space to take things out of the fridge. I just haven't made that mental leap yet because I want my sink!

Can you get away with one less cubby and convert it to shelved storage for shoes?

What are the drawers under the dog washing sink? Could those be shoe pullouts with doggy shampoo etc over the fridge or under the other sink? Or put doggy shampoo into a built is pump dispenser or ever a 'prett.y' stainless steel bottle with a pump? I can't remember if you were getting the stair sink unit or not

Could you put small vertical shoe tower on top of your printer stand/msg center on the right, to the same height as the regular cubbies? You could probably move the whiteboard (I think that is what is showing)

hmmm... what about putting in a low shelf in each cubbie for shoes?

I understand the need for a doggy setup, our home has plenty of concessions for our greyhound too. Heck, I could have had a bigger master bath if I was willing to give up our closet alcove/feeding area but I know we will always have dogs and I know I'd rather have that out of the kitchen.

Can you do some type of undercounter fridge/freezers? This would give you counter space and keep the room from being so closed in. Also, for shoes, you only need about 14" of depth. Can you put a few lower shelves in your lockers or dedicate one just to shoes?

Anyway, I think you will be happier in the long run with the grooming tub and the door. My long haired, double coated dog gets a bath about every 10 days and I vote for the door.

dekeoboe- We didn't get the ramp w/ our grooming tub- we are having the cabinet maker do a pull-out step drawer. I don't think my guys would climb up the ramp and I didn't like the way it looked or want it scratching my floor. So, we can't do a crate under the tub b/c of the need for the step.

mikomum- The drawers under the washing sink are a pull-out garbage can. But I might be able to make that only under half and do shoe storage on the other half. I also like the idea of maybe doing the shoe rack above the message center though. Or maybe making the message center a little narrower and sliding a skinny shoe rack in next to it if I can... I need the 4 cubbies though.... and I'd have kept the closet alcove/feeding area too if I were you too (obviously ;)

skyedog- the fridge/freezer is really important to me b/c of the raw food and it needs to be big. I don't think one under counter unit would be big enough and that is all I could fit in the space. Plus, a cookie sheet of frozen liver treats probably wouldn't fit... That is good to get feedback on the door being better too! That makes me feel better about it!!

SO much better than the first. :)

I'm worried about the human dynamics of the shoe thing, though. This isn't a closet, it's a mudroom. That means wet, possibly muddy shoes, right? Shoes above message center doesn't sound practical. I think if you fitted the bottom of each locker area with a tray for shoes and maybe a little shelf or pouch or basket above it for houseshoes, you have half a chance of them not ending up in a pile on the floor (projecting ahead to the possible larger family).

Re the sink: Once it's installed can't you tile the outside side of the grooming tub? Especially if the sink is going to be smaller. Or if the tile won't work, surely you could do metal mirror, or cabinetry, or something else pretty. FRIDGE tub sink really would look best, assuming that the fridge surround gives it enough spacing away from the wall to open fully.

If the door swing and other issues keep it at tub FRIDGE sink, you could minimize the impact by putting cabinetry all the way up around each section, instead of just around the fridge. Then they'd echo the look of the lockers on the other side. That would make sense of the arrangement, and, even though it might look a little more closed in, it wouldn't actually be any different, and would look a lot better.

Beagle, I feel a good portion of your walls are being used by the framing for the cubbies and the desk/message center. Could you pull the cubbies all the way down, replacing the message center, and put a tall pantry cabinet at the end of the cubbies with the pantry doors opening toward the sink area. Then the wall where your person is taking a rest in your plan could house the 2 crates and perhaps have a deep countertop height area with cabinets above for additional storage.

In our kitchen, we are planning an end-placed pantry that will be a message center at the top and the bottom will have peg board to hold the dog leashes, a small step stool, a broom (for the eye-vac!!), etc. Here's where I got my inspiration but extended to full-height. Our pantry is 9 inches deep as I wanted to put file pockets for mail, etc. ~Jenn

From: WoodworkersWorkshop.com

I really like the idea of putting the message center on the end panel. I just need to figure out where to put my charging stations so it is easily accessible when you first come in b/c I like to put my ipod/phone down immediately when my hand s are fully w/ dog leashes. I also would need to figure out where to put the printer and fax machine which are currently housed in the pantry cabinet.

pllog- we each only have one pair of boots, which I'm planning to keep on the floor or base of cubbies. In the summer, though, I end up collecting flip flops, sneakers, etc.etc. all of which end up in a pile on the floor. Those are what I want the shoe racks for!

I really like the idea of tiling all around the tub outside, and I'm going to ask. I also really like the idea of taking the cabinets all the way up!