Maybe something like this?

{{!gwi}}

Source: via Dayna on Pinterest

I should also mention that this is an area in which we're hoping to save some money. What are the least expensive style (drawers, cabinets, cubbies, etc) that will still be functional for us?

You need a recycle box to deal with the mail. 90% of mail is junk and you need to be able to pitch it ASAP. Once you recyle, then you should only have 1 to 2 piece of mail per day left.
Another thing you need to do is to 'stop' all bills and go to electronic billing.

I like paper-holdidng cubbies with each person's name for the family. However, I am not sure if I would want that in the mudroom. I would prefer to have that where you will have the computer. Having paper cubbies in the mudroom where you will not be doing the actual organization work is redundancy and increased complexity that you do not need, IMHO.

How about buying some "used" lockers "cheap" and see how they work? They are great because there is a place for every thing: hooks for coats and backpack and shelf for paper, shoes at the bottom of the locker.

Im thinking about the same things right now.
My drop zone will be right in the middle of the kitchen, though. Or the living room. Either way, in plain sight.

Here are a couple of pics I've saved from others on GW. Sorry, I should have written down the names to give proper credit.

This is my current favorite. Upper drawer hides charging station.

Open shelving less expensive

Hope to see some other photos!
BT

Thanks so much for the ideas. I love seeing pics and reading anecdotes about how other people use these spaces. I definitely need a recycle bin in here. We do almost all electronic billing, but there are still enough bills that require us to do it via mail (yard care, some medical, local newspaper, etc). DH and I are trying really hard to decide if we need upper cabinets or if we would prefer some organizational things from pottery barn or something.

Hmm. I guess the space under the desk could be useful for storing large boxes if we have them. Or maybe a recycle bin?

They started digging the foundation yesterday!!! Today I drove over and there were mounds of dirt everywhere. I can't wait to see how our house will actually sit on the land. Our lot hill was so crazy that we just couldn't envision how it would look.

Along with the many great suggestions, other ideas are shelving to place newspaper recycling bins (you can find nice painted metal bins), pet food storage bins if you have a need, closed door storage for additional cleaning supplies. I'm sure you will be able to find a good use of the space and agree with you that a desk would be not very functional for your family in that location.
Good luck!

I have a spot like this in my kitchen. We found it was much cheaper to have the trim carpenter build the drawers, cubbies and counter, rather than order it through the cabinetry manufacturer. Our is a small, L-shaped area with knee space and big, file sized drawers on the left side, and open cubbies for baskets on the right. Although I have space for a chair, I NEVER sit in there...it is totally the drop space for my purse, where I charge the phones, and a place to file paperwork and put correspondence. I use those bins for stationary, office supplies, and I have my camera and all of its accessories in another. Unless you think your kids might want to someday sit there for the computer ( although with wireless, not sure anyone sits with their computer anymore) I would put some larger, file sized drawers. To save money, our countertop is painted wood with a thick piece of glass on it to protect it. I love it! If I wanted to, I could put pictures under it. Much less than the marble in the kitchen, plus I don't have to baby it!

(my hidey-hole is on the left)

Here's our drop zone in our mudroom. Each person gets a locker and a bin for shoes. We used Ikea tall kitchen cabinets and had about 12" extra so we made assorted shelves on the side. Every one gets a shelf.

The kids just have a big "bin" for small things that don't fit (or get lost) in the locker. DH, myself, and "guest" get a bin with dividers for car keys, glasses, etc. I bought these fabric covered bins from Home Goods. I also have 2 big bin on top for GPS, camera, etc.

On the bottom shelf I have 3 tier paper organizer from staples. (You can't see it on the picture because it's just black) One is for "mom" and all the school paperwork from the kids goes here. The other two are for each child. When I sign permission slips, lunch money, etc. it goes in the child's bin. This really helps with our clutter. Our mail comes in thru another door and my 1st stop is the recycling bin.

We still need to "finish" the mudroom but it's functional now.

One thing I would love in a drop zone is a paper shredder. Also a magnet board and/or pin board.

I second what thirdkitchenremodel said. We plan on having a pull out cabinet with a paper shredder and recycling bin in it. The plan is for none of that paperwork to enter the house past the mud room. The "junk" drawer is also going to live in the mud room.

I would suggest that if you are going to do a desk type area, you consider doing it counter height. If you're going to be using it without sitting down to it, it would be a much better height -- far better than bending over a desk-heighth surface. And that gives you several more inches of storage space underneathe. FWIW. Amy

I am trying to figure out what to do with all the paper too. We are going to have a desk in the family room but I love the idea of stopping the junk in the mud room first. Keep us posted Mom23Es. I would love to see what you decide upon.

I am again leaning towards a desk. Sigh. I can't turn off my inner special ed teacher voice. What if one of my kids is work reluctant and needs a non-distracting place to do homework? A place where I can keep tabs on him/her but also a bit out of the way. I think I worry too much. The plan was to just have kids do homework at the island or kitchen table when they're little and then in their bedroom desks when they're older. I definitely need a big recycling bin in there. I suppose we can always keep a big "pretty" recycling tub in there under the desk. A paper shredder would be good too, but I don't think I trust my little ones (3 year old, 1 year old, and 3 month old) with that yet.

DH is a computer guru- it's his job. I can't imagine having a computer wired to any wall in our house. While I'm busy obsessing over my kitchen, he's obsessing over running conduit and how's going to layout his server room in the basement.

Bostonpam- those look lovely! Our finish carpenter is supposed to build us something similar. We aren't far enough along to decide on specifics, but I know we have space for 3 locker cubbies (one per kid) and a set of shelves beside it- just like you have. I hope the kids will actually use them.

nini- I love your hidey spot!!! Wish I had a little space like that!! : )

Mom23Es, a stand-up quick-sort and organization area is a great thing. I'm just wondering if it'd end up working well for you in such and out-of-the-way location. After all, you only come in that door--you live in the rest of the house. You would have to return there every time you wanted to sign or fill out a school paper, get something you need, check dates, etc. All this would be much better closer to where you spend more time, especially if kids are going to be following you around trying to get attention while you look stuff over, etc.

Ours isn't quite the same situation because I can't threaten and beat him into compliance, but my husband totally ignores the desk I placed for him in our nice-size entry room and marches through two rooms to get to the kitchen before he puts the mail down. It's like he isn't totally home until he gets there. Will you feel totally ready to stop and sort right inside the garage door with everyone who piled out of the car, and whatever else you carried in, there with you too?

I like the idea of your drop center being counter height. If you feel you must have a spot there to sit, how about a stool tucked under the counter? That way it's convenient/comfy to stand and sort, but you can sit there if you choose to do so.

Don't forget a trashcan You can't recycle everything; candy wrappers and dirty kleenexes come to mind. You know the stuff you find in pockets that you don't remember leaving there the last time you wore your jacket. : ) You might also want to include a box of tissues, maybe a clock and a mirror.

Then there's things in our entry like sunblock, bug repellent, umbrellas, bubbles, library books, a bin for things to take to Good Will (our bench opens up for storing these goodies-seems like it's always full, and I try to take the stuff there when I do my errands), a container for shopping bags.

We also put bins on a shelf in our entryway for people we get together with often. They are labeled for each set of grandparents, one is for store returns, and another is for friends at church. It seems like we're always borrowing or loaning things to each other, and it's sooo nice to be able to put these things in the bins, and then (in theory, at least!) grab the stuff from the bin when we're heading out the door, or when they are leaving after visiting our house. And when our children make the latest masterpiece for Grammie, I can just stick it in the "Grammie" bin to give to her the next time I see her. : ) This really works great for us.

Consider a file drawer or pair of them in the lowers. Also a niche for a real waste basket.

We made our cab over the "desk" area 16 inches deep insteadof 12 inches. This allows us to store looseleaf notebooks of financial stuff. Phone books have shrunk in size; the old ones needed a deeper cabinet also.

Our "desk" is lower (lost the argument with DH) and we clean it off and use it for plates and silverware when we serve buffet style on peninsula. We have a cork board instead of a backsplash here.

Our drop zone is counter height.....the space under the counter has a tilt out waste basket and a cupboard for flash lights, keys, etc. We throw away junk mail as soon as we enter the house. I am still thinking about some sort of cork board to put on the wall above the counter but I wanted something that is a little more decorative than cork and I just haven't gotten around to it.

Here is mine:

File drawers and lots of folders. I have folders for pizza coupons, library info, handymen recs, medical insurance claims-per person per year, window coverings, floors, etc. Cab maker built two file drawers and a pullout rots for office supplies.

I open the mail and toss the junk mail and put the remainder in the foyer for dh to take to his office upstairs.

folders, folders, folders

Thank you for all these great ideas! Do most cabinet companies have a file drawer option? Is this something I can add afterwards? I love the idea of a counter height desk with a filing cabinet drawer on the bottom! :)

I love those built in trash/recycle bins too, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money there. I'm sure tjmaxx or home goods will have some pretty bins I can use for recycling.

We used Plain & Fancy cabinetry. We have a mudroom with built in cabinets and a bench adjacent to the kitchen, but we actually ended up with a desk in the kitchen. I needed to have the phone, laptop, and drop area there for convenience. It does get messy but it's better than the mail ending up on the counters. What helps our area is a window at the desk. We do have a built in file cabinet to the left, which is great for keeping track of kids papers, bills, etc. I am very happy with the desk.

Honestly, though, I am the only one who sits there. When the kids want to do homework they end up at the island. But at least my island doesn't have mail on it!

We have a cabinet beside our clean up sink with 4 recycle bins. I thought it was a silly idea pushed by the contractor, but I have gotten to really appreciate it. For some reason, my family had a difficult time carrying the recyclables out to the garage. But they have no problem pitching them in the special indoor bins.

The kitchen table is in the foreground of this desk picture:

This is a little further to the right showing how the desk ties into the kitchen. The shelving to the right of the desk holds cookbooks. You can also see a tiny bit of the mudroom/bench area to the left where the backpacks end up:

And just to show how it ties into the rest of the kitchen with the island where the kids prefer to spread out their homework, this is just a little further to the right of the desk:

Hope this helps. Good luck to you!

Ours is also counter height and I agree with those who suggested that height. You can get a counter-height stool so that if you or your kids do end up using it as a desk you are covered - counter height can also serve many other functions but once you put it in at "desk" height it can only be a desk.
Ours is mostly a desk but sometimes a buffet, sometimes a bar for mixing drinks, sometimes a breakfast coffee area to keep everyone out of my turkey cooking area. We also hung the uppers higher than the GC wanted so we had room for all these activities underneath.

Counter height desk is also a good consideration depending on your kitchen layout. Like I said, the kids prefer to do their homework where they can spread out more, which is the counter height island. Our desk is 60 inches wide and I find it convenient to pay bills there. Because of the closeness to the kitchen table, we use that desk chair as a seventh table chair when we need it. Also to the left of the desk is a wall mounted television, so sometimes we will sit in the kitchen, utilizing the desk to chair to catch a little tele.

Some folks have very strong anti desk feelings, but it works great for our family!

I am totally jumping on this topic late in the game... Sydney4 I LOVE your set up. Can you tell me more about it? Did your cabinet maker think you were crazy? Was it super costly?

We were debating a carpenter build and painted verses cabinetry, and yours may have just tipped the scales in favor of cabinets.

TIA

Norasnews...thanks so much. It wasn't super costly at all, in fact, the custom bid came in lower than the stock cabinet bid. I am lucky that I have a cabinet maker who loves try out things that are different. I showed him a picture of a counter height desk and told him I needed to keep mail, phone chargers, etc from entering the rest of the house. He took it from there. The tilt out waste basket and the other details were his ideas. The little cabinet next to the waste basket underneath the desk is a great place to tuck away flash lights, camera equipment etc. The opposing wall in the mudroom is a large reach in closet so we get a lot of utility in a relatively small space.

The only thing I would have changed is that I would have put a phone charging station in one of the drawers.....didn't see that idea on the forum until after mine was built.

Thanks for the tips! We are debating making a closet/pantry into a "message center" ...

Maybe you are a good person to ask, which would you rather have if you could only have one? A closet, or the counter height desk with plugs for charging???

Tough choice, I know.. but space is hugely limited....

The counter height desk..... definitely, but in our house mail and electronics are the biggest clutter culprits and I had to make my drop zone as convenient as possible....i.e. open and accessible. In our house, closets are where things go to be forgotten ,LOL....even our MB closet is more of a dressing room than a closet.

I lost the battle on this space--DH wanted a desk, I wanted a counter-height area with built-in file cabs below. We use the area as a part of the buffet serving area when we have large parties. One battle that I won was that our uppers are 16 inches deep. Newer phone books are smaller than the old fashioned ones--didn't anticipate that when we built this cab but the deeper shelf is useful anyway, but I wouldn't want shelf any deeper. Shelf depth allows me to file notebooks in that space and I can put odd items on the lip of the cabinet shelf--glue bottle, stapler, etc. I've put underhung additional shelf extenders in there also--holds paper punch, etc.

Be sure that you clarify what "pencil drawer" means. Our guy literally thought that's how deep the drawer should be so we got a useless drawer until DH redid the drawer. He realigned the drawer face and lowered the rails so at least it doesn't jam constantly. But even a roll of Scotch tape can still jam the drawer if it stands upright.