I asked because our current home doesn't have a designated mud room; our entry from the garage is just a hall with a small laundry room, which leads into the kitchen. It wasn't a big deal at all when my kids were younger, but I really started wishing for a mud room once they got old enough to put on/take off their shoes, and carry backpacks and sporting gear, along with all the jackets and snow pants and umbrellas, etc etc. All the general "stuff" that gets dumped inside the door (we always enter from the garage).

The lack of a mud room is one of the reasons we are moving/building. ;-)

I can't wait to have a spot where they can unload their stuff and hang jackets and bags, and keep their shoes contained all in one spot (away from a walkway, where I won't trip over them). We have a lot of jackets, so we will have walk in closet off the mud room. I have also grown to hate walking through the piles of dirty shoes and wet rugs to get to our washer/dryer......I am not a fan of combining the laundry and mud room, at least in our climate.

Obviously having a mud room is a big deal for us, but it may not be for others. It is just something I would keep in mind. As your kids get older, you might really wish you had one. At the very least, I would have some kind of a closet at the garage entry to put shoes and jackets so they don't pile up in your hallway. It could also be a good closet to put cleaning supplies, vacuum, etc.

All that said, I am not sure how to change your floor plan to make a separate mud room work. The laundry/utility is in the ideal spot for a mudroom (bench, hooks, closet), but I am not sure where you could move the laundry (you could put the laundry where the powder room is, but then I am not sure where to put the powder room).

You may not need a pantry if you have enough cabinet and drawer storage, but even a shallow pantry is nice to have.