Mudroom & deck access dilemma

8 years ago

Hi All,

The last time I posted, we were in the middle of renovating our 1950s ranch to have an open concept living/dining/kitchen, and it turned out quiet beautifully! See photos! I just realized that we don't have a true 'after' photo but we are done with it now- ikea cabinets, granite counters and white subway tile backsplash.

Right now the front door opens into the living room and we have two hallway closets, one of which we've turned into a shoe/coat closet. We live in the North East and for 4+ months of the year we could use a dedicated entry/exit area.

We've been toying with the idea of turning the breezeway (which already has a roof and foundation) b/w the garage and living room into a mudroom. See plan. We can fit in a decent size closet, perhaps a bench and a few hooks or a coat stand for guests. For heating we would do in-floor electric radiant heating.

We want to add a deck next summer, and we have two options for deck access- (1) convert picture window, nearing the dining table, to patio doors, (2) leave the inside of house alone and use a mudroom entry to backyard. The first option will lead to the patio door and the main door facing each other, with only 20' b/w them, and it leads to an awkward dining area. I'm inclining more towards the second option to also have a drop zone when one goes into/out of the backyard.

Is this worth doing? Without a mudroom deck access, I'm not too thrilled about replacing the picture window with patio doors- the space doesn't feel big enough for 3 doors (patio, main door, side living room door)

We're looking at a 3-4K budget for a mudroom (we don't anticipate any structural issues) and 1-2K for a deck, and we will be doing most of the work ourselves.

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Comments (5)

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Patricia Colwell Consulting
8 years ago
Your budget will need a bit of a boost the in floor heating will cost the top of that budget.I think I need to see the entire floor plan because to me neither of those are exactly right. The fact you need to go through the breeze way to get to the deck from the house makes no sense. Where the picture window is IMO the best place to access the deck but the table sort of makes that a bit awkward. Is there a way to reconfigure the furniture layout to make that area the LR .
SmallRanch SmallProblems thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
SmallRanch SmallProblems
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, Patricia! I'm not sure I understand by what you mean by needing to see the entire floor plan. It is a ranch with the rooms and bathrooms down the hallway.

I agree- the picture window is an ideal location, but I'm a little hesitant to have three doors in a smallish great room. The image doesn't show it, but there is also a fireplace (gas insert) on the center of the wall b/w the couch and the side entry.
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katinparadise
8 years ago
I wouldn't want a deck I couldn't access from inside the house, especially in the summer if you're having a bbq or party. Can you turn the exisiting side door into a french door and keep a separate entry from the mud room on to the deck?
chiefy
6 years ago
@smallranch small problems I was wondering what you ended up doing for access to the deck?
SmallRanch SmallProblems
Original Author
6 years ago
We actually ended up adding a mudroom with sliding door out to a composite deck. We built the mudroom 2 summers ago and added the deck last summer. We did all the work ourselves and spent about 4K on materials.

There are pros and cons-It would've definitely been nicer to have deck access from inside the house, especially when guests drift between the living room and deck. But there is a lot of dirt that gets dragged in from the deck /yard and it is nice to have that collect on the mudroom and not get to the living room. Also, it was so much cheaper to do it the way we did!