laundry room/mud room ideas and dilemmas

i have always wanted a house with a mud room.  they are so practical and being a large family we would really utilize it like crazy.  i wish we had spaces like these:

Source: cottages-gardens.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: the-tum-tum-tree.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: thetrendyhome.com via Lisa on Pinterest

these are all beautiful spaces.  problem is, they all take space i don't really have.  what i have is a  laundry room that can be divided to make room for a mud room area.

this is what my laundry room looks like now.

it is just basically a narrow hallway with a washer and dryer, cabinets, and a sink.  on the left are two doors. the first door is the walk through pantry, the second door is a half bath.  the wall in between is what i need to do something with.  it's half painted, and there are paint samples on the wall because i don't want to paint it until i figure out where this room is going.
when we first looked at this house when we were buying, i thought this would be my mudroom.  this would be the place i would put my samantha entryway bench and shelf that i had bought years before and loved at our previous house that we rented.

samantha entryway collection

to my misfortune, after moving in i found that after getting the washer and dryer put in, and then the bench, there was maybe a foot of space to walk through.  not only did the bench and shelf not work in that space, it didn't work in ANY other space in the house either.  eventually, i had to give up my dream of having a mudroom and sell my samantha. 

in the meanwhile, we travel this hallway a lot.  

i do the laundry, and the family-including our dog pepper, goes in and out that back door a lot.  when it rains, this is the only entry for pepper.  we use the hooks on the wall for jackets and hats, and the kids leave their shoes on the floor below.  it can get to be a mess in there.  what to do?  i have been seeing some things on pinterest and around the net...

i think this would be perfect- it's shallow and gorgeous!  but it would have to be built, hmmmm...

it's the little things

here's another shallow one

source

then there's this shoe storage bin from ikea.  it would have to be altered to make it into this, hmmmmm...

Source: ikeahackers.net via Lisa on Pinterest

there would be a bead board wall here (of course!).

and speaking of ikea, there's a way to put mud room storage together without having it custom built.  check out these arrangements using the billy bookcase system:

the polkadot chair

i was made hopeful by reading this post from melissa at the polkadot chair that i could put together something on my own.

really renata

i loved this one from really renata!

so i went to the ikea website and was so excited about all of the possibilities that lay before me!  if i only want lockers i could do that.  if i only want shoe storage, i could do that.  if i want cubbies, i could go that way too.  and if i want a combination i can do that as well.  so i stop to think about what i need the space for.  i need to store shoes and jackets for sure.  something with doors would be great so the clutter isn't visible, but not a serious need.  

before i get too happy i realize i have a problem.

i only have 62 1/4 inches of floor space.  that's not a lot of space. although the billy system works great depth-wise, lengthwise i have issues since everything comes in specific widths.  i'm still working it out.  

i might be back at having a custom system built.  which brings me to possibly building it myself.  i have plans by ana to make the braden bench and lockers.  if i buy all of the wood, have them cut at home depot, how hard could it be to put it together?  i have never built a thing in my life, but what a fun thing to start on, eh?

oh, decisions, decisions!