How to Create a Functional Garage Drop Zone
Does your home lack a mud room? This simple DIY project will help you build an affordable and functional garage drop zone.
When I built my home in 2005, mudrooms were just becoming popular.
The idea of a drop zone with storage lockers wasn’t even a thing!
My husband and I chose a model that featured a second floor laundry room.
After all, there’s a LOT of laundry to do for a family of five.
A LOT a lot.
And the idea of not having to lug laundry baskets up and down the stairs?
Well that made me feel a little giddy!
There was just one little down side: the garage door opens right into the kitchen.
But that was fine: we had a cute little coat closet right beside the door!
The shoes and jackets would have a place to go.
It would be just. fine.
Fast forward 10 years…
My cute little kids grew up and started wearing much larger shoes.
And that little coat closet just wasn’t cutting it.
My husband tried to build some extra shoe storage on the landing of the steps in the garage, but it still wasn’t enough!
I suggested donating some shoes, and even then?
This landing was ALWAYS a mess.
I developed serious mudroom and drop zone envy.
Until one day, during quarantine, when I asked my hubby if the freezer could possibly slide over a bit…
And it could!
The freezer used to sit flush with that wooden support brace with the hook on it.
Suddenly?
I had an extra 30 inches of space at the bottom of those stairs!
Creating a Drop Zone in the Garage
My brain went into overdrive! What would be the best way to use this new space?
I knew I wanted to turn it into a functional drop zone, but what exactly did “functional” look like for our family?
Are you familiar with drop zones?
If you’ve never seen one before, check out this information to help you visualize ways you could add a drop zone in your home.
I took a little survey of the items we struggled with in the garage:
- Shoes
- Reusable bags
- Cleaning tools
- Jackets
- Bulk paper products
Next, I took a look in that cute little closet off the kitchen.
You can see we had tried to make it more functional with cubbies for the kids.
But when the kids are in high school and college those cubbies stopped being useful.
The things we were storing in the closet included:
- (more) Shoes
- Baseball caps
- Tote bags and purses
- Sunscreen
- Cleaning supplies
- Pool towels
There was some overlap, so I decided to turn the garage space into a drop zone.
The closet was going to become more of a cleaning closet and home to our pool towels and sunscreen.
Clearing the Space
The first step was to get everything moved out of the area in the garage.
We were in quarantine so I ended up also taking time to go through every bucket in the garage for a big purge.
Building a Storage Bench
I might’ve hit the jackpot with this guy right here.
Not only is he super cute, but any time I even suggest a project where he gets to build something?
He is on. the. job!
We completed our entire garage drop zone project by using scrap wood, hardware, and paint left over from other projects around the house!
It added an extra challenge to be creative.
The bench has a hinged lid so it offers extra storage.
Installing Hooks
Behind the bench was a perfect spot to install hooks.
We actually had hooks there at one point.
But, we didn’t anchor them properly in studs (rookie mistake).
If you look closely in the picture above you can see the hole in the wall.
Just above my hubby’s head. Covered with packing tape…
We had some pre-primed bead board left over from building the doors for our family room built ins.
It was the perfect way to cover up those holes!
The 2×4 at the top of the bead board will make a sturdy place to attach the hooks.
As I mentioned, this entire project was done using leftovers from old projects.
The goal was to not have to go to the store for anything!
The Shoe Wall
The old shoe cubbies compartments were too high and not quite wide enough.
They each held 3 shoes.
Three.
Yet everyone in our family generally wears two at a time…
If you’re doing the math with me, you can see they weren’t really as functional as we needed!
We did more planning for this new “shoe wall.”
Each cubby can now hold four (and sometimes 8!) shoes!
And each one is not as high, so we now have way more cubbies.
There’s even room on the top to hold our snow boots, and the taller spots on the side are perfect for rain boots and hiking boots.
Paint Brings it All Together
Friends, this project is using a complete hodge podge of materials.
All different types of wood.
And I probably could’ve just let it be.
We would have had the functionality I was craving.
But.
I know myself.
And I know my family.
If we had left things looking that way, we wouldn’t take the time to put things away the way we should.
Which is how I spent the next 8 days painting…
It all started with the wood framing the bead board.
But then the storage shelves above looked bad…
Which meant the entire shelf and supports needed to be painted…
And the walls…
Obviously the bench needed some painting too…
Which brings me to a helpful tip!
My favorite tape to use when I’m painting is Frog Tape!
But sometimes my husband buys the blue kind because it’s a little less expensive.
I figured the garage was a good place to use up that roll.
But keep scrolling and you’ll see why Frog Tape is the only kind I buy!
One night one of my daughters was bored.
We were about 2-months into quarantine at that point.
When she offered to paint the shoe cubbies I was happy to hand over the brush!
Um, yes, please!
Adding Some Contrast
I saved painting the steps and landing until the end.
By this point this project was feeling like that children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!
I painted the treads and landing the same grey we used on the shoe cubbies.
It’s Kendall Charcoal from Benjamin Moore.
You’ve got to see how it looks on the cabinets in the girls’ bathroom!
As you can see, I used the blue tape to protect the steps…
And as you can see, you get what you pay for!
This is why I love Frog Tape so much!
So when AnnMarie suggested I paint the lid to the bench the same grey to break up all the white on that wall?
You can bet your sweet granny I was sure to use my trusty Frog Tape to protect that paint job!
By this point in the project I was not looking to do any additional touch-ups!
The Finished Garage Drop Zone
And here’s how it all turned out!
We now have plenty of shoe storage.
There’s a place to keep reusable bags and plastic grocery bags before recycling them.
We organized and can access the area under the landing.
And thanks to purging 10 large plastic tubs of stuff, the shelf above the bench is free to store the bulk paper products!
The fresh coat of white paint brightened up the entire space.
Having a space to actually put everything away neatly really is a great feeling!
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This looks AMAZING! Have you had any issues with dust/dirt, bugs (spiders specifically for me), mice getting into your stuff? That is my hesitation about storing anything that would get worn in my garage. But I am OVER no storage space lol.
Thanks so much, Megan! I totally agree about the creepy crawlies! We have a contract with an exterminator since there are so many bugs in North Carolina, so I’ve not noticed any issues with bugs, spiders, or mice. We do get the occasional skink (tiny lizard) in the garage, but they tend to stay close to the foundation line which is on the opposite side of the garage. As for dirt, I don’t notice there being more dirt there than there would be if we had a drop zone inside the house. I do vacuum the area with a shop vac every couple of weeks though. Overall, I would absolutely do this project again! My only regret is not doing it when my kids were younger!
It would be total perfection if you took spackle and filled the nail holes, sanded them down and painted over w that lovely white. That would be magazine perfect!! I love this design!!!
Well, thanks so much for noticing the flaws in our design and taking the time to comment about them. Given that this is our garage not inside our home, we’re feeling pretty good about the transformation even with the nail holes…lol.
Looks awesome! Curious to know what you did with the space under the stairs. Thanks!
Anne added white milk crate style plastic bins that fit perfectly under her garage steps.
This turned out gorgeous! Do you have the dimensions for the shoe wall?
Thank you, Allison! That shoe wall has made a HUGE difference in keeping the area picked up. We fit the wall into the space at the top of our landing so the measurements are a little wonky… LOL
The bottom part of the wall that’s on the landing is 16.75″ wide and 3 feet tall (to the top of the railing on the landing).
The top part of the wall is 18.25″ wide and 5 feet tall (there’s another 18″ of space above that top shelf).
Then we tacked on the narrow section of shelves on the side for putting boots. It’s 10.25″ wide and 5 feet tall.
We used 1/4-inch plywood to make the unit.
The shelves on the main section are a 6″ high space which is high enough that we can stack my husband’s and son’s tennis shoes on top of each other to fit up to 4 pairs of shoes on each shelf.
The section of shelves that we added on to the side have different heights that we customized based on the heights of our rain and snow boots.
Hope that helps!
I need to do a post just about the shoe wall, don’t I?!
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