Having lived most of my life in the South, I'd never heard of a mudroom until we started watching HGTV a few years ago.
^It's the place where you take off your boots, coats, etc. In places that have snow, you change out of your winter in the mud room so you don't track snow and mud throughout the house. In most homes, it's a small coat room for kids' backpacks, shoes, umbrellas. I've only seen them in East Coast homes; I haven't seen them in California or Texas, but I have seen them in Philadelphia and Maine.
More like the crap the weather produces gets its own room, so you only have one space to mop up, instead of the whole bloody house. I imagine it's also a great way to keep kids organized. All their junk--backpacks, jackets, boots, sports gear--gets dumped in one place, instead of spreading it all over the house.
My earliest memories are from New Mexico. Los Alamos to be specific. from the age of about 6 my family got stuck in Florida. Finally got to get back in touch with family out west for an extended vacation when I was 15. I met and fell in love with a girl. Despite our distance from each other we remained close. She would play the cello for me whenever I'd come to visit. That's why the cello is my favorite instrument.
I'm with J. That's a mud room? I've seen sterile laboratory environments that are in more shambles than that. I mean....freshly cleaned and neatly folded shirts? In a mud room? You're doing it all wrong.
Give one of my friends a day or two in there. It'll look like cruise missiles hit it in a coordinated tactical strike.
Ours have been in storage for almost a year and does it smell. To combat the smell and mold we use Clorox Washing Machine cleaner. Works pretty well, best thing we found so far.
^ I was going to ask if you tried leaving the door open when you're not using the machine but I suppose this is not an option when there are young children in the home.
I'm happy and glad things are working out with the move, Tom. Congratulations on what I think is a supremely nice and cozy looking new place. Cheers!