AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my links at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I have personally used and love. Thank you for supporting Reganne Briggs – Life Under the Western Skies!
The Three-Year Story of Our Mudroom Bench
Let me tell you the saga of my western mudroom bench, because every good build has a backstory, and this one is equal parts humbling and hilarious.
When Jared and I built our home, we were racing the clock. Interest rates and material prices were climbing fast, and we needed to close and move in as quickly as possible. That meant doing the bare minimum to pass inspection. The mudroom? It got pushed to the back burner in a big way.
For storage, I turned to an Ikea hack I had seen on Instagram. Big mistake. From day one, Jared and I absolutely loathed that thing. Stuff piled up constantly. The bench height was awkward because it was too tall to sit on comfortably. The shelving and drawers couldn’t contain all of our shoes, gloves, and hats. And the worst part? The bench sat just high enough that shoes would slip underneath it. Finding a missing shoe meant getting down on my hands and knees to dig around. I tried adding some temporary hooks to the wall, but the stud spacing was awkward, and the drywall anchors I used eventually failed. The hooks became useless.
The most embarrassing part of this whole story? It took us three years to finally pull the trigger and redo it. But I am so glad we did because what we ended up with is everything I had always wanted: a true western mudroom that is beautiful, functional, and built to last.
Designing the Perfect Western Mudroom
When I started planning, I knew exactly what I wanted…and what I didn’t.
I was determined not to repeat my mistakes. No more enclosed shelving for shoes. Mud, dirt, and debris are a guarantee in a ranch household, and I needed something I could actually clean. So I landed on an open-bottom bench design. No cubbies, no shelves underneath. Just an open base so I can sweep, mop, or vacuum under it without a second thought. Even if my kids don’t put their shoes all the way in, I can nudge them under with a quick sweep of my foot. Practical, western, and built for real life.
Beyond the bench itself, I had a few other non-negotiables for the western mudroom:
- A large floating shelf above the bench for baskets to hold gloves, hats, and scarves
- A sturdy hook board with hooks that could handle heavy coats and bags, which meant no more drywall anchor failures
- Board and batten on the walls to give it that classic western character
- Custom horseshoe hooks made by my dad, because nothing says western mudroom like actual horseshoe hardware
For the bench build itself, I found Ana White’s mudroom bench plans online. I love her site, because it’s full of excellent, beginner-friendly project plans, and the best part is that they’re free. Her open-bottom bench design was easy to customize and very doable, even for a novice carpenter like me. I highly recommend checking it out.
Materials List for a Western Mudroom
Before diving into the steps, here’s everything I purchased at the lumber store:
Open Bottom Mudroom Bench
- 1 sheet of ¾” 4×8 Sande Plywood
- 2 pieces of 2×1 @ 8 ft. Poplar
- 3 pieces of 1×3 @ 6 ft. Select Pine
- 3 pieces of 1×8 @ 6 ft. Red Oak (for the bench top)
Board and Batten
- 1×3 @ 8 ft. Pine trim boards
Hook Board
- 1×8 @ 6 ft. Red Oak
Floating Shelf
- 2×3 @ 8 ft. (for the support frame)
- ¾” 4×8 Oak Plywood
- 1×6 @ 6 ft. Red Oak (for the front face)
Tools
- Miter saw
- Circular saw
- Table saw (optional)
- Brad nail gun
- Pocket hole jig
- Pocket hole screws
- Wood screws
Finishing Supplies
- Wood filler
- Caulk
- Paint (I used Mountain Olive by Behr)
- Stain (I used Early American)
Other
- Baskets for the floating shelf
- Hooks (ours are custom horseshoe hooks — more on that below!)
Step 1: Build the Mudroom Bench Carcass and Bench Top Add Your Heading Text Here
For the bench itself, I followed Ana White’s plans completely. She explains the process so clearly and walks you through every measurement and cut. I won’t try to reinvent the wheel here. Her directions are excellent, and I stuck to them start to finish.
Step 2: Build the Floating Shelf
Here’s a tip that I used with this project: design your floating shelf around the baskets you want to use, not the other way around. I wanted to store gloves, hats, and scarves up on this shelf, so I picked my baskets first and then built the shelf to fit them. That meant I needed a shelf that was at least 18 inches deep.
Here’s how I built it:
Build the support frame first.
I used 2×3 lumber to create an L-shaped support system. I cut 15-inch pieces and attached them perpendicular to a 60-inch long 2×3 using pocket holes and screws. Think of it like building a comb — the long board runs along the wall, and the shorter pieces stick straight out to support the shelf from underneath.
Attach the support to the wall.
I secured the long board into wall studs at the height I wanted the shelf to sit. Because this was such a large shelf, I also secured the ends of the frame into the side walls by screwing into studs. This gives it a very solid, stable base.
Template the space before cutting.
Here’s where I learned something the hard way: my walls are not perfectly square. Before I cut my plywood, I made a template of the alcove using thin strips of 6mm MDF. Cut the strips about 2 inches wide and long enough to span the space. Trim the ends at a slight angle so they can be pushed all the way into corners without gaps. Arrange the strips to fill the space, then hot glue them together. When the glue dries, you have an exact template of your wall shape — no guessing, no gaps.
[Video link for wall template technique]
Cut and attach the plywood.
Trace your template onto the oak plywood and cut it out with a circular saw. I cut two pieces — one for the top of the shelf and one for the bottom — and attached both to the support frame using brad nails. I also added wood screws through the bottom piece into the 2x3s for extra security. You want this shelf to hold a lot of weight, so don’t skip the screws.
Add the oak face board.
To cover the raw plywood edges at the front of the shelf, I ripped a 1×6 red oak board down to the right width on the table saw and attached it to the front edge using brad nails. This gives the shelf a clean, finished look that matches the rest of the western mudroom.
Step 3: Install the Hook Board
After my drywall anchor disaster with the old setup, I was not taking any chances with hooks this time around. The solution I came up with is simple and extremely solid.
Instead of attaching hooks directly to the wall, I first mounted a 1×8 red oak board horizontally across the wall, driving screws directly into the studs. The board spans the space between the benches. Now when I attach hooks to the oak board, every single hook is rock solid — no anchors, no wobble, no failures.
For the hooks themselves, I used custom horseshoe hooks made by my dad. He took old horseshoes, cut some in half, and welded the halves to whole shoes to create a functional hook shape. I cleaned them up, primed them, and finished them with a black spray paint formulated for metal. They turned out beautifully — and they give this western mudroom the authenticity and character I was after.
[Affiliate link for similar horseshoe hooks if you don’t have a welder in the family!]
Step 4: Install the Board and Batten
Board and batten was the detail I was most excited about for this western mudroom, and I thought it would be the easiest part. In some ways it was — but my out-of-square walls threw me a curveball on the ends.
When walls aren’t perfectly plumb, trim boards at the edges won’t sit flush. I had to scribe the boards to match the wall angle, which sounds more complicated than it is. It’s basically just tracing the wall’s curve or angle onto the board and trimming to fit. I found a helpful video that walks through this process step by step.
Once the boards were fitted, I attached them to the wall using brad nails. I used 1×3 primed pine boards throughout.
Step 5: Fill Nail Holes and Caulk All the Seams
This step is not glamorous, but it is the difference between a project that looks handmade and one that looks professional. I filled every nail hole with wood filler, let it dry, and caulked every seam where the trim met the wall or where two boards came together. Don’t skip this because it matters.
Step 6: Paint and Stain
This is my favorite part of any project. For this western mudroom, I used:
- Paint: Mountain Olive by Behr — a warm, earthy green that feels right at home in a western space
- Stain: Early American — a rich, classic tone for all the oak surfaces
The combination gives the whole mudroom a grounded, organic feel that fits perfectly with our home and our ranching life.
Step 7: Enjoy Your Western Mudroom Bench
After three years of tolerating something we hated, we now walk into a mudroom that actually works — and that we’re genuinely proud of. Hooks that hold. A bench you can sit on. An open bottom that’s easy to sweep. A shelf big enough for all the baskets we need.
If you’re a novice DIYer who’s been putting off a project like this, I want you to know: I did every bit of this myself. No contractor, no experienced carpenter standing over my shoulder. Just research, a few good plans, and the willingness to figure it out as I went. You can do this too. And since I am all about showing real life, here is our mudroom with all of our stuff. It is still beautiful and fully functional!
Have questions about building your own western mudroom bench? Drop them in the comments below. I’d love to help!