Story thread · 5 reports / 5 sources

Do you have a bespoke ‘dirty zone’? | Emma Beddington

theguardian.com · 14dShare

Apparently a dedicated mud room will make you less stressed. But I have a very different approach I was excited to learn that the latest interiors essential, according to the Washington Post , is a “dirty zone”. I’m ahead of the curve – I’ve already got a dirty zone by each main door (and also one directly outside the back door, where, rudely, a mystery animal has defecated). The fridge drawers are dirty zones thanks to the windfall apples I thought I would cook, but predictably left to liquefy. There’s a dirty zone next to the washing machine and a mildewy one inside it. There’s the festering compost bin I’m too chicken to tackle post-heatwave, plus the cupboard under the stairs, which we don’t talk about. Good luck finding a clean zone, basically. Does this make me kinda chic ? Unfortunately not: the Post is actually preaching the benefits of confining the sordid ephemera of life to carefully delineated and hidden areas: storage benches, monogrammed totes or even a “mud room” (for co

First report: The secret to an orderly home? ‘Dirty zones' - Sat, 29 Aug 2026 PST — spokesman.com, 16d