Small Space: Entryway Mudroom

We moved into our new-to-us house in Oct 2014 and began work on the laundry list of projects we wanted to do to make this place our home. First things first, make it functional and convenient. When you walk in the house we’ve got a small entry area in front that’s perfect as a mini-mudroom at our entryway. I started searching for benches, coat racks, entryway storage units etc. and found that they’re one of those items that’s over-priced (in my opinion); at least the ones I like. This Pottery Barn Wade entryway bench set was my favorite at $1600 (not even counting tax & shipping)! Even just the wood and wired cubbies piece was $300!

So we put our DIY-caps back on and got to thinking. I’ve seen tons of pins on Pinterest using crates as furniture like these on Amazon or check your local Micheals. Their $14 price tag made it an appealing option. My favorite concept was from Elsie Larson’s blog “Elsie’s Mudroom Organization” on A Beautiful Mess. We made a few tweaks in our plan to customize to our space and style.

So I bought 4 crates and stained them a walnut brown with some wood stain I had laying around. I used a stain sponge and it took maybe two hours to do two coats. Very easy- although the little slats were a little annoying to make sure they were covered entirely. Once that was done I had my husband cut down a piece of wood we had laying around. I sanded the edges and rounded the corners so it would look a little more polished. Stained the board with the same walnut brown stain as the crates.

We bought four Liberty Hooks which are extremely well priced at $3 each. We screwed them into the board and mounted on our wall using some heavy duty wall anchors. We load those hooks up with coats during the winter and it can get pretty weighty.

Then I went through our most recent photos and picked out one for each of our family members to put above their respective hooks. I printed them out via walgreens online photo shop and hung them up above the hooks with push pins.

Added a galvanized bucket and oval mirror from Restoration Hardware (purchased while I worked there during college circa 2005). Some baskets for shoes overflow helps keep our entryway tidy.
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So instead of spending $1600 on PB’s fancy entryway set, we made our own for under $100! We’ve been using it for almost two years now and it’s incredibly functional. It holds tons of kids shoes and coats; so it’s functional and I love its unique look. I’m personally pretty proud of this very easy-to-do project.