Front Entry Way Closet Makeover
I love our front entry way because you can see our beautiful curved staircase going up the stairs as soon as you come in the front door. Our front entry way has two closets. One on either side of the front door. These closets are really great for storage but were not really functioning very well. Kevin and I use one closet and Ian and Ben were suppose to use the other one. Usually they would just hang up their coats over the door knobs. and toss their shoes in the corner. Time to fix this front entry way closet.
Time to give this space a makeover
I just loved the front entry way bench/lockers that my dad made for us in our Calgary house. I wanted to do something similar on a much smaller and easier scale. My plan is to install a bench, a nice shelf to put some baskets on and add a bunch of hooks so we can hang up coats easily. Shoes and boots will be stored under the bench and hats and mitts etc. will fill the baskets.
Calgary House Entry
I also want to do this project with materials already on hand. We already had a bunch of 2 x 4 ‘s from a storage room we removed in the basement. I am going to use these for the frame the bench will sit on. The actual bench will be made from some nice wood removed from a ceiling beam in the basement. Long story but we had to take the ceiling down in the basement for the dishwasher episode. I also had some old white melamine shelving the previous owners left behind that I plan to use for the shelf.
First step was to empty the closet and remove the old shelf and closet rod that was in there. I also removed the doors because I will no longer be using them. I ended up giving them to Habitat for Humanity to be reused again. Then I put my green little stool in there just to give me an idea of how high to put my bench.
Next it was time to start building. The fun part! I took 2 of my 3 white melamine shelves and cut them to the length of the back of the closet. One for the shelf and one to be used to set the shelf on. I took the third shelf and cut two end pieces. These smaller pieces will go on the side walls for the shelf to rest on as well. I attached everything to the wall with screws making sure to hit the studs so it would be nice and secure. I also secured the top shelf to the melamine boards with my Ryobi brand nailer. Then I filled in all of the holes and cracks and gave it a nice fresh coat of paint. Simply White by Benjamin Moore of course!
Once the shelf was installed I installed these two little shelf brackets I found at Ikea. These will create a defined ‘locker’ type space for each person to hang up their stuff.
After they were installed I attached the hooks. These beautiful black hooks I found at Canadian Tire on clearance no less. Score! I used very similar ones in stainless for or master bathroom renovation. As you can see in the picture this is the painted finished shelf and hooks. The front entry way closet is coming along.
Now onto the bench part of my plan. I needed to make a seat using the two pieces of wood removed from the basement beam. I took them over to my Dad’s basement where he taught me how to use a biscuit joiner to join them together. The biscuit joiner makes little holes in the wood where you put wooden biscuits and glue. Join the pieces of wood together, clamp them and let it dry creating a nice strong hold. Of course my Dad sanded it for me because he loves to sand! Now it is ready to be cut to size.
Now I needed to make a frame for my bench seat to sit on. I first measured and cut a 2 x 4 to the length of the back of the closet. I then cut 4 pieces of 2 x 4 slightly smaller than the width of the bench. This is because I want the bench seat to hang slightly over the frame. Two pieces are for the sides and two are support beams. It was easier to attach the smaller pieces to the back piece before attaching it to the wall.
Finally once the frame was secured to the wall I attached the front 2 x 4. If all of my calculations are correct the bench seat will hand slightly over the frame. It was much easier to make the frame in place because no walls are straight!
Bench Seat
Next up the beautiful bench seat I made. No walls are straight and no corners are truly 90 degrees so I had to measure and measure and remeasure in order to cut my beautiful seat perfectly to fit on the frame. I wanted it to fit as tight to the wall as possible. I tried my best to get the corner angles just right. After I set my bench seat in place I used some really tiny white trim to give it a beautiful finished look and to cover any slight gaps.
For the finishing touches I painted the upper shelves and the bench frame in my favourite white paint. Benjamin Moore Simply White. I stained the bench seat with a minwax polyshade in espresso.
One last thing I had to do was to repair the door frame where I removed the doors. I removed the door stops first. Then filled in the hinge holes with some shims and used some wood filler to fill all of the gaps. I gave It a good sand with my Black and Decker palm sander and then painted. You would never now there used to be doors there!
I kept looking for the perfect baskets for the shelf and I finally found them at Costco. They are just perfect and just what I had in mind for the shelf.
Take a look at this beautiful front entry way closet now!
And now for a dose of reality. This is how it looks pretty much all of the time. NOT all prettied up for the blog and instagram! My boys have a pretty good hoodie collection don’t you think?
But I still LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It makes the space much more functional and the bench is very convenient for putting on your shoes.
Hope you enjoyed my budget friendly front entry way closet makeover today.
Thanks for stopping by the blog,
Karla
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mimi says
Hi Karla—I just found your blog and really like this hall closet makeover. Great job! Having had 3 boys myself, now grown, I fully remember the huge chaos their stuff can cause!
Thanks for this very clear, concise and easy-to-follow set of instructions.
Karla says
Thanks so much! Boys definitely have lots of large shoes and coats! My boys are pretty much grown too. One has completely moved out, one is halfway out, and the last guy is still here. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Penney105@yahoo.com says
Love the step by step project. I am planning to do this with 1 of the 2 hall closets in a new house. And love, love, love your reality shot….so true!