The Evolution of a Closet

Spring always seems to get me in the mood to make some changes around the house. Rooms get painted, projects get underway & we temporarily live in chaos (well, more so than normal) but do I ever love the outcome!

One of the first projects we did when we moved into our home was to convert our front entry closet into a more useable space, not just for us but for our guests as well. For the first few months the front entry closet acted as the hideaway for the boxes we had yet to unpack. We mainly use the entrance from our garage that enters into our laundry area, so we weren’t really using the front entry space as best we could.

The closet is at an angle and also the first thing you see when you enter our home, come down from upstairs or go down the hall to go upstairs. Constantly staring at white closet doors isn’t exactly the most eye pleasing thing. I convinced Eric that we needed to convert the space into something better, something that was practical and that we wouldn’t tire of in a year. I knew I wanted somewhere for guests to sit while they took off or put on their shoes, but it also needed to accommodate the jackets and purses/bags they brought with them. After drawing out a few ideas and scouring pinterest I knew what I wanted to do. We enlisted my father in law to build our vision & he had it ready in no time!

He build it in 3 pieces, starting with a base – don’t mind the pic, we had some water problems behind the wall where the closet is and had to take the bench out. It actually worked out not too bad because that way I was able to take some photo’s! He used pine for the frame and then a strip of MDF to go across the front that we primed and painted white. The base sits 2.5″ off the ground.

On top of the base went a frame with two cubbies to accommodate 2 drawers. The drawers are so deep & spacious, they provide some much needed storage for all my vases!

Next was the top piece. This helped make the bench and drawers look like 1 unit. Once it was secured in place we primed the remaining pieces and then painted the whole thing in a brilliant white to give it a nice clean and fresh look. We added some basic handles to the front of the drawers in a matte black and painted the walls in ‘Sweat Pea’ by Beauti-tone. We used the existing shelf from the closet and secured it back in place, placing it a couple of inches higher than it had originally had been. Using some leftover MDF we put a border up along the base of the shelf and painted that white as well. I picked out some hooks from Home Depot and spaced them evenly along the back piece of the wall on the border of wood. Top tip – always check coupon sites like Raise before going shopping at Home Depot, especially if it’s for big projects because who doesn’t like getting new things and saving money?!

The bench seat I made with foam and fabric that I found at Fabricland. I really lucked out on the foam, getting it at 50% off. This worked out good because I needed more than I expected due to the angles and depth of the closet. The fabric is outdoor fabric so it’s held up really well to the wear and tear of everything that gets thrown on it. It has yet to stain and wipes clean so easily.

Some baskets and decor help bring the whole thing together. This is hands down one of my favorite projects so far in the house. We use the bench and hooks wayyyy more than we ever used the closet. It’s at just the right height for the kids to sit & put their shoes on, or else lean against for the littler ones.

The total cost of the project was around the $200 mark, that’s including the materials for the seat. I’m sure had we not done this, the poor closet would still be housing those random boxes of unpacked items!