Coat Closet Makeover

I just couldn't take it any more. The piles of clutter by the back door, the shoes piled up on the counter (yes, you read that right, the counter).  With the addition of backpacks and lunch boxes, I had had it!

(I know you think this is an exaggeration, but this is exactly as it looked on Thursday afternoon)

So I decieded to clean out the extremely underutilized closet by the garage and make it much more functional.

While I would love a full mudroom or some gorgeous version of a 'closet mudroom' found on Pinterest, I needed a fully functioning storage space. 

(In my dreams...thanks Pinterest!)

As much as I'd love to take the doors off the closet and display my beautiful mudroom, I am realistic.  We are a real family, with toddlers, and we make messes. Plus our bags and shoes don't always match and look uber great with the décor (I mean honestly, where do those people on Pinterest put their real coats and clutter?). 

So the doors will stay on to quickly hide our chaos when this mama gets tired of looking at it!  At least now everything has a place and I have the satisfaction of knowing that when all is tidy, it looks pretty cute behind those closet doors:)

To keep costs down, I did most everything myself.  I painted the closet with left over paint from a guest bathroom.

I made the bench out of plywood. It functions as extra storage shelf as well as a seat.

The coat rack was made from a 2x4 that I drilled the hooks into and drilled into the wall.

 A hanging shoe rack was quick and inexpensive.

Having a tack board and folder basket are essential in my mind for keeping school papers organized.

The laundry baskets under the bench were left over from my teacher days (hence the room 210).

The chalkboard number signs and the basket signs were cut out of an old foam poster board I had and painted with chalkboard paint.

Sure you could get much prettier baskets (think wicker or metal), I could make a pad for the bench (paisley fabric is my favorite), but that is the beauty of leaving the doors on, I am free to leave it functional.

Ahhh...now everything has its place!

The biggest thing about any storage space is thinking through your needs and providing a solution to those problems.  Sure, making it look nice doesn't hurt, but it can't be your goal, function is always going to be in style!

I HOPE THIS INSPIRES YOU TO GET ORGANIZED!!!

 

I can tell you that after using this for only a couple of days, it has made getting in and out of the door so much easier.  We know where everything is and we know where things go when we take them off.  Emrie was really excited to hang her Sunday school papers on the tack board when we got home too!

If you are wondering the price breakdown of everything here is what it cost me to make this stuff along with some suggestions for places to buy similar items if you don't want to spend time making it.  I will say, the advantage to making it is that everything is custom sized to meet your needs and cheaper of course.

Bench: Wood-$38  Paint and supplies- $18 = $56

Bench with storage from Target for $235
Bench from Target for $50 
Benches from Pottery Barn for $400

Coat rack: Wood- $6.50  8 Coat hooks- $32 = $38.50

4 Hook Coat rack from Target for $30
Coat rack and Shelf from Pottery Barn for $279

Shoe rack: $8

Shoe cubbies from Target for $34
Hanging shoe rack from Target for $13

Baskets: Free

Wicker from Target for $20
Pottery Barn baskets for $27

Pin board: $6.75

Same cork board from Target

Wire baskets: $12

Same hanging file basket from Target

My Total:  $122.25