Pseudo Mudroom {Closet Makeover}

I don't know about all of you, but since we have been cooped up during this quarantine, I have been finding all kinds of projects around the house. Being stuck in your house for weeks on end really makes you see all the areas that need work, and since we are spending a lot more time at home than we usually do, I have been able to get to some projects that had been put on the back burner. You guys already saw what I was able to do with the wood scraps from our garage. Well, I did it again. I wanted to use what I had (aka, I didn't have a choice... because, well, quarantine).

Please don't judge me.

So I think everyone has that one closet. Ok, let's be honest. Most of us have more than one. But I had one closet in particular that was just a complete disaster. It was organized, for the most part, but it completely lacked any kind of functionality. I have been wanting to redo this closet for a while now, and suddenly I found the time (have you heard about the current quarantine?). So I got to work.

First things first, organization was imperative. There was so much stuff in this closet that really had homes in other places. I was doubling up on storage space, which was completely detrimental to my desire for functionality. So, I threw some stuff out. I put some stuff in the giveaway bin. I moved the art supplies to the other art supply cabinet. I moved the toys to the basement with the other toys. Pretty basic stuff, and before I knew it, I was left with just a few every day items that could easily be stored in baskets. That was honestly the hardest part.

The next steps are where the DIY really comes into play. To begin with, I removed the door in hopes that it would make the space seem like more of a built in locker rather than a closet (I filled in the hinge holes and door jack with spackling). I removed the lower shelves of the closet, and filled the holes that were left in as well. After a good sanding, the closet was ready to be painted, and after a brief check of my paint inventory, I realized that all I had was white ceiling paint. So, white ceiling paint it was. The closet got a couple of fresh coats and was already looking like new.

I was able to find enough wood pieces in my scrap pile to add board and batten to the rear wall. I've got a super easy tutorial for that project if it's something that you want to tackle. I also added a wire shelf cover to the top shelf, made a little bench for the lower area with a few extra boards, and added the hooks from- yep, you guessed it- scrap wood. The wire shelf covers (blog post for these guys coming soon) that I have been putting everywhere might be my new favorite project. The bench was pretty basic. I cut the top board to size, and used construction screws to attach the legs. I wanted it to be pretty snug in the closet, so that it seemed like it was build into the wall, so I attached one of the legs once it was already in place in the closet. It was that snug. Both the shelf covers and the bench got a fresh coat of walnut gel stain that we had left over. As for the hooks, I cut down a couple of 2x4s, and made a 45 degree angled cut on one side so that they would be able to be attached like... well, hooks. I screwed them into the board and batten using construction screws as well.

You guys, this space makes me happy every time I walk past it. It won't always stay as clean as it is in the pictures, but having it open will make it stay more organized than before. Plus, I found a little slice of happy amongst all the madness in the world right now, and that right there is worth more than anything else.