DIY Entry Organization Shelf

 

 

 

My little family uses our side entry more than any other at our home.  Our garage still has unfinished projects sitting in it so we don't park in there at the moment. Which means we don't enter our home through the garage and mudroom.  And while I do have a large pew in our entry, along with a few hooks for keys and coats, it hasn't been sufficient to keep up with all of our things.

 

This is usually how our entry ends up looking; coats, shoes, backpacks, and various other things strewn around as we all come in and dump everything. And it was driving me crazy!

 

 

While browsing Pinterest trying to find inspiration for entryway organization, I stumbled upon this blog post, and decided to use that plan to make an entry shelf with hooks. I really liked that it had a lip on it so pictures and décor could be displayed above. It only called for 1x8, a 1x4, and a piece of base trim to make the shelf.

I already had five hooks on hand. They were a brassy gold, but not in a cute way if you get what I mean. I decided to spray paint them with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze paint.

This was such a simple project. All we needed was a nail gun, some wood glue and spackle, and some white paint to paint the wood.

 

We used wood glue to attach the 1x8 and 1x4, then nailed it in place with the nail gun. We repeated the same thing with the trim. After filling the nail holes with spackle and a light sanding, I gave the shelf a couple coats of paint and it was ready to be hung in our side entry.

My hubby screwed the shelf into the wall so it would be nice and sturdy and would be able to hold backpacks full of books. Once it was in place, I filled in over the screw holes with spackle and painted over it. Then we added the hooks. That's all there was to it.

I am so happy to have additional hooks to hang things in this space. It is exactly what we needed to make it a little more functional for us.

Remember this fun DIY Scrabble art? (See that post here.) I moved it over to this shelf from the gallery wall. I'm not exactly sure that I'll keep the items that are on the shelf there long term, but for now I am fine with it.

My girls were so exited to have somewhere to hang their backpacks. They both claimed which hook is their own and glad to help Mama by hanging up their coats and backpacks instead of leaving everything on the floor or piled up on the bench.

Scrabble Letter Art

Back in October, my friend Stephanie and I went to a cute little vintage goods sale in Pike Road, Alabama.  The Chapel Market was hosted by Layla of The Lettered Cottage, and many other bloggers came to sell their goods.  Miss Mustard Seed, Urban Farmgirl, Thistlewood Farms, At the Picket Fence, and Perfectly Imperfect just to name a few of them.  (You can see my posts about The Chapel Market here and here.) I was in hog heaven!  We had an amazing time!

I picked up some Scrabble letters from Miss Mustard Seed's booth, and they have been sitting in my closet ever since.  (I got all the letters I needed then except the "H." My dear, sweet, giving friend, Stephanie, let me steal an "H" from her Scrabble set. We had to dig to find it. It may have been her last one.  So, if you are gonna play Scrabble with Stephanie, you are out of luck for "H" words.)  You just can't find old Scrabble sets anywhere around here. I have looked at ALL the thrift stores/flea markets in the area. So if you find any, you know who to call. This girl!  I had in mind what I wanted to do with the letters when I bought them, but I just hadn't gotten around to getting the project done. 

Aside: Does anyone actually play Scrabble anymore?  I mean, didn't Words With Friends kind of make Scrabble obsolete? I know my mom and I have sat in the same room before and played Words With Friends. Is that weird?  That's kind of like texting someone who is right beside you, isn't it?  I'm sure there are Scrabble/board game purists out there, but I'm not one of them.  I do enjoy the occasional board game, but I honestly don't think I have ever played Scrabble.  Is that sad? That's really sad. Maybe I should play Scrabble with Stephanie. Stephanie would be fun to play Scrabble with. Note to self....think of lots of words that don't have the letter "H" before I do play Scrabble with her. Who thought of the word "Scrabble" anyway?  Scrabble. That's a funny word.  Maybe they thought of calling it Scramble first.  You know, because all the letters are scrambled up.  Then they decided it would be better to call it Scrabble instead.  I don't know. 

Anyway.....

I knew I wanted to make some framed art so I started out with the best-bang-for-your-buck picture frame....Better Homes and Gardens 8x10 matted frame for only $10 at Wal-Mart. (I have this frame a couple of other places in my home, the girls' gallery wall in their new shared bedroom being one of them. Will be sharing that with you guys really soon.) 

I gathered my supplies: hot glue gun (can't you see how loved and used it is?) and glue, scissors, frame, Scrabble letters, and scrapbook paper I got from Micheal's.  I had a couple different paper options for this project and my friend Jessica helped me settle on the turquoise and white stripes. 

Here's how: (so easy-peasy)
*Cut paper to size.
*Tape paper to the back of the matte.
*Hot glue Scrabble letters to paper.
*Assemble frame. 
*Bam! You're done! 

I originally was going to put this in the living room, but I decided to hang it on the gallery wall in our side entry.  I replaced a framed burlap monogram that was there with this new art and it looks a little more substantial and crisp now. (I moved the burlap monogram frame to the top open shelf of my kitchen....it looks good in its new home behind the milk glass.)

This makes me smile every time I pass now.  Got a Scrabble game that never gets played anymore?  Use the letters to make your own art! (How cute would this be for newlywed or new baby gifts?) Endless possibilities!

Linking up to:

Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z
Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts
The Weekend Link Party at Remodelaholic

Revising the Side Entry

Day 28: 

I am remiss to say that I have missed that last couple of days during the Revising Home series, but we are almost to the finish line and I am going to finish strong.  Today, I thought I would share with you a small change I made in the side entry that makes big impact. (or bigger than before.)


I started with this: 

The problem:  The white mirror is too small for that space and hung too high.  I love, love, love my $3 mirror I found at a garage sale.  I snatched it up and brought it home and painted it white.  It will have to find a new home somewhere else.  Also, while I have a place to hang my purse, coats, backpacks, or scarves, I had nowhere to hang my keys.  


And here is what I ended up with:

The Solution: Sorry about the shaded pic. I couldn't seem to get the light right this morning.  Anywho, I added a larger window frame to fill up the space better. 

I made a fresh Magnolia wreath to hang on the frame for seasonal flare.  I hung it with burlap I painted gold polka dots on. 

My hubby added the hooks to the frame for me so we would have somewhere to hang our keys.  And the arrow is a find from The Chapel Market.  

So went from this......

To this.....

Better? I think so. More functional? Yes!  Do you have a space in your home that needs revising?