Wednesday, February 4

Easy DIY Coat Rack {entryway mini makeover)

We spent a little time this week on a few easy projects to upgrade our little entryway. Our "entryway" is actually just the corner of our living room (which is also our dining room and open to the kitchen) so when it looks sloppy, basically the whole house looks sloppy. Now that winter is here we've found that our few little coat hooks just were not up to the task at hand. You guys, so. many. coats. All on the floor. (you might also like our new DIY coat racks!)


So task #1 was cutting back the number of coats. That helped quite a bit. The next item on the agenda was upping the number of coat hooks so that we could each have a space for our own coats, plus a little room for guests.


But first let's review. This is how our entryway looked for the first 3 years we lived here (you can see how the whole living area was set up here).


About a year and half ago we finally spiffed it up a bit when we added a new entry table with baskets to hide the shoes (plans to build your own are here).


Cue trip to Ikea. I'd been keeping an eye out for new hooks (the ones we had originally were discontinued) so when we went to Ikea last month I made sure to check the coat rack section. It left me pretty disappointed. But then I spotted these guys in the bathroom section! Two hooks in one, room at the top for scarves or purse, and pretty to boot? I'll take six, please.


We decided this time around to attach the hooks to a board instead of straight into the wall. This gives it a more built-in look and allows us to anchor the whole board to a stud (no need to worry about plastic anchors or the hooks ripping out of the drywall). I cut two 26" pieces from a 1x6" board (of course you can do whatever size fits your space best) and Big Brother helped me paint them white. And Baby Brother kept touching the paint. If you're feeling too relaxed today, try painting indoors with small children. It's perfectly nerve wracking. Once the boards dried I attached one hook right in the middle of each board, then one about 6.5" away on either side.


My stud found a stud and used 2" drywall screws to attach the board (and made sure it was level). We added 2 more screws on the other side to make sure it won't pull away from the wall and to make it look more balanced, but the ones in the stud will be doing most of the work here.


We did two rows of the hooks so the kids can reach to hang up there own. The top set we put as high as we could comfortably reach, and the bottom set we put high enough that the boys' coats wouldn't drag on the ground (and tried to keep them low enough that they weren't totally inaccessible behind our coats).


It's looking much better... but how will it look with those rowdy coats?


They boys' hooks are working perfectly. Big Brother loves having his own hook with a special spot for his scarf.


And even our coats are pretty neat and contained. Whew.


Do you have an actual entryway or do you have to squeeze it in a corner too? What are your favorite ways to keep it tidy and organized?

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