DIY Mudroom bench and shelf built in a closet

My husband and I bought a new house in December, but to my surprise new construction homes are way more work than I ever realized! Living with white walls is terrible! I started my adventure to try to make things start feeling a little more like home by tackling the mud room.

My first idea was to build a mud room for our house, however we didn’t have any real spot to make one, so we decided to make the coat closet in the kitchen into a “mud closet” per say. I never realized it would be so difficult, mostly because we were dealing with a framed area so trying to get the pieces we made into a closet door frame was a bit frustrating.

I based my mudroom bench and shelf off Ana White's plan for a similar entryway set.  Her site is absolutely amazing if you have minute day check it out.  She offers step by step directions to help along with an exact supply and wood cut list.  While I generally stuck with the plan, as with most DIY projects, we adjusted as we went to fit our needs and likes.

The shelf I built with a top and middle piece 36” each and then attached a 7” board 1/3 of the way between both boards to create sections. Next I added 12” boards to either side and a back piece 36” so I would have a place for the hooks. I used a nail gun to attach it all together. Painted it all black and then added the 4 hooks.  I added a back piece so that it was easier to attach it to the wall.

For the bench, we did the same 36” board for and 16” sides. I had actually added compartments before deciding to close in the front instead. Below is the new front piece I made and added 3 extra knobs we had from out kitchen drawers for decoration.

For the cushion, I took a piece of plywood and covered it in foam. I wanted it to match our kitchen curtains, but they are rather sheer, so before putting the material on, I wrapped it in some extra drop cloth material (here at 2IY we're bordering on a slightly unhealthy obsession with drop cloths at the moment). I used the nail gun to attach it to the plywood and then covered in the curtain material and restappled it.

Because the closet is rather small, I put the bench in first and then painted the walls. Once the walls dried I added a piece of bead board to the back and added already painted white corner edging to finish off the walls. Lastly we put up the shelf and repainted everything in a black paint with a high gloss to add a finishing touch.

Posted by: Stephanie