Something Accomplished!

We recently finished a major part of our entryway re-do...the coat rack/bench!  It is a very functional part of our house.  In Minnesota, shoes are kicked off when you enter the house...sand, snow, mud, salt...its all dragged in.  And there are always coats, gloves, hats, etc.  The photo below is what the mudroom section looked like in stage one after I removed the old wallpaper, primed, and painted...

 We had this shoe storage bench from Ikea that provided a place to sit down, and some peg racks on the wall.  But I have always felt it was unbalanced in the room...keepin' it real here...

We had nice existing wainscoting...

We decided to make it feel like a built in coat rack/ bench unit!  My husband built a basic shelf with nice pine boards and a couple of  pre-made shelf brackets.  It is nearly 7 feet long... we made it to extend several inches beyond the bench on each side.

It would be fine like that, but we decided to dress it up with crown molding on top, and later on the interior...

We screwed it into the studs for strength, choosing a height we thought looked right...the top would be used for displaying decorative items so we kept that in mind...

Flat decorative moldings were added to each side as a border edge.  The shelf brackets were set to just over the length of the bench, so the molding edge would line up with the bench. 

 

Then it was time to prime and paint!  We really liked the wall color we had chosen and I used the same color on the shelf unit- Benjamin Moore's White Sand in an eggshell finish.

I painted it out all the way to the floor.  You can't see it here, but I painted a pale drop shadow on the line where it crosses the wainscoting for a little more realism there.  The paint brings it together like a single piece!

Then the jewelry...the beautiful black hooks!  We spent about $50 on these, the most expensive part of the project...but OH SO pretty...
 

Finally, the black shoe bench was put back in place... This project cost around $100, mostly due to the hooks and crown molding, but could be done in a simpler way, for much less money!  In the photo below, you can see the interior moldings, too!  We are really happy with this addition to the entryway!  Next post, I will be showing the entire entryway reveal...before and after!  It has taken awhile, but was well worth the effort!

I am joining Pin The Tail On The Bloggy Party with Debbiedoos and Fox Hollow Cottage,

 Kim at Wow Us Wednesday

and Linda at Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

I am also joining Karianne over at Thistlewood Farm for the Imagine The Impossibilities Challenge~ it inspired me to get this finished!

and 

I am joining Bliss over at Bliss Ranch for the Tis The Season

Personal Year in Review Party 

Until next time...