DIY: Coat Closet Turned Into a Mudroom

First home project of 2022 completed!

We have a small coat closet next to the door that comes into the house from our attached garage. It was a mess. The kids were putting their coats and backpacks in other places in the kitchen, it wasn’t working for everyone. I wanted a mud room! I decided to remove the closet door and make a mudroom.

The before, your typical looking coat closet. Our house is 23 years old and I’m pretty sure it hadn’t been touched since 1999. The paint and trim were a mess; luckily the hardwood floor was still perfect.

The door from the garage is to the right.

I removed everything plus the door and hinges. After washing the walls down I realized even the trim needed new paint. I filled in the holes and sanded everything down and got out the paint. I wanted to use paint I already had on hand; used Behr Marquee Silver Drop for the walls, some random white Benjamin Moore paint I had for the trim and for the design I used Benjamin Moore Newburyport Blue.

Painted flowers and leaves across the tall ceiling area where I knew one of the new shelves would cover. Have to have some fun 🙂

I purchased wood at Home Depot and cut it the sizes I needed for two shelves and one wood strip to put the hooks on. I didn’t want the hooks directly on the wall, I wanted them to have extra support, plus I think it looks better.

Added a coat of polyurethane after sanding down the rough edges.

Used white wooden shelf brackets from Home Depot, hooks I already had for years from IKEA.

The very top shelf I added for out of season storage, things like hats, flip flops and purses. The high ceiling had been such wasted space before.

I purchased a bench from Target for the bottom, after debating on making something myself. Ultimately decided if I found something that fit the bill perfectly I would just buy it. That’s what happened! It fit absolutely perfectly, so much so that I had to assemble it inside the closet because I couldn’t get it through the doorway. Lol.

What do you think? Overall it wasn’t a difficult project. I had fun with it and am happy with the results. Let me know if you have any questions! Here is a link to my Like To Know It page with all the items I used to style inside the closet.