Large mudrooms with a plethora of storage and plenty of seating are desired by most, but not a reality for many (myself included).  Upon writing a recent series on mudrooms for BuildDirect, I started thinking about my own foyer and how I can expand on the space at hand, to add more storage.

Over a year ago, I had made the front closet, a dual pantry / coat closet, which provided more shelf storage but cut the coat space (especially during the winter months) in half. And even with the addition of my updated “vintage” cabinet, which holds shoes, it just wasn’t enough.

As a growing family, we needed more space for coats, backpacks, and every day wares, so using part of the wall behind the front door, I created a built-in wall coat rack.

Before adding the built-in coat hooks behind the front door, I had hung a decorative coat hanger for the kids coats. With only two hooks, it just wasn’t enough.  There was so much potential for this 24″ wide wall…

This is the wall before -

Duration of Project: 4 hours (1-2 days because of drying time for paint)
Project Difficulty: Easy to Medium
How Many People Needed: 1

Supplies

• MDF (medium density fiberboard) Board(s) cut to fit the alloted space
• Drillable Anchors
• 1-1/2″ Wood Screws
• Decorative Coat Hooks
• Liquid Nails or Wood Glue
• Drill and/or Screwdriver
• Wood Putty

To get started, I cut (2) MDF boards to size to fit the wall.  I had a few pieces leftover from a previous project, which I trimmed to fit snug on the wall from the wall edge to the door moulding.  If you’re starting the project from scratch and purchasing the boards from a home improvement store, then bring the measurements of your wall to the store and they will custom cut your pieces – this may save you time and a few headaches!

Once I had the MDF boards cut, it was time to attach them to the wall.  My plan of action??  Determine the placement of the boards.  Add liquid nails to the back of each board to hold it in place, then…

fuzzy pic – not so pretty, sorry.  You get the picture though

…making sure they were level and plumb, I was ready to…

…DRILL!  Once the placement of the boards was determined, I drilled 4 holes through the board into the wall.  Then I put an anchor into each of the holes, placed the board back on the wall, and screwed the 4 screws into the holes.  By using anchors, the board was really secure and well supported for the heavy hanging coats.

I didn’t mention this earlier, but I installed 2 boards at different heights – One board was set lower for the kids coats and one board was set higher for the adult coats.

Once both boards were in place, I wanted to achieve a seamless look at the edges where the board meets the wall, so I used wood putty to fill in the gaps.

Then it was time to paint the boards.  This step was probably the hardest because as much as I wanted to make this a fun and funky spot, I also didn’t want to draw any more attention than needed.  After much thought, I decided to simply paint the boards the same color as the existing wall, so it would simply blend in, but also provide the function that our family needed.

To add the finishing and most important touches, I completed my built-in coat rack with hooks.  I found these hooks from Target and purchased 10 hooks for about $12.

Installing the hooks was really easy!

And my newly created coat hooks were complete!

Here it is all jazzed up ;)

Even though it’s essentially a small space at 24″ wide, it’s SO USEFUL!

10 hooks really get filled up fast.

I also added this cute sign that I found at Hobby Lobby and thought had such a darling saying, “Do the kindest things in the kindest ways”…  something we strive for everyday!

This spot has really been a great addition to our front entry.

Do you have a large mudroom?  If not, how have you maximized your front entry space?  Do you have any built-ins or do you have built-in coat hangers?

 I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, Creation Corner, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Under the Table & Dreaming

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