Want to see how I turned a junky entry closet into a DIY mini mudroom featuring a custom made console cabinet? I’d love to show you!
But first, here’s a little background info on why the mini mudroom came to be…
So, I have a bad reputation with closets. If The door can close, it is guaranteed to look like a hot mess eventually, ha! I’ve learned that I need to be held accountable with closets, so I decided to remove the doors and turn it into a cute mini mudroom. A mudroom that will force me to keep it in order.
Here’s a before photo—such a disaster area!
I had the idea to transform the closet to a DIY mini mudroom for awhile, but decided to finally pull the trigger when I started working with Bill (a 5th generation carpenter) who owns Deer Lake Designs, a Kansas City company that specializes in creating high quality hand made wood furniture. I knew the custom console cabinet would be a perfect fit for this space. I placed my order and had a two week window to get the closet in gear.
I started by removing the doors and emptying out the millions of items shoved in it. Then I painted the inside walls to match the entryway (Sherwin Williams Opaline) and added some hooks we had on hand.
We plan to remove the inside jam of the door and replace with a flat painted piece to finish it perfectly, but that will have to come later.
Once our console cabinet was ready, we headed to Blue Springs to pick it up in person. It was so nice to get to finally meet Bill and his wife Melissa in their workshop and to see our cabinet in person. They showed me all of their latest projects which included farmhouse tables, nightstands, you name it. They are busy building and shipping all over the USA, but would love to work with more local Kansas City area customers. I’m trying to get the word out!
Once we got home, we placed the cabinet into the closet and I quickly styled it with some art and items we already had on hand.
Then I added six baskets that I purchased from Target, which are perfect for storing cold weather items, dog leashes, and other misc. items.
In only 5 minutes our mudroom was ready for her semi-finished reveal (minus the new door jams I mentioned before).
You might be wondering what we plan to do with our coats? Vivienne’s coats fit nicely in the storage bins, and Ted and I decided that we will use an upstairs closet to store our bulky winter coats. That should work out nicely for us and to keep the entryway looking less cluttered.
Oh, and we still have a couple of entryway projects to go before that area is finished. We need to add the baseboards as well as finish the stairs. As you can see they are still parquet. We were planning on replacing them with wood stairs (white rises and dark wood runs), but decided to go ahead and carpet them with the same nice grey carpet we used on our attic stairs to save money and make it easier on our aging dogs. The carpet should be installed in two weeks.
Here’s a zoomed out, non-styled shot for ya. 🙂
Are you on the hunt for a custom farmhouse table, console table, side table, or any other piece of wood furniture? I’d love to share my experience with Deer Lake Designs.
After Bill and I chatted about some different furniture pieces he could create, I finally decided on a custom console cabinet (it was hard to choose just one item). He was more than willing to customize our piece as much as we wanted, which was so appreciated! I even shipped him a couple of brushed brass pulls that I had leftover from our kitchen remodel, and he did a great job matching the other hardware to the pulls. He was so flexible, and went out of his way to ensure that I got exactly what I wanted.
We agreed on a pickup date, and they reached out to me when it was ready—right on the target date! Bill and Melissa were great to work with. You can tell they both love what they do and want to create a piece that you truly love and will keep forever.
Here’s a peek at a few pieces they have recently created, but again, they are always open to custom orders. I LOVE their farmhouse tables!
See anything you like? Don’t forget, you can use my special coupon code link OSL10 to receive 10% off your order now through St. Patrick’s Day 2018 (continental US residents only).
Don’t forget they can do custom orders as well—the options are endless!
And give them a follow on Instagram or Facebook too if you’d like a behind the scenes look!
Anyone else ever converted a closet to a DIY mini mudroom? I’d absolutely love to see the end results (tag me on social @ohsolovely_blog).
xoxo
Audrey