what do you do with a random closet in the middle of a room? turn it into a mudroom!

Here’s a before photo of what the closet looked like:

First of all – this is the most random closet in the world for a living room. First thing we did when we moved in was rip off these closet doors. It took me a few tries before we turned it into a mudroom.

First, it became an “entryway” area intended to catch keys and items when you get home. But, after getting this table from West Elm (which I loved!), I learned quick this wasn’t the right move.

So, back to the drawing board and sold the table on OfferUp.

Being a semi-asian household, I was trying to enforce the no shoes in the house rule but was unsuccessful for a bit. And then I was noticing that our car keys, purses, backpacks were landing all over the kitchen counter and all around the house. That’s where the mudroom idea came in.

closet mudroom DIY WITH SHIPLAP:

here’s what you’ll need:

1. MDF boards: 1/2 inch thick, 10 inches wide (height measured to scale)
2. Finishing nails + nail gun + wood glue
3. SW Black Beauty paint
4. IKEA Kallax Bookshelf – we were lucky this fit perfect!
5. Wood Planks for shelf and bench cover
6. L corner brackets to hang wood planks

• I knew I wanted to keep this space modern but have a dimension, so I decided on vertical shiplap!
• We got the MDF boards cut at Lowe’s, they cut for you on their jumbo wood saw
• To install onto the wall, we used wood glue on the back and then very thin finishing nails via nail gun to secure
• We finished it up by painting with a fresh coat of black paint
• To hang the wood planks as our top shelf, we used these L corner brackets. No need to paint, since they are above eye level and hidden!

This was one of our favorite house projects yet! Mostly because it’s such a practical space being our catch all area when we get home.

closettransformation, mudroomdiy, diy