• Blog
  • About
  • Shop Our Instagram
  • Weekly Newsletter
  • Contact
  • HOUSE + HOME
    • All House + Home
    • Mudroom
    • Kitchen
    • Dining Room
    • Living Room
    • Bedroom
    • Kids Bedrooms
    • Family and Playroom
    • Office
    • Outdoor Living
    • Woodworking
  • LIFE + STYLE
    • All Life + Style
    • Entertaining
    • Holidays
  • FOOD + DRINK
    • All Food + Drink
    • Appetizers
    • Drinks
    • Breakfast
    • Dinner
    • Dessert
  • Shop
    • Our Home
    • Window Shades
    • Paint Colors
    • Nick’s Workshop

Nick + Alicia

Lifestyle

June 28, 2016 | by Alicia

Coat Closet Makeover

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

Last week we shared our summer home tour with you and gave you a little sneak peek of our coat closet makeover. And in those few short days since posting, we have received so many sweet comments about this pretty and functional space, that I can’t wait any longer to share the whole story with you.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

We have a tiny little entrance off of our garage that leads into our kitchen and it was neither pretty nor practical. To be honest, it was a pretty big disaster. It is the main entrance for our family and it slowly began to transform into a dumping ground for anything and everything that came into our house. One day I opened the closet and said enough is enough!

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

It was time to take back our coat closet and create a functional entrance for our family to use.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

I started by pulling everything out and organizing it into piles – keep, donate, trash. Here is a pretty scary before picture, showing just how big of a mess it was. Truthfully, I am really embarrassed to post this, but we are a real family, with real messes.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

Once I was finished sorting through everything I pared down what we really needed to keep in that entry. Luckily for me, it’s summertime so the essential were far and few between. Once winter rolls around this closet will look a little different. 😉

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

We knew the hanging clothes rod had to go. It took up too much space and made it difficult to easily grab your coat and go. We also removed the upper shelf.

Now that the closet was completely empty we could re-evaluate the space and decide what was going to work best for our family.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

We started from the ground up, adding a built-in bench that is the length of the closet. It’s a wonderful place for our little one to sit while getting shoes on each morning and it acts as an easy place to store totes, groceries and boxes that we may be lugging to and from the house.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

Next up, Nick raised the shelf to allow us more height in the closet, but still gives us an extra place for storage. Two large wicker baskets are the perfect catchalls for summer toys and accessories that we want to keep out of sight.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

To add a bit of character he made these darling little corbels. Aren’t they the perfect touch?

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

And finally, we added six of these black farmhouse style hooks. They give us plenty of room to hang our coats and sweaters and still look pretty when not in use.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

I gave the closet a fresh coat of paint in the same color as our kitchen, Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore and painted the bench and shelf Cloud White, also by Benjamin Moore. It really helped to brighten up the tiny space and make it feel fresh and inviting.

An antique crate tucked underneath the bench is the perfect place to store extra shoes and flip flops.

A cramped coat closet turns into a beautiful farmhouse inspired entry for a busy family with this simple makeover | A Burst of Beautiful

We originally intended on keeping the closet door up, but I love how open and airy our teeny tiny entry feels now. Besides, it adds an extra touch of farmhouse style to our home, why would I want to hide it from sight? We will probably hang the door again in the winter when we have to lug out our heavy winter coats and big snow boots, and this space won’t be looking so pretty. But for now, this may just be my new favorite ‘room’ in our home! 😉

Are you looking to build one of these for yourself?
Nick has a tutorial/guide on how to build one of these for yourself over on The DIY Hubs!

Have a lovely day sweet friends!

Alicia xo

Please note this post may contain affiliate links, which allow us to make a small commission from your purchase, but your purchase price stays the same (see our full disclosure policy here). Thank you for helping support our blog.

SHOP THE POST

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

  • DIY Snow Globe
  • Easy Summer Centerpiece
  • Summer Home Tour | Easy Summer Entryway
    Summer Home Tour | Easy Summer Entryway

Comments

  1. Shawnna says

    June 29, 2016 at 7:26 am

    hey girl love the new closet look! SO pretty!

    Reply
  2. rosanna says

    November 11, 2016 at 12:06 am

    I really love the way the new closet looks. I am just looking at the before picture and see much more stuff though, and i’m thinking is the updated closet really all that practical?? I mean it looks beautiful, but how USEFUL is it actually, and is it getting cluttered faster? I suppose on the contrary it might help you stay neater since you would have to put things where they belong..

    Reply
    • Alicia says

      November 13, 2016 at 7:59 pm

      Hi Rosanna,

      I’m so glad you took the time to ask us these questions. These photos are of our coat closet during the summer, we had a lot less stuff. 🙂 As we are ending the fall and coming into winter, it’s getting a little more crowded, but not by much. It has really helped us to declutter and keep only the things we really need at the door. One coat each, our mitts and hats go in the baskets above, and we keep our boots in the garage. 🙂 I hope that helps answer some of your questions!

      Reply
  3. Emily says

    March 2, 2019 at 6:13 am

    Did you need a support in the middle of the bech seat? Or is it anchored to the wall in all 4 corners? I’m looking for a way to do a bench like yours in our closet and didnt want something in the middle down to the floor. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Nick says

      March 11, 2019 at 9:23 am

      Hi Emily, I anchored it on the wall, into the studs on the back and both sides. You can check out a guide on how we built this over on our other site…I hope that helps!

      https://www.thediyhubs.com/2017/07/turn-coat-closet-mini-mudroom/

      Reply
  4. Susan says

    March 9, 2019 at 1:59 pm

    How did you make the built in bench? Was it from another tutorial or from scratch? We’re in the planning process for our closet .

    Reply
    • Nick says

      March 11, 2019 at 9:24 am

      Hi Susan, we have our plans for this over on our other site and I had forgotten to add the link to this post! Follow this link below and hopefully this will help guide you!

      https://www.thediyhubs.com/2017/07/turn-coat-closet-mini-mudroom/

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A place to find design inspiration, entertaining ideas and simple recipes. Take a few minutes to learn more about us, shop our favourite things and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

I am so glad we added miniature trees to the girls I am so glad we added miniature trees to the girls' bedrooms this year. They absolutely loved having their very own tree to decorate with their collection of ornaments and handmade treasures.It was a simple and inexpensive way to add an extra dose of holiday magic to their rooms, after all, there is nothing better than witnessing Christmas through the eyes of a child. They truly find such beauty and magic in even the smallest of details. 🎄
This view looks a little bit different this year a This view looks a little bit different this year as we're in the middle of our kitchen renovation. See that little half-wall with the hats, well we've removed it so that we see right into the kitchen now and it's amazing! We've been making great progress, just yesterday our new sink, faucet, and counters were all installed. It's all of these little changes that are making such a big difference. We'll have a few more details to take care of after the holidays, but we're really looking forward to crossing the finish line and sharing it all with you!
I wish our dining looked this tidy at the moment! I wish our dining looked this tidy at the moment! It’s currently under a pile of toys and kitchen essentials. If you’ve been following along with our behind the scenes account, @nick.and.alicia.bts, you’ll know we’re making some big progress on the kitchen. Early next week our window and countertop will be installed, so Nick’s been busy removing our existing counters and sink. It’s so exciting to see it all come together and I’ll be happy to have running water again next week!
Most of our snow has melted, but I'm hopeful we wi Most of our snow has melted, but I'm hopeful we will have a white Christmas this year! I just think everything is a bit more magical when covered in a blanket of fresh snow. ❄⁣ ⁣ Are you team snow or no?
Earlier this week we shared our holiday home tour, Earlier this week we shared our holiday home tour, and now we’re giving you a closer look at the girls’ bedrooms, along with a few helpful tips for decorating kids’ spaces for the holiday season.Do you decorate your little ones’ bedrooms for Christmas?
This year I took my time while decorating our home This year I took my time while decorating our home for the holidays and focused on incorporating simple touches that bring us joy and evoke the spirit of Christmas. Our home feels cozy and inviting, and the girls are loving every minute of the holiday season. 🎅🏼Stop by our blog, nickandalicia.com, to see our holiday home tour, along with new tours added every day this week! Tap to see who joined us yesterday.
Sometimes all it takes is a bow to add a festive t Sometimes all it takes is a bow to add a festive touch for the holiday season! 💙

Join our Newsletter

Copyright ©2021 Nick + Alicia
  • Contact
  • POLICIES + DISCLOSURE