Door Turned Coat Rack

As a mom to four young boys, living in a small-ish (for our family) 3 bedroom/1 bath home, one of my biggest struggles is home organization.  The lack of a proper place for coats/backpacks/shoes/hats/gloves/etc has been a source of frustration for the hubby and I in the last year (ahem, or since moving in).

A few weeks ago, as I was blow drying my hair, I was dreaming of our "upcoming" bathroom remodel.  My eyes fell upon our beat up, chipped paint, and abnoxiously oversized doors hanging from our waste of unused space (yet, ideal for hide-n-seek) bathroom closet.  1...2...3...4 I counted.  4 cut out panels I counted on each door.  4!  Hey, I have 4 kids!  The wheels began turning in my head and cha-ching...I can turn that door into a coat rack for the kids!  It will be perfect for the mudroom!  With a quick okay from the hubby, I got to work that weekend creating this....     

...that started out as this....

It may be difficult to tell in the photo, but the door started off cream in color prior to my re purpose.  I desired a white coat rack with a distressed finish to it.  An initial sanding on my part then lead to the hubby filling the hole left by the knob and a few cracks (not too many I warned him...remember, distressed!).  Another round of sanding entered, followed by 3 (or 4) coats of white paint I had on hand, and I was ready for the final round of sanding to show wear and tear.  I focused on the edges and grooves; however, the entire piece received a good sanding .  I still wanted a little more.  A little more aging.  A little more distressed.  I pulled out some brown acrylic paint from my stash and mixed a dallop with a good amount of water.  Using a cloth rag, I lightly brushed my glaze a top the entire door.  I did not allow my watered down paint to sit long, quickly wiping off the excess with the dry part of my rag. 

My favorite part of this project are the hooks...so charming!  They were a steal with a 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby.  The wooden numbers were purchased at Michaels and simply spray painted black.  Adhering them to the door was easy peasy via double sided tape.

Here is a quick look at the shelf previously hanging on the mudroom wall.  Not very functional due to it's size.  The shelf along with the bench have made their way to my SIL's house.  I am intending to purchase a new piece of furniture to house shoes, gloves, etc during an upcoming trip to IKEA.  The indoor/outdoor carpet no longer exists as well thanks to the hubby! 

Have a great weekend!  Any planned projects?  I *may* take to painting two pieces of furniture for my scrap area.  The kiddos have a four day weekend...hoping to fit some fun into our time off!

Window turned Shelf/Chalkboard

(Disclaimer...this post is long overdue)

 One of my first pins over at Pinterest was this little beauty...

Source: studiodalu.com.br via Kelly on Pinterest

Oddly enough the same day I pinned the above photo to my DIY board I snatched this up at a garage sale...

Despite having an old window on hand AND inspiration the window went untouched.  It sat in our garage.  It sat on our back porch.  It may or may not have made it's way into our basement.  Summer turned to Fall and with Christmas around the corner I got busy re purposing the window.  Sanding.  Painting.  Sanding again.  The hubby helped out by attaching an old piece of wood to the window that became a shelf.  He cut two additional pieces of wood that with a few coats of chalkboard paint became a message board.  Finally, we had re purposed our old, discovered window into this (just in time for Christmas)... 

 

The piece has turned out to be a great addition to our kitchen.  It is charming.  It has character.  It fulfills my desire of wanting more handmade pieces in our home.  HOMERUN!  What have you re purposed lately?  Share away!