DIY Day: If You Build It, They Will Organize

 

This week’s DIY project solves a problem I blogged about a little while ago.  The area beside our backdoor had become a catch-all for shoes, hats, purses and more.  We don’t have a “mudroom” or even a proper entry way by the back door, so whatever gets dropped there can be seen from the kitchen and other areas of our home.   It can be a mess! Ever reach your breaking point with something and just have to find a solution right then and there?  Well, that’s what happened here, so I asked hubby to build me a storage cube to hide all that mess.  I figured it would be easier to build one than to hunt all over town/the internet for one that met my specifications. So hubby drew out a plan:

and we made a visit to Lowe’s to procure all the necessary supplies, which was a sheet of birch plywood, some iron-on veneer edge trimming, and some stain.

The next part involved a lot of measuring and cutting, in which I did not participate.  I chose to leave hubby alone with his power tools and do a little shopping instead.  I came home to find this:

I did help iron on the veneer edging.  This gave the edges a finished look and would help make everything uniform when stained.

Now the cube was ready for stain.  I chose a color called Bombay Mahogany, because the tiny little one inch sample swatch looked like it was a good match to our kitchen cabinets.  It turned out way too red.  Here it is after one coat of stain:

So I had to add some ebony (black) stain to darken it.  Here’s a tip: save disposable lunch meat and cool whip containers for small projects like this, they make great containers for mixing stain and/or paint colors. I did one coat of the mixed, then one coat of just ebony.  I already had poly on hand, so I gave it a good two coats for protection.  So here’s the finished product, complete with a cushion my mom made:

Here are some more details:

I used a piece of an old window shade to make a liner for the bottom shelf.  This will help protect the wood, and I can just shake it out instead of having to wipe down the shelf all the time to remove the dirt that collects from our shoes.

I found this cute little canvas storage basket at Lowe’s for just $4.88.  It’s the perfect size for the top shelf.  I throw all the coupons and miscellaneous items that need to go in my car in there.

Um, and so the cushion is actually some packing foam we just pieced together then covered with a layer of batting.

Looks pretty, doesn’t it?  Duct tape holds the world together. My mom just sewed a simple pillowcase to cover the cushion.  I don’t have the patience to make these pretty little corners.  I had originally planned to use the same fabric from our kitchen window treatments, but I didn’t have enough.  I think this natural-look woven fabric looks better anyway.  It matches perfectly with the shelf liner and complements the wood tone. 

Here’s another look at the finished product:

Unfortunately this wasn’t exactly a thrifty project, but I figure it cost the same or less as if I had bought one, especially if I had to pay shipping.  Here’s the cost breakdown:

~3/4” Birch plywood: $38.77

~Iron-on veneer edging: $6.47 (we used almost all the 25feet in the package)

~Quart of stain: $11.87 (I should have bought the smaller can and saved money here)

~Canvas drawer: $4.88

~Fabric:  $12.21

Total cost: $73.24 (plus tax)  (and we have materials leftover)

Before:

After:

Ahhhhh, much better!! Thanks, hubby!

Hop on over to A Soft Place To Land and The Shabby Chic Cottage to see more DIY and Transformation projects.