Wednesday, 9 February 2011

DIY shoe & coat rack

Hello again,
I am about to dash off to Oscar's kindergarten council meeting. Not sure if all boys are the same, but I've had to pretty much get myself voted into the council in order to find out anything at all. On asking what he did all morning or who he played with I might get something like: "the witch gave me a gummi bear"????? Didn't know there were witches and I thought gummi bears were banned.

I do hope that being a mum of two boys doesn't mean I will have to resort to talking to myself during mealtimes - I hear it only gets worse when they hit puberty.

Today I want to share another DIY project with you. This one took a loooooong time from planning to execution.

Anyone with kids will understand that keeping the entrance clear of clutter if you don't have a coat room is almost impossible. Jackets, shoes, bags... and in winter hats, scarfs, gloves... I wanted something that is easily accessible and open but still kept everything looking reasonable tidy.

(image: Pottery Barn)

I came across these locker inspired entryway systems on Pottery Barn. I knew I had to go DIY because a) they don't ship to Germany and b) they retail at around US$1500 - so not an option.

I drew up a plan on the dimensions and had the pieces of wood (I used pine) cut to size by our local hardware store. The tricky part (according to my husband) was drilling into the ends of the 2cm wide boards. He used dowels and glue plus screws in the side and top pieces to hold it all together. I was so happy when it was done and felt bad for being so pushy and impatient. The paint I used is actually window paint. I wanted to have the wood grain still showing and give it a bit of a used look as it will no doubt get quite a beating in our house. The final pieces were the hooks from the hardware store and the wicker baskets from IKEA. I put some black and white wallpaper down on the shoe shelves - it can easily be changed when dirty. The whole thing came in at around 100 euros. (That's $100 NZ as everything here is pretty much double the price as in New Zealand).



(images: Nina Lamb)

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