Crap Closet turned Muddy Magnificence!

Remember those 12 projects to get done in 2012?  Well, I can officially check off the hall closet redo!!!  (Actually, I do still need to do a little painting so it's not totally checked off...I just couldn't wait to reveal it!)

A couple of before pictures:

Don't judge because of all the crap up there on the shelf in all of it's unorganized glory;)  You should have seen the real before...I used to have a shelf in here that held a ton of my scrapbook/crafting supplies as well as rolls of vinyl.  I have moved those things to new homes.  An armoir in the kitchen (I'll get around to revealing that one eventually!) and the trusty garage;)

From the minute that I saw this lovely on pinterest I knew that I needed to do something about our pathetic waste of a closet.  It had cruddy sliding doors that were always coming off the tracks and my kids were constantly just throwing all of their junk in there.  I was so over it.  This would be perfect!  Now only to convince the muscle hubby....not difficult at all.  He loved the idea.

After an adventure at Home Depot....why do we always buy stuff that in now way easily fits in our stupid van?  You'd think we'd have learned by now!....we came home and got to work.  Andrew got to use his new saw and sawhorses as well as a host of other tools he has been accumulating.  He's turning into quite the handyman lately;)

(Why am I even sharing this picure?)  We decided to build the bench with cubbies under it.  Ignore the following:

Dear builders of what I call home,

You suck.  Ever heard of putting studs in a reasonable place?  Hmm?  Also, maybe next time you could hang your drywall straight, mmmkay?  Thanks.  There are many other things in this house that stand as evidence that you suck.  I'm just sayin'.

Sincerely,

An annoyed home owner

Jonathan and Reagan quickly discovered that they could crawl around under the bench.  Oh to be that tiny again;)  My sisters and I used to crawl around and hide underneath all kinds of things when we were little.  Fun times.

Mid-way point:

"I built this with my muscles mom!"

The kids were satisfied with the addition of a bench.  To them it was fine.  To me...an eyesore still.

Ahhh, beadboard.  How I love thee.  Andrew was convinced that it wasn't going to look very good, but I assured him that caulk, lovely caulk, has a way of hiding things.  (Per my go to DIY blog: Thrifty Decor Chick of course since I had never done it before.  Shhh, don't tell him!)

Finally earning his keep around here:

With the beadboard installed and the painting done it was time to make a cushion.  I knew what I wanted and I finally found it after looking for a few weeks.  I bought a piece of 3" foam from Joann's.  Not cheap by the way....thank goodness for a sale!  Still paid $40 for it:(  But, it is so worth it!  I found some gray fabric at walmart that would work perfect for $2.27 a yard (now that's more like it)!  The fabulous person I call loverboy bought me a sewing machine from heaven for Christmas.  This is seriously the coolest thing I have ever had the privilege to sew with.  My precious....(think LOTR)

Now there are many flaws with this project.  Most of them are ones only I will ever know about or at least know where to look for them.  Biggest lesson learned is that wood putty doesn't sand off so easily if you let it cure all the way first.  I am super annoyed at all the spots I jacked up, but again, I probably will be the only person to notice most of them:)  The kids think this is the most fantastic closet ever.

And After:

I had some plans for really cool baskets, but those suckers aren't cheap!  It was going to be $75 for the 3 bottom baskets alone.  No thank you.  I settled for some cheap yet durable trovast bins from IKEA.  They are awesome.  The only thing left to do is paint the ceiling and the wall above the beadboard a light shade of gray.  I just won't have time to do that for a while and I couldn't wait to share the results of our labor.

Andrew says that this is now one of his favorite rooms in our house.  I love the fact that it really does feel like another "room."  We have been snuggling here, reading books, jumping, wrestling, playing, and having all kinds of fun.  It was totally worth all of the work.

Jonathan does seem to think that this is his room now.  He was adamant that he gets to sleep on this bench since it is his new bed.  The cushion really is extremely comfortable so I can see why he wouldn't mind sleeping here.

Sunday night I was visiting with my sister and he crawled up here while waiting for me to stop talking and read to him.  He totally passed out:

I took this before moving him to his own bed.  In the morning he woke up and started crying.  He ran back out to the bench and laid on it while saying between sobs "I wanted to sleep here!  I don't like you mom."

And one final side-by-side:

A job well done if I do say so myself.  I love my new mud-room!!!!