UHeart Organizing: A Handmade Entry

If you had a total of 8 square feet of entryway space, what would you do with it? 

One thing I love about contributing writer, Palak of Make it Handmade, is that she loves to sew and create storage on a budget.  Her entryway is no exception as she tackled the super small space with a super big heart.  She and her husband took on their first building project to build in a bench and upper storage from scratch, and from there she also created some DIY felt storage bins.  She is stopping by today to share a bit more about how she truly "made" every last bit of her budget friendly entryway.

Hello I Heart Readers! I'm back today with a "tour" of our newly built Mini Mudroom.

It's not much to look at, but right now it's my very favorite 8 square feet in our home.

When we bought our home, there was a small recess right behind the garage door that was perfect for a small bench.  I searched and searched for a bench to fit the area exactly, but couldn't find one that fit with my taste or our budget.

But now that both kids go to school, we really needed a place for them store their bags, folders, show and tells, sneakers etc. So, even though we've only used our jigsaw once, my husband and I set out to make a mud bench.

We roughly followed this plan from Ana White.  I modified the bench plans to fit our IKEA expedit containers and to be deep enough to be comfortable for us to sit on.

We were able to cut costs by using plywood instead of solid wood and omitting the back of the bench, so the whole bench only cost about 40 dollars in wood.

The cubbies on the bottom of the shelf are the DRONA boxes from IKEA. They hold our spare shoes, items that need to be returned to the store or grandmas, and all those hats I knit.

The shelf we cobbled together from scraps from the bench and our garage.

Our big splurge were these hooks from Lowes.  There are wonderful DIY options for hooks and knobs, but at the end of the project these felt like the icing on the cake.

Because the shelf was from scraps I didn't have any baskets shallow enough to fit the upper cubbies.  I really loved these soft baskets from Ikea, but again, they weren't the right size and they were very expensive.  So I had to sew up my own.

These baskets fit perfectly in the space I have, and have an "unique expression" just like the ones in the IKEA catalog.  If you want to make your own in any size, check out my Felt Basket Tutorial.

These are perfect for those items that I want to keep out of sight and out of reach of little hands.  One basket holds our wallets and umbrellas... and there might be a little chocolate tucked in there as well.

In a non cuffed bin I'm keeping all those unsightly grocery bags.  We used to keep these in the pantry and I'm so glad to get them closer to the car so I'll actually remember to take them to the store!

With the leftover felt I made a little homework organizer for the kids.  This way we'll always know where that folder is at the beginning of the week!

For our first big furniture diy project I'm ecstatic with how it turned out!  I still would like to add a few things to make it special -- I'm loving this chalkboard wall in Christie's Magical Mudroom.  I think a small version would be perfect for the space!  How do you dress up your mud room?

Thank you for having me over to share my space, Jen!

"I'm Palak-- a slightly sleep deprived mom who has loved sewing, knitting and crochet for her whole life. When I’m not chasing after my two rambunctious kids, or sitting behind my sewing machine, I write about my DIY exploits at my blog, Make It Handmade. I also own Sewistry, a site dedicated to stretching our sewing dollars with money saving projects, product review and buying guides. Although organizing doesn’t come naturally to me, I’ve been inspired by Jen and her blog to find the joy in making my home beautiful and functional. I’m transforming my home one room at a time and using my sewing machine every chance I get! I’m simply elated to be able share sewing projects for your home as part of the IHeart team! "