Oh, the Organization!

If you know my husband and me, you know that I am always finding amazing (to me) pieces for our home (usually expensive), and my honey is usually saying, “Baby, I could SO build that.”  What he hasn’t figured out yet (SHH! Let’s keep it between us!)  is that’s the response I’m usually hoping for!  It’s worked out well for me twice before, after all.   The only downside is I have to be patient and let him find the time to do whatever it is I’m hoping to get done.

This time it was a set of “lockers” for my entry way.  When I saw these in a Pottery Barn catalog, I was smitten.

 I have dreamed of these lockers since the first backpack entered our house. I've had nightmares about their $1200+ price tag.  But once you have more than one kid, and once those kids start preschool, and especially once those kids have more than one pair of shoes, it just becomes this constant battle between organization and chaos.  Chaos is almost always the winner in our house.  Not that we didn't have a system. We did have a system.  It wasn’t perfect, but it kept the mess in one place, and helped us not have to go searching for a stray shoe or backpack (most days).   But it was almost always cluttered.  Except without the “almost.”  Call it the nature of the beast, or whatever.  It drove me nuts.  But here’s the “Before”...

When my hubby said he was taking a day off work and would build my dream DIY project, I was beyond excited! We got the plans off ana-white.com, and it didn’t take him long to get his part done.  With the painting, drying, then reassembling, it took about three days.  So (drum roll please!) here's the "After": 

Originally I was going to paint the whole thing white, but then we decided to stain the bench, and after that the kids said they really wanted the whole thing to be red! The compromise was to paint the beadboard red, which I love! We also made one end a message center with magnetic primer and chalkboard paint.  Love again!

 I found the baskets at Target for less than $20, and the letters came from Hobby Lobby (I got all crafty and ModPodged scrapbook paper on them.  I think they’re cute.)

We love to distress and stain wood, probably because it gets the kids involved and makes it a family project! Kevin even busted out some family cattle brands and burned them into the bench.  It looks awesome!

 When they were completely finished, I stood and stared at them for minutes at a time! I was just so excited that everything that was in the “before” picture was still there (And actually more! I was able to take the kids’ Crocs out of our laundry room and put them in their baskets. Score!), and yet it looked so neat and clean and organized! It makes our garage entry feel “finished.”  Love.

Pottery Barn, eat your heart out!