A Simple Entry

I am always looking for simple home improvement projects and this one has got to be one of the easiest I ever attempted. We have had problems with the "shoe monster" throwing up shoes all over the front hallway since we moved in to our home in western Maryland back in August of 2009. I finally got fed up enough to do something about it, because we are just to darn lazy to put our shoes away in our closets. =)

Oh the horror of it all, tripping over shoes every morning. Not a beautiful sight:

That bench never worked where it is and the entry isn't exactly wide like some others so I had to get creative with the storage. This is what I have to work with. A 75" wide x 44" tall x 8" deep area to contain the shoes of 4 people. Not really a lot of space, but I was determined to make it work.

Off to Ikea I went and came across this:

(oh, don't mind the mess in the background, we're just keeping it real in Maryland =)

Awesome!!! And only $39.99 for each set of three. I purchased two sets and rushed home and got busy! They were super easy to install using wall anchors, screws, a level and my best-est friend ever, my cordless drill. Total time spent to install the cabinets 20 minutes. This is what I ended up with:

Nice, but ohhh soooo boring. It needed something, but what? A nice wood shelf on top, of course.

Off to Lowe's I went. I found a six foot long piece of pine that was nine inches deep for $7.00. Cha-Ching!!

I had to really look for one that didn't have tons of knots. It took some time but I finally found it. Only problem was it was too long and too wide. The nice man at Lowes fixed that problem for me and ripped it to the correct dimensions. Home I went feeling very proud of myself. I plopped that beautiful piece of pine in it's new home but still wasn't quite satisfied. Still looked like it was not quite finished....

She needed something, more accessories, maybe paint, maybe a little stain to bring out her true beauty. Soo, back to Lowe's I went and got some Watco Danish Oil in Medium Oak.

I applied three coats 30 minutes apart. Thats some cool stuff, I tell ya! And viola, She finally shined! I looove, looove, looove it! I went around my house and did some "shopping" for more accessories for the top and I must say I am quite pleased with the out come.

My red chicken I found at Goodwill for $2.00 and spray painted him because he was so ugly before.

One last thing I did was add hooks to one end so my sweetie has someplace to hang his badges for work. It was so easy to do, and it looks too darn cute.

So, we went form this this boring wall not earning its keep:

and this crazy mess left by the shoe monster:

To this wonderful, you have no idea what I am storing beauty:

And another angle just to keep thing interesting =)

Don't mind the hole in the wall, my sweetie is doing some electrical work, so there are some holes in the walls at various spots throughout the house.

So, there you have it, an attractive and very inexpensive front entry shoe storage solution that doesn't take up one inch of floor space!

Enjoy your Sunday!!!