shelf | Jewels at Home

Week One – Small Foyer Inspiration
Week Two – “Tile” Vinyl Floor Mats
Week Three – Foyer Bench / Shoe Cabinet
Week Four – Building a Mini Mudroom
Week Five – Favorite Blue Chinoiserie Wallpapers
Week Six – Mini Mudroom Reveal

It’s so satisfying when a space comes together! I knew the hall closet was not working for our family, and now we have a mini mudroom that is functional and also beautiful – I am so happy with the result!

After building the space,

I painted the shelves, trim, and ceiling in a semi-gloss paint that I had color-matched to the wallpaper.
Next, I hung the beautiful Ronald Redding Aspen wallpaper. If you’re hanging wallpaper that contrasts with your walls, prime the wall (or, if you are lazy like me, paint stripes of primer where the seams will be), so the wall color doesn’t show through at the seams.
Finally, I installed these brass coat hooks I found on Etsy. I wanted double hooks for more storage and was looking for something that felt traditional but not too antique, and these turned out great! I did curse the matching flat head screws a few times, because they’re much trickier than a Phillips head, but I managed to install the screws using bigger pilot holes and hand-screwing them in. Now that it’s done, I do like the more clean traditional look of the screws.

Enjoy these photos of all the details!

There’s something so luxurious about a glossy dark painted ceiling… even if it is in a closet 🙂

I would never have guessed that a closet could make me so happy!

Be sure to go back to the One Room Challenge site to see some more room transformations!

Julie AKA “Jewels”

I am so excited to share this build! At our old house, we had a cloakroom-type space, with shoe racks and coat hooks. That space was not directly visible from the living areas, so I did not mind it being a bit more more casual and utilitarian. I was looking for the same functionality in our new home, but I was a bit stumped by how to accomplish this with a small hallway closet that is immediately visible from the entry and living room. I researched various closet conversion ideas, but many of them seemed more casual than what I was looking for. I knew I had finally found my solution when I stumbled on the “California Mudroom” created by Jessica D’Itri Marés of Renovate 108 featured on Real Simple (below right) Can you see ours (below left) coming together? Please say “yes!”

This project involved just the right level of DIY for me – I got to work on my skills but not get too stressed. In this post, I will share the construction steps to convert a standard hall closet into a mini mudroom. I’ve been chipping away on this project for a while (because job! and kids!), and now I am excited to bring you up to speed with where I am!

Here’s how to do it:

Remove the door and door hardware
Use a pry bar to remove the door stop trim, so the opening looks more like a framed entry than a doorway

Remove the hanging rod
Patch holes – in addition to spackle and caulk, I used some craft sticks and wood glue to fill in the areas where the door hardware was attached. I’m sure that’s just what the professionals do!

Add shelves to the top. Mine already had one shelf, and I wanted to add a second. Both shelves are supported on wide trim, mounted into the studs.
The wide trim will be perfect for installing hooks