Before we touched this area there was a simple rod and shelf, like you would see inside a typical bedroom closet. I hated that there was no door to hide everything. And upon further investigation we found that the reason there was no door is because the closet itself is too close in proximity to the front door. Everything would just be getting banged, slammed and dented if we tried to put a door on. At first we considered a sliding barn door so it didn't stick into the entry way. We decided against this mainly because it would just take too much time to build, and a bit because it limits what we can do when decorating the wall behind where it would slide.
So we bought some premade pieces, mostly to avoid painting, and then Bryan and dad adjusted them to fit the area.
I am very happy with the result. Though it limits the number of coats I can have "stored" in there, it is perfect to keep a jacket or 2 for each person. The storage bench has an area for each of the kids boots and room for hats, gloves, etc, above them. Bryan and I have lots of room in the cubbies for our shoes and other items. I would like to get a few baskets in there some day, but for now I'm just glad it's done.
Do you remember how we split one room into two? There was a funny little connection between them and it made no sense. The bedroom part is still huge and is Jackson's room (almost as big as our master). The other side was closed off from Jackson's room and a door was added into the hallway. That area was made into a storage room. One thing the inside of the house lacked was storage. Today I put together the storage shelves we bought. They're going to get full faster than I'd like I'm afraid. But it sure is nice to have that area now.
