When we moved into our new construction home, we had a small open space off the garage door. A kind of hallway room between the kitchen and bathroom, perfect to create a small drop zone, especially since the front door doesn’t offer much space for one.

We started with a small bench and three hooks over it for jackets, but it didn’t take long to realize that it was not going to be enough. Thus we started planning.

My husband and I both loved the look of board and batten and shiplap. Since we did the board and batten look in our old house, we opted to go for the shiplap look here. I say shiplap look, because we were too cheap to buy actual shiplap, and opted for the shiplap sheets. Here’s a sneak peak at the final product before we get into it more.

Step 1 – Clear out and clean everything.

Step 2 – Pull off the existing baseboards. Because we were using thin shiplap sheets, we opted to remove the baseboards and reinstall them on top.

Step 3 – Shop! Products needed:

• Shiplap sheets
• 1×4 boards
• 1×2 boards
• Brad nailer and nails
• Paintable caulk
• Paint (Sherwin-Williams Peppercorn Interior Paint)

Step 4 – Build

• Fix shiplap to the wall with brad nailer. We opted to have the shiplap going vertical
• The 1×4 was then nailed along the top, and the 1×2 on top of that to create a small shelf
• All nail holes were then filled and sanded, and the seams between the boards (not the shiplap, but the top boards!) caulked
• We re-attached the baseboards, but I wish we had painted before doing this!

Step 5 – Paint!

I had a light gray paint from an earlier project, but when I started painting…I didn’t love it. We had been concerned about going too dark in this room, since there is no natural light, but my gut kept telling me it needed to be darker! I ran to Lowe’s and picked up some Sherwin-Williams Peppercorn Interior Paint.

Once everything was painted, we picked out some hooks and really went to town. With 3 kids, we have no shortage on hoodies, jackets and backpacks to hang.

Yes, we do keep our halloween skeleton rug out year round! And no, I do not regret all of those hooks. There are days where we use every single one, although I try to limit it to one jacket per person here and put the rest in our hall closet.

Products:

• Ruggable Skeleton Rug
• Light fixture
• Bench is over 10 years old, originally from Target