This has been one of the most satisfying projects we have done. It also made a huge difference in the overall feeling as soon as you enter our home. Who knew little spaces could say so much!

I loved working on this project because it was so simple. Here is where you will find a complete breakdown as well things we would of done differently.

It was pretty obvious that this space needed some love. There had been an old CPI panel secured in there that hadn’t been used in years, plus there were no keys to be found to remove the box. Thankfully I have a husband who doesn’t mind breaking into things for me and she managed to remove it from the wall along with the insecure shelving!

We wanted a pretty accent wall, but also one that would be very simple to install. We decided on bead board from Home Depot because you can get a sheet of this for cheap. Our space is about 3 ft wide and 8 ft tall so we didn’t need much. I also made the executive decision to not remove my baseboard (which I know some people would not approve of) but after thinking about it we were going to be covering the entire bottom half anyways and we didn’t want the hassle.

I also recommend having Home Depot cut it to size for you especially if you don’t have the equipment. They are so kind to offer this service and it is incredibly helpful, but make sure your measurements are exactly what you need. I don’t have a picture of the bead board before we painted it, but we decided to go with an Inkwell color from Sherman Williams. It is between a dark blue and black and gave just the right contrast against the main wall color.

The bead board covered up the ugly wall so easy and brought some great dimension to the space. We also painted the outlet cover to match.

Then we build the frame for the bottom of the cubby spaces. I would recommend getting your baskets or boxes you want to put inside your spaces first so you know exactly the size the holes need to be. Mine were 13 in high so we measure specifically to fit those in our space.

Now here is where I explain why I didn’t rip the baseboard out, and don’t get me wrong if you want to GO FOR IT! If you are replacing flooring or anything like that then I would suggest taking it out. In this situation though we were going to be laying don’t the plywood over the top and it covered the space of the baseboard so you would never know it wasn’t pulled out.

Our frame is simply four 2×4’s nailed together. I would recommend putting in a middle support as well, but unfortunately there is no picture of that. This is just extra support and with this being a bench we wanted to make sure it is sturdy.

When cutting the plywood, we measured to keep a small lip at the front. Our plywood is only about 1/4 in thick, but it isn’t the main support so we weren’t worried at all. The only weight on this would be the boxes. This was for the look and would be smoothed for a clean cut with some caulk.

Once this was all in place and flush against the wall. CAULK TIME! It is so satisfying and really gives a much more professional look to your projects if you use caulk. I like to keep a wet rag on hand for wiping my finger or even to clean up any spots I get on the wall. Caulking takes a little bit of practice because you want it to stay smooth.

Once the caulk had dried we painted the base and let it dry over night. I think it is a great idea to paint as you go because then you know it all gets painted and it is easier access to get into all the back corners.

Then it was time to finish the top of the frame. Similar to the bottom we used 2×4’s and that is because they were cheap and we had some leftover from previous projects.

We placed four 2×6’s in the corners against the wall and a 2×4 in the front. The one in the front is supporting but needed to be smaller for the boxes to fit. We measured each board to be about 14 in tall as to allow for enough room for the boxes to slide in but have a little extra space on top. The top frame is identical to the bottom frame and because we used 2×6’s there is an extra 2 in overhang in the back for the top frame to rest on. Again this was just for support purposes, but I do recommend it. Once set in place we caulked and painted

We also wanted a top shelf which was simple yet pretty, so we used some leftover 1×6 board and put them together with some wood glue and nails. Then sanded them down really nice. They are resting on some small 1×2 furring strip boards that we got from Home Depot. They are screwed into the studs in the wall and we decided to paint them to match the wall so it hid them a little more.

As you can tell I was already getting excited about decorating this space. We also purchased 3 hooks from Home Depot and spaced them evenly on the wall. This space may be cute but it is also functional and somewhere we needed to put coats, hats, shoes.. you name it!

Similar to the top shelf, was how we did the bottom. These boards were 1×6’s that we used, but you can use about any size that fits your space. The pieces were put together with wood glue as well as some pocket screws underneath for better stability since it was going to be the bench. We also have a friend with a planer who was so kind enough to run this through for us to make sure it was even and smooth, but if you don’t have one don’t worry because you can still sand it down really nice.

Finally, we stained both the shelf and the bench a dark walnut color that went really well with the dark contrast of the walls but still showed the beautiful lines in the wood.

Finished with our boxes and some pillows and wow! This has made such a difference in our entry and I love how it turned out. We put all our shoes into the boxes which really helped clean up the area as well and give things a place to be. This is a simple project that anyone could do and I know you would love the results! Let me know your thoughts!