The Weekender-Inspired Entryway

This post is sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement. As always, all opinions are my own.

This is what our entryway looks like on most days. Sometimes it’s worse. Occasionally it’s a little neater.

There are shoes scattered all over the floor, behind the door and down the hall. Toys, too. Backpacks and jackets end up here. And should the weather necessitate, hats, mittens, umbrellas and rain boots get huddled together in a wet pile in the corner.

It’s the first thing we see when we come home.
It’s the first thing people see when they visit.
It’s a mess.

That is, until now…

Enter stage left, Lowe’s new show on YouTube and Apple TV called “The Weekender.” Have you seen it? Monica Mangin of East Coast Creative is the host, and she walks you through a brilliant collection of DIY home improvement projects that are completed over a weekend. What I like most about the show is that the projects don’t require a ton of time or money, but still enhance the style, comfort and function of your home.

Still don’t believe me? Well, let me share my Weekender-inspired project with you.

Welcome to our home!

Please feel free to hang your coat and place your shoes in the cabinet so my adorable dog doesn’t run off with them. (Seriously. Don’t let that cute face fool you!)

This entry bench and wood plank wall are just the kinds of upgrades that make our builder-grade home more uniquely our own.

Granted, it is nice to have a handy hubby for DIY projects, but this time he was out doing the Navy thing for most of the project. He got me started on the right track, and I had plenty of help and support along the way from my kiddos (don’t cut your fingers off, Mom!), my sister (thanks for finding those wall studs!), and of course, Lowe’s Home Improvement (thanks for partnering on this project!).

So without further ado, here are the project details.

MUDROOM BENCH

It all started with this stock kitchen cabinet.

I am a stickler about removing shoes upon entering the house, so a bench created an ideal location to unload and unlace. The Chief can lace up and remove his heavy combat boots at the door. The kids can sit down to take their shoes on and off, too. There’s no more tracking dirt through the house or throwing shoes around willy nilly. This bench is our landing zone for bags, coats, shoes and miscellaneous things. Organizational happiness!

Like many DIY projects, there is a bit of a story behind this bench. It has a happy ending as you can see from the pictures, but it took a little longer than a weekend to achieve my desired look and feel. To start, we used this tutorial by Lowe’s as a guideline and modified it to fit our own style and function.

Here are the changes we made in case you’d like to DIY a similar bench of your own:

(1)  Stand-alone vs. Built-in:

Because I wanted a moveable bench, we didn’t bring the baseboards around to meet and so the base pieces are all the same size (1×6).

(2)  Beveled vs. Raw wood edges:

We cut the base pieces at 45-degree angles so they would meet without raw edges. This step provided a smoother, cleaner finish for staining. The base pieces were glued and nailed together.

*Note: In the picture above, you’ll see we started building the base with the 1×4 boards per the tutorial. We later decided on a stand-alone bench and so we swapped them out for 1×6 boards instead.

(3)  Oak vs. MDF/Pine

My plan was to stain the bench, so we used oak boards for the top and base and covered the cabinet’s sides with 1/4″ oak plywood. By using the same type of wood, we hoped the stain would absorb similarly and provide a seamless finish.

For the sides, we cut pieces a little larger than the cabinet, glued them on and pressed them down with weight. After they were dry, we cut them flush with the cabinet using a router.

We also cut the top a little longer, giving it a 3/4″ lip on three sides.

So here’s the final product pre-staining! (And this is where the story takes a turn…)

(4)  Stain vs. Paint:

I chose a dark wood stain thinking it would provide warmth and contrast. It was a gorgeous piece of furniture when it was finished, however it also turned out to be too dark and severe against the white shiplap. DIY disappointment.

In the end, I went even darker on the stain on top, but sanded the rest down to paint white.

I’d like to add a shelf for additional storage, but it currently does a great job holding the shoes we wear most often. And all I have to do is shut the cabinet doors to hide the clutter!

FAUX SHIPLAP WALL

I have jumped on the Fixer Upper shiplap bandwagon and absolutely adore it! It’s fresh and fun with beautifully clean lines. It adds texture and dimension to the entryway without being overpowering. Needless to say, I am extending it to the rest of my entry walls and will happily provide you with a full tutorial.

My shiplap was made with 1/2″ blondewood plywood that the customer service representative at Lowe’s helpfully cut into 6″ boards. I love my power tools, but I was grateful for this free service as I’m not a big fan of the table saw. Plus, I was able to fit all the boards and my kiddos into the car with ease.

Once home, I cut the boards to fit my wall with a miter saw. My little buddy helped to mark the boards for super straight cuts.

My sister kindly marked the studs, and we installed the boards with 1 1/2″ brads using a pneumatic nailer. It was a breeze! We used two stacked nickels for a 1/8″ spacer and capped the top with a shelf made from a board adhered to the same chair rail we used to cap the board and batten wall in my daughter’s room.

The planks and shelf are painted in Valspar’s Dove White.

A triplet of black and white striped hooks from Anthropologie were a splurge, but I just couldn’t resist. Oh, you pretty little things!

The walls are painted with the Valspar equivalent of Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue. Did you know that Lowe’s will match any color? Not just paint samples, but fabrics or flooring, too! I learned that on my latest visit to my neighborhood store.

A quart of paint later and my entry was transformed from drab to fab!

If this entryway project doesn’t get you excited to DIY, then check out all the episodes of The Weekender.
I promise you’ll be inspired, and Lowe’s can help with all the project details.
So what will you build this weekend? — v.

RESOURCES

BENCH
tutorial • unfinished oak cabinet • 3/4″ oak plywood • 1/4″ oak plywood • 1x6x6 red oak board • Titebond wood glue • Minwax Wood Stain in Jacobean • Minwax Polyshades in Classic Black Gloss • Valspar paint in Dove White

FAUX SHIPLAP WALL
1/2″ birch/blondewood • 3.5″ chair rail moulding • b&w wall hooks • Valspar paint in Dove White