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Every day, I’d notice one of my daughter’s tiny plastic chairs over by the basement door. I asked my husband about it and he said he was doing that so he’d have a place to sit and put on his shoes before leaving for work in the mornings.

That got me thinking. How could I make the set up better for him so he didn’t resort to using plastic kiddy chairs? And how could I do it with things We already had on hand (since we’re in the middle of a no spend month)? We don’t have a real mudroom and there isn’t a lot of space in that entryway either.

Then I remembered our extra large ottoman that we weren’t really using. It was just pushed up against our basement couch and used for gaming storage. Perfect for a comfy makeshift bench! I moved it over, but it looked so lonely against the big empty blue wall. Of course, I needed to put some pictures on that wall, but what would help prevent the pictures from seeming dwarfed and out of place? Then I remembered the broken wall mirror in the garage! A little paint and sand paper to match the basement interior colors and it would be perfect. Oh, and one can never have too many hooks. Perhaps that would provide a place to keep our extra keys our sort mail. That should round this out nicely and make the small space stand on its own.

A project was born! And I started on it with excitement.

First, I painted:

Our walls are light blue so I wanted to redo the brown/gold wall art a distressed white. I painted it with an old dry brush and white paint and spray painted a hair with white spray paint. When it dried, I took sand paper to it.

For the cardboard insert that used to hold the mirror, I painted it with a couple coats of chalkboard paint.

Next, I cut newspaper to the size of the items that I wanted to hang on the wall, and moved then around with scotch tape until I liked the grouping.

Yes, I can sometimes make a mess when I’m mid-project, but bear with me. I clean up when I’m done! ?

Next, I measured and started hammering holes for the artwork and picture frames.

Then I learned how to use a drill so I could screw in the hooks.

Voila!

Finished products:

Now that’s a much better space for my husband and daughter to enjoy while putting on their shoes each morning.