A project finally completed...

I really dislike clutter. Really. Loathe. Clutter. My small kitchen and dining area where I prepare meals for my family of six is constantly attacked by one small pile of paper or another, coats, shoes, back packs, hats, and gloves (times six!). I am working on some plans to control the paper clutter on my kitchen counter, but what I am really excited to share is the organization cubby in my garage to control the shoe, hat, glove and coat clutter at the entrance of my house located in the dining room. To prevent the overflow of clutter into the entry of our home from the garage to our dining room, my husband and I have created this awesome organizer with one basket for shoes and another for hat and gloves for each family member (only took 18 months to complete from paper plan to finished project).

The baskets were purchased from the Dollar Store at $1 per basket ($10 total). These economical and waterproof resistant baskets will work great to store wet and muddy shoes.  A quick hose wash will make the baskets like new again.  The storage unit itself was built from 1x10 inch standard pine boards and stands 72 inches wide. I hope to paint the unit the same color as my entrance door, but that may need to wait until I have more time over Thanksgiving or Christmas break.

The legs were cut from leftover banister (added a few weeks earlier and only sold in 8 foot lengths - I only needed four feet of banister for my garage entrance). I added the legs to help keep the cabinet off the garage floor.  In the winter months, the garage floor can get very wet from snow melt and I didn't want the wood to soak up the moisture off the garage floor and warp.

As you can see from the picture, I need to remind my daughter to place her shoes in her basket and not on the garage floor to prevent tripping hazards at the bottom of the stairs. I am so glad to finally have this project complete. I started the plans last summer (2012), my husband finally cut the wood and pre-drilled half the screw holes the start of this summer (2013), and finally just this weekend (after soccer season was finished for the fall) I made time to put the cabinet together and it looks beautiful! I am definitely not a carpenter and if you look close, you may see mistakes, but it will serve its purpose of organizing shoes and winter accessories in the most beautiful way!