Hallway Makeover

Over the last two weekends we spent some time revamping the basement hallway. Not only was the hallway painted a hideous greige color, but it also wasn't as functional as I hoped it could be.

See, the basement hallway is right off the back door, which we use as our primary entrance. My house seriously lacks entry space. The front door opens right into the living room; no foyer, no entryway, certainly nothing as convenient as a closet. Just the front door right in the frick in the middle of the living room.

The back door isn't much better. It opens directly into the kitchen. There's no sun porch, no mudroom, no closet, just a teeny bit of space next to my "pantry" and a hallway to the basement.

I have been ruminating over how to transform the hallway to add more storage, especially shoe storage, for months now. Finally, I decided to get off my duff and go for it. Then in a 10-minute consultation with the Boy, we solved the shoe storage issue as well. After some carpentry work by The Boy, and painting by me, we turned an eyesore into a wonderful blanding strip (basement landing strip).

The shoe storage was made by adding a board to an existing ledge. It's MUCH better than having shoes pile up in the middle of the floor.

We also added key and mail storage, and more hanging space.


What you can't see in the before pic, is that we removed the bifold double door to the basement which was never used anyway. The entire space feels much more open now, and I love the continuation of the kitchen color in the hallway.

Did I mention no more piles of shoes by the door? Bliss.