Entryway Coat Rack and Storage Bench

There are many things I love about my home, but there had been a bare space in the entryway I never did anything with until now. I had been pining over this Pinterest pin from a creative mom over at theidearoom.net. I thought her bathroom towel rack shelf would make a great coat rack in my entryway.

I decided to have my hubby make the coat rack shelf with crown molding for me because I couldn't find anything with the right dimensions online or in stores. I wanted the coat rack to be substantial and to be hung above a 3-drawer storage bench. I purchased this bench when it was on sale at Target.

I recovered the plain cushion with ultra soft cheetah fabric found at Hobby Lobby.

Judd built the coat rack using this tutorial, but altered the dimensions for a custom fit for our space. Next, we primed and painted the coat rack shelf with the same products we used on our kitchen island (shared in my post here) It's a deep, rich, rusty-red color. It only appears bright in this picture because I used the flash on my old camera. In reality, the color is more of a brown-red.

We attached these coat and hat hooks from Home Depot, and our entryway space ended up looking like this:

The girls each have their own drawer in which to keep their shoes. They feel a sense of pride in having this responsibility and Judd and I enjoy fewer tripping hazards left on the floor.



Bye-bye empty space; hello stylish organization.

Repurposing Crib to Toddler Bed

This pretty crib is very special to Judd and me.  We purchased it years ago as an act of faith while confronting fertility problems. We believed God would help us fill it with a child of our own. For years it sat assembled, yet empty, in our unused nursery of our previous home. When I visited the nursery, sometimes I felt sad and lonely. My heart ached so deeply for my children - children I was head over heels for - whom I just hadn't met, yet.

My mother had back surgery and stayed with us for six months as she recovered. I was happy to have her in our home, and remember the day I disassembled the crib and tucked it away in the garage. The nursery became my mother's guest room. There were times I wondered if I'd ever have a reason to put the crib together again.

Years passed. Fertility treatments were unsuccessful. We moved into a beautiful new home we built. Time marched on. We tried in vitro and it worked! Finally, we could  use this crib - seven years after buying it. Sophie loved sleeping in her crib and enjoyed the nursery I created just for her. I sewed all her curtains and bedding. I made matching throw pillows and a lampshade for the jewelry box lamp her Daddy made for her.

Psalm 113:9 "He gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children."

Twenty months later, when we had our twins, we moved Sophie to a toddler bed. Riley slept in this treasured crib. We purchased another crib for Piper to use and I sewed her a matching bed set.

At fifteen months old, Riley started trying to climb out of this crib. We moved her to her own toddler bed. I just couldn't part with our original crib.

So, Judd figured out a way to cut, glue, bolt, sand, stain, and convert this precious crib into a toddler bed for Piper.

He just completed the transformation a few days ago. I'm so proud of his hard work.

Piper loves her toddler bed. Now that both Piper and Riley can get in and out of their toddler beds at will, they have begun sleeping together in one bed or the other. We hadn't anticipated that but find it so sweet.

All three of my children will have slept in this crib -- in one fashion or another -- and called it their own.
 Psalm 4:8 "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, cause me to dwell in safety."

The Rest of the Story

A few weeks ago I told you about my husband starting a big fence project for our backyard. Last night Judd finished staining & sealing the scalloped picket fence he built (we didn't want the grey privacy fence look). He worked very hard on this project, and I'm so proud of the finished results.

This is the first fence Judd ever built and it is gorgeous! We've had neighbors call us to tell us what a great job Judd did on it. Strangers have stopped their cars to complement him on his work too. Can you imagine how hard it was to correctly build a scallop-topped fence, with gates, on a hill, with zero experience? It took a long time to complete, but it was worth the work. I love bragging on my hubby. He's a keeper!

And our precious daughters are kept safely within its borders now.

Great work, Judd! I'm so proud of you!

Fenced In

Now that all three of our Little Chicks are walking, we decided to finally put up a fence. It's an expense we didn't want, but our children's safety is of utmost importance.

We wanted wrought iron, but cedar pickets are in our budget. We were so used to our lovely open view out our breakfast nook windows, that we opted NOT to put up the traditional privacy fence. Instead, we chose a picket fence with scalloped curves at the top. Judd (Mr. Chick) has been busy working on this project, and loving every manly minute of it. Most days he'd rather be outside doing some sort of physical labor than inside at a desk job. I secretly think he's trying to stretch this project out as an excuse to cut out of work early - ha!



Sophie has been just as excited about this fence as her daddy. She's been quite his little helper too.


We had all of the electricity, phones, TV, water, etc. located prior to starting this project. In spite of our best efforts and due diligence, Judd still managed to cut our neighbor's cable TV line. Ugh.

It took four days for Cox Communications to fix it. We felt sorry for our neighbors and lent them all our DVDs and invited them over to watch TV if they wanted. Our neighbor told us it was a blessing in disguise, because now that the line is fixed, their TV reception is clearer than ever before.

Judd also managed to cut the neighborhood entrance's lawn sprinkler pipe which, for some reason, goes through our yard.


Since it was simple PVC pipe it was easy for Judd to fix it himself. No harm - no foul - and no call to tell our home owner's association police.

I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but Judd even worked in the rain. This guy is on a mission. A manly man mission.


I'll post after pictures...soon - I hope! (fingers crossed).