During this stay-at-home-forever-year-that-never-ends-when-will-this-be-over, I’ve been working on lots of DIY projects that have been on my to-do list. Our family TV room is situated in the back of the house, with an entrance that opens directly into the room. Since this is the door that our friends and family use when they visit (remember when people used to come over to your house and hang out?), I try to keep it tidy and neat. So many times, I have wished for a mud room to be able to remove snowy or muddy boots & shoes, coats, scarves and of course, masks. Over the years, I’ve tried baskets and shelves and benches, but somehow it always looked messy. So, adding an antique workbench to the entry was the perfect solution!
It offers lots of storage and looks great, but when I moved it into place initially, I thought it just looked rather small and plain against the painted wall.
So, since this is the room where I had previously installed the ship-lap wall surrounding the fireplace, I figured, why not? You can never have too much shiplap, amiright? The install was pretty simple, starting with measuring the width of the workbench, ensuring to leave enough clearance for the back door to fully open into the room. Nothing worse than trying to open a door, only to find it blocked half-way!
The shiplap I chose for both projects was from Lowes.
You can read the full DIY instructions in my previous post here. It is light weight and super easy to cut and install. That fireplace project took me many weeks, but this project took about 2 days to cut, install and add the hardware.
Once installed, I added an antique plank shelf on top-solely for decorative purposes-that I can change and arrange for the seasons. Love those antique white brackets!
Then I added vintage hooks to hold tote bags and scarves, gloves and anything else that would need to be hung to dry, plus a his & hers mask basket
and this cute little sign-a gift from my sister, because I was complaining that I kept forgetting them on my way out the door- no more! And once the mask-wearing finally comes to an end, and we certainly look forward to that day…we’ll just use it for other junk!
The workbench base was already the perfect shade of blue, so that remained untouched. The old worn top required a bit of TLC, so I used General Finishes Antique Wax in a medium brown shade called Scrub Pine. That same wax was used for the top and bottom shelves as well, to create a uniform look.
Paint on, wipe off, add a couple more coats and buff ’til it glows. We look at that antique plank of wood, and marvel at the scars from years of use in a basement workshop where we first discovered it.
Some people might look at it and think “what a mess”- we look at it and think “gorgeous”- happily saving a piece of history for another generation. It features a hand-hewn built-in trough, previously used to hold wood shavings and hardware, now useful for keys and glasses. There are hooks on the sides underneath…
previously used for tools, but now they’re for hanging umbrellas and purses. These drawers hold gloves and glasses, phone chargers and even a tape measure. Because, you know…”where’s the tape measure-we have like a dozen of them-where did they go?!”
Finally, there’s a shelf on the bottom where we store our shoes and boots in vintage crates.
Next to the workbench I added an old cabinet door chalkboard with lots of hooks for coats and sweatshirts to hang.
Obviously, I can’t write on it in chalk, because our coats would be a mess! But I could do a painted sign there. What should it say? Hang your coat seems rather obvious-any other clever ideas? So that’s it. One more project completed. It looks great and keeps everything neat and tidy by our back door. On to my next project…and praying for this pandemic to be over and masks to be a thing of the past.
Have a safe, Super (snowy) Sunday everyone! xoxoxo Sue
This is important! Visually, shiplap is long lengths of boards attached to the wall in a straight row. Leveling as you go will ensure a clean, unwavy (is that a word??) sight line.
(I would not have attempted to do this installation without one.)
I used 
This particular brand of shiplap had an assortment of lengths in each box, so it was important for me to decided which pieces would go in which order for each row. I was working around a fireplace and ceiling and baseboard moldings, so I had to figure those into the equation. It would have been so much easier if I was working on a simple blank wall, but that wasn’t the case. I taped these on to the wall to visualize how it was going to work before I started the actual nailing and gluing.
you push it into an area and it forms into the shape that you need to cut around. 
Otherwise you’ll need some paper and tape to create a pattern to cut around. 
It just doesn’t end up well. Fortunately for me, this particular brand is pretty rustic, so a few cracks and holes blends in quite well!
It made it so much more tedious than if I had just kept using the larger pieces instead of trying to save them…for what, I have no idea….but I’ll figure something out.
For now, I am leaving it as is and enjoying the fruits of my labor.
Each time I returned to the store to purchase more, it had to be seasoned in the house for 36 hours before I could install it. Which meant more messy days in our family room.
As an aside, I have a much deeper appreciation and newfound admiration for carpenters and contractors-actually, anyone who labors for a living-especially older folks, like me. The work is fulfilling, but it is not easy-the difference is, I did this for fun, they do it for a living. So my work here is done…for now…and I am shiplapped out… until my next project comes along. Have a terrific Thursday, everyone! And if you decide you need some shiplap in your life, I know the name of a great contractor I can share with you…and its not me : ) xoxo Susan
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