Office Shoe Cubby

To tame our shoe problem, I showed The Mister several small mudroom options that I wanted to incorporate into our multi-purpose space.

Office (In Progress).
This was after we painted and installed crown and shoe molding.

Pulling out some MDF from the utility room for a project that never happened, The Mister began to measure and cut the MDF to fit the behind our door.

Using the Kreg jig, The Mister drilled holes to attach the pieces together. To give it added strength and stability, we cut triangles and screwed them in the back corners. We also nailed a 1/2 inch by 3/4 inch strip of wood which we salvaged from another project to the face of the cubby to finish the front.

After the shoe cubby was assembled, I puttied and sanded the seams and screw holes. Then I painted it to allow the cubby to blend into the wall.

Following the instructions from CentsationalGirl's blog, I sewed a boxed bench cushion using two old pillows as stuffing. I haven't practiced sewing a zipper yet so instead of sewing a zipper in the cushion cover, I used Velcro to hold the cover closed.

I then moved to sewing the cubby boxes. I debated buying baskets, but to save money and practice sewing, I used fabric and interfacing that was already in my stash and purchased plastic stiffener using a coupon at Hobby Lobby. I followed the instructions from MakeItLoveIt.

Like most things I do, it takes multiple tries before getting it right (or better). These baskets took three tries and no two baskets are exactly alike. (haha!) I can say with confidence though that the second basket is better than the first and the third basket is better than both the first and second. At least they resemble baskets, right?

The original goal was to give each family member a basket, but so far we have been putting shoes, purses, towels, dog items in whatever basket is available. I am so glad to have a partial solution to our shoe problem!

I am linking up with Make It and Love It and Sew Many Ways.