After living in our colonial “fixer upper” for a year now it didn’t take long to realize that with a bigger house we were having larger gatherings not to mention grandkids that drop coats and bookbags on chairs and the floor. we took our first trip to IKEA and bought a few cubbies to give us shelf storage throughout our 3000 sq. ft. home. the mudroom systems we saw were quite expensive so we took on the task of using some of the pieces we had previously purchased to create our own design.
Supplies that we used for our design.
- 2 of the Ikea KALLAX shelf units ; 16 1/2 x 57 7/8 inches
- 2 of the Ikea HEMNES wall/bridging shelf 72 x 14 5/8 inches
- 1 of the Ikea PINNIG coat rack with shoe storage bench, 76″
- Kartotek Rack with 5 hooks from ikea
- 4 Ikea Lekman Box
- 2 Kallax inserts 2 drawers 13×13
- RoomMates Herringbone Wood Boards Peel and Stick wallpaper from amazon
We currently had the PINNIG rack at our back door and we felt that the space was too crowded and disorganized. .and we had the Kallax and HEMNES units in the wall area adjacent to our kitchen which really didn’t serve a purpose other than holding knick snacks and collecting dust. It did look good though. this first picture is of the space we are going to transform.
once we cleared out the space to see our blank canvas it looked like this
then we came up with a plan on what our layout should look like. we considered putting up beadboard but, in an effort to save money we pulled out some left offer peel and stick wallpaper that was left offer from another project. the bonus was that the herringbone pattern matches the pattern in our countertops. after a few simple arguments on figuring out how to match up the pattern of the paper we got started(I won’t tell my husband but he was right for once). 
when we had our paper on the wall we actually ran a little short but in the end, we cut strips from our remaining pieces to put together and fill in the missing pieces. It looks like it belongs, doesn’t it? anyway… we had purchased this peel and stick paper from amazon and here is our affiliate link of the pattern we used, Herringbone Peel and Stick.
After the peel and stick fiasco it looks a little hideous but, wait and see what it looks like when it is all put together. Now we are laying out the cubbies into our design.
Building with these cubbies is a bit like putting together lego’s. With a little imagination, you can solve a lot of different storage problems.
We have out pieces in the right spot now to add a couple of angle brackets to support the upper bridge to the upright cubbie unit on the right side. for that, we visited our local hardware store to get brackets that would support the weight of the shelf and whatever else is going to be placed in or on the top of the bridge unit. 
Next, we installed a IKEA KARTOTEK rack with 5 hooks for our hanging needs which is the final piece of this part of the cubbie puzzle which fit perfectly beside our PINNIG coat rack with shoe storage bench. We also put on some of our IKEA drawers and box inserts that we were using in another room. These things are like Garanimals, you can mix and match.
We hope this hack helps inspire you to concur one of the challenging areas of your home.
to see our Livevideo, of the finished project just click here. Live Video
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