Cuz every family needs a drop zone!

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Well…. it’s less than 100 square feet but it’s our first project to be 100% done, so I’ll take it!! We downsized slightly when moving into this house and traded in our large drop zone for a small front hall closet. I knew we needed to be creative with our storage, but I also didn’t like how the door opened up into the entryway, blocking the hall, so I wanted to leave the closet open, without looking cluttered!

So – the inspo for this project started here: black walls, farmhouse decor, painted accent walls, board and batten, ikea storage solutions, and these lovely ladies:

I’ve also had my eyes on @allisajacobs Instagram feed cuzzzz it’s black, white, and wood GOALS.

The Before: We started with a basic coat closet – one rail all the way across and two old shelves above. We removed all the hardware and trim, and gave the closet a fresh coat of primer.

After a fresh start – I divided the back wall with a piece of painter’s tape, about 4 feet high. I painted Benjamin Moore Matte Black on the bottom, and Chantilly Lace on the top, as well as the other sides. I’ve been using Chantilly Lace all over the house because it’s a really bright white without being sterile…. but this was my first time working with the Matte Black! I’m IN LOVE. 😍 The corners and the line between the two colors didn’t have to be perfect, because we were using a thick piece of wood to divide them and trim pieces at the corners on the bottom, so I didn’t even tape those! That saved on prep time for sure!

If you’ve been clicking around here a bit, you already know I love to paint DIY wallpaper for accent walls! It’s a cheaper alternative to the real or peel-and-stuck stuff, and really easy to do! I honestly thought I messed this one up, because the spacing of the spots looked off initially, but after adding some smaller and irregularly-spaced spots in between, it was almost identical! (And free, since I already had the paint.) 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Hubs cut all the wood trim pieces for me – a 1×6 stained for the hook rail, 1×4 painted for the bottom trim, and 1x2s painted black for the board and batten half-wall!

Now, for the practical parts – we used these industrial style wall-mounted rods from Amazon in a few of our closets. I really love the look – but Hubs reports that you should use your own wall-anchors because the ones provided gave him trouble. Besides that they are easy to install and look great!!

For the right side of the closet, and the main storage section, we ordered an Ikea Pax cabinet which fits well tucked into the side. This will become our craft closet, and allows me to leave the door off of the actual closet, but still have the craft supplies hidden away! We have another PAX system and I can’t say enough good things about them – you design it all online and can customize to your storage needs!

Last but not least: We prettied it up with some matte black hooks (Home Depot) and a sign from Rooted&Grounded! Finished it off with a shoe storage bench from Amazon that fits the theme! I’m absolutely loving the black, white, and wood contrast, and am so excited to make this storage space a better fit for our family!