I had my eye set on this idea since we moved in a year ago but other house projects were a bit more pressing - plus I was nervous for all the ‘firsts’ this would require of me. Before I tackled the mudroom wall I had never worked with 3/4 tools used. But - guess what? I did it and learned so much along the way.
This is where we started:
We have a back door to the left and a narrow doorway to the right of the wall. My space was limited and it couldn’t take up too much room.
Here was my vision:
I wanted vertical shiplap, a basket light, built in storage bench for Cola’s food, and built in doggie bowls. It had to keep room for the back door to swing open, too. The hooks I found at Homegoods were actually candle sconces, but they were the perfect sturdy hooks I needed since I wasn’t doing art/picture frame on the wall.
Here’s were we ended up!!
Still have some trim to finish, caulk, and paint…but it is GREAT! Let’s break down the how…
1. Build the frame to your seat.
We used 2x4s and created two rectangles the depth and height needed. Remember you will be adding about a half inch of shiplap to the front + trim, and about an inch of seating to the top as the bench! Ours ended up looking like this.
We made sure to measure the dog bowl section with our actual bowls to ensure they would fit within the frame. And measured the height to be correct for our large lab.
We secured the bench frame to the wall with 3.5 in screws in the studs of the wall. We pulled the bench a slight bit off the wall as our house is old and the wall isn’t perfectly flat. This gave us some wiggle room to have a bench top open and close without scratching the wall every time.
2. Add the shiplap
I purchased primed shiplap to save time and energy. It’s a bit more pricey than unfinished shiplap but I think was SO worth it. Unfinished would require sanding and priming and some boards have knots/are crooked too. Spend the extra money and get them primed and finished!!
I have 10 ft ceilings in this room and bought enough 12 ft boards to fit across the wall one by one so I didn’t have to make cuts and match lines/etc.
I gave myself some wiggle room with cuts for our uneven floors, too. The trim covers this up so don’t fret if you’re an inch too short or so.
I did have to use this table saw to rip one of the shiplap boards for the edge piece, but you could rent one at Homedepot or rig a circular saw to make a straight cut! DM me if you want to hear how I recommend doing that. I added shiplap all around the frame too. Because shiplap has a lip to it, i was able to just nail the boards into the 2x4 frames instead of putting a backing on the frame. If you aren’t shiplapping you will want to put a backer board of some sort on the frame base to enclose it.
Not every board fit onto a stud, so I used liquid nails on the boards and nailed into the top stud and bottom stud of the walls and went up the board still nailing into the drywall behind it…if this makes sense! The liquid nails holds pretty well. I used this nail gun/air compresser here ! I guess you could try with liquid nails alone if you don’t have a nail gun? Not sure how well it would hold if you drilled anything into the shiplap but worth a shot!
4. Fill the nail holes + caulk seams
I went back and filled all the nail holes with wood filler. Let them dry and then sand them smooth! I cleaned up the dust and then caulked the seam where the shiplap met the walls on the right and left sides. DON’T caulk the gaps between the shiplap! (just want to make that clear) Doing this before adding the bench tops will make things look more smooth and built in.
This is the step that makes your final product look professional. Once all caulk was dry I went ahead and painted the wall! an accent wall color could be fun here too!
5. Add the bench + bowl tops!
I originally wanted to use butcher block but it sent me over my $300 budget for the project so I opted for this thick plywood. It has a finished look with the sides finished as well. You can also look into using actual shelving for the tops! I couldn’t find any that were 13 in deep ( the depth of our bench)
We cut the board to hang over the bench by an inch on the two exposed sides. Then we used our bowls to make the holes to cut for doggie bowls. Make sure you cut it a bit smaller than the largest diameter of the bowl. This gives the lip of the bowl something to sit on so it doesn’t just fall through the hole.
My original plan was to stain them but after going back and forth a lot I decided to paint them Tricorn Black. This color we used on all of our interior doors, fireplace, kitchen beams on the ceiling, and more! It tied it all in for us. I secured the water bowls to the frame with liquid nails because I didn’t want to mess with filling nail holes.
I have yet to finish securing hinges to the storage bench top. I ended up ripping about an inch off the back of the board that meets the wall. I will use this inch to secure one side of the hinge and then the other side will be attached to the board that will lift up. This gave me room to raise the board….Hopefully I’ll update with pictures once I finish this!
6. Trim it all out!
We used a 5 in primed MDF board and then added a shoe molding. I suggest buying trim that matches the other trim in your home! You’ll need a miter saw for this part because you will make 45 degree cuts to the boards to interlock them together in the corners. We use this one here - but I think you can rent one at Home Depot! I added crown molding as well to hide the miscuts at the top also! I’d recommend adding crown molding to the whole room if it isn’t already there. Use the nail gun to add the trim!
Another tip! After cutting the trim, PAINT IT! this saves so much time and gives such a cleaner look. I forgot to do that on this project and regret it so much.
If you paint before installing it - all you have to do after is just fill the nail holes with wood filler, sand, and add a little touch of paint to those dots. No taping, no cutting it close, no paint on the floors. SO WORTH IT.
7. Add basket light!
Find out how I create affordable basket lighting with my basket light trick here!
AND CONGRATS! YOU JUST FINISHED SUCH A GREAT PROJECT. This space of our home finally feels functional and put together. To see videos of this project + more tips check out my instagram highlight or my tiktok on it!
