Happy New Year, Friends! Today I’m sharing a project I completed right before the holidays and am thrilled to finally show you! Our DIY Shiplap Coat Hook Accent Wall is the perfect addition to our revamped laundry room/mudroom. Now we have space to hang all of our coats, bags and backpacks as we are coming and going through the garage.
Here’s the essentials to recreate this look:
One of my favorite parts of our new house is the fact that we have an indoor laundry room (hooray for not having to do laundry in the freezing cold garage anymore!) And while it isn’t huge by any means, it’s plenty of space to get the job done. This room is special since it also connects to the garage, which is now serving as our main entry and exit point from the house.
Only a year ago we had no access to and from our garage. The garage doors were manual and one of them hadn’t been opened in 20 years. Our garage was FULL of stuff. Little by little we have made the changes needed to make this a functional entry/exit point. We’ve put in a shed, organized our garage, and even installed working, electric garage doors!
It’s amazing what having opening and closing garage doors will do to your living situation.
Once our garage entry situation was upgraded, I turned my sights to our small laundry room/mudroom off the garage. From the very first moment I walked through the house I’ve had eyes on this cement foundation wall. I just knew it could be something more than a blank wall. It was the perfect space to add coat hooks for all our bags, coats and backpacks.
Here’s what it used to look like:
And here it is now!
Yesssss!
A simple wall treatment of shiplap and matte black coat hooks have completely changed the function of this wall. Now instead of just a wall, we have a mudroom!
Why add a coat hook wall?
Storage, of course! We are a busy family and are constantly coming and going. That means lots of hats, coats, bags and backpacks constantly cluttering our entry points to our home. You can never, ever, have enough storage in your entry and vertical walls are just the place to add hooks for all.the.things.
Also…hooks are easy for kids and lazy adults. I’m all about making things easy when it comes to storage.
How to DIY a Coat Hook Accent Wall
Supplies Needed:
Paint – I used Benjamin Moore Advance in Chantilly Lace (Satin Finish)
Step 1: Know what your working with and plan accordingly
This type of rack could easily be added to any wall near an entry, but you will need to know what is under the wall and where the studs are. Anchoring to studs is really important if you want the hooks to support heavy coats and backpacks.
In my case, the lower half of the wall was drywall over concrete foundation (this is a basement, after all.) This required some engineering to figure out how I could hang my hooks without using studs.
I placed a 1×6 primed board flat on top of the cement ledge and a 1×6 board vertically on the wall portion. An additional 1×6 board hangs down from the flat board. All are attached with brad nails and screwed into studs where available.
If you have a normal wall with studs, recreating this look will be much easier. Plan to screw the hook board into the studs (I suggest 3″ screws) and then attach the shiplap to the studs using a brad nailer.
Step 2: Install coat hook board
It’s important to note that the coat hooks are not installed on the shiplap. The shiplap is a thin MDF and is pretty much just decorative in this application. The hooks instead are secured to a 1×6 primed pine board that is attached to the studs.
To find the studs, use a stud finder and mark the location of each stud along the wall. Take your 1×6 and cut it to the length of your wall. Then, using 3″ wood screws, drive 2 into each stud along the wall. You can countersink your screws and fill the hole with wood filler if you don’t want to see the screw head.
Step 3: Add shiplap accents & trim
I used an MDF shiplap that I ordered from Home Depot and had delivered to my door. I didn’t know this was a thing, but man am I glad to find home delivery from Home Depot!
It’s thin and lightweight enough to install by myself. My wall was longer than the 8ft board length so I put up the boards as is, starting at the top coat hook board and working down. I attached each board with Liquid Nails and 3/4 inch brad nails to secure to the drywall while the adhesive dried.
I had about a foot gap on the right that I needed to fill in, so I cut my excess boards to fill in this gap. I used wood filler to fill the vertical seams.
At the bottom I added 5″ craftsman baseboard that covered the resulting gap perfectly. I wrapped this baseboard around the entire room as well. This was my first time cutting and installing baseboard and let’s just say I’m really thankful for YouTube!
Step 4: Caulk and paint
Once all the trim is in place, it’s time to caulk all the seams and edges. I caulked between each shiplap board to cover the nail holes and make the wall seamless. This is time consuming for sure, but I feel like it really made a difference in the end look of the wall.
For paint, I used 3 coats of Benjamin Moore Advance paint in Chantilly Lace. My goal was complete, thick coverage. I know that at some point we will have wet drippy coats hanging on this wall and I wanted to ensure it was as watertight as possible.
Love, love, love how it turned out!
Step 5: Install hooks
Once everything is dry, you can install the hooks. I used painters tape to mark the location of each hook, making sure the space between each hook was consistent. After each location was marked, I predrilled the holes before removing the tape and screwing the screws into the hooks.
These coat hooks are perfect! Modern and sturdy. Just what we need for this hard working mud room. Did you know that Amazon is my go to source for hooks and cabinet pulls? I know they are sold elsewhere, but honestly the biggest (and cheapest) selection I’ve found is on Amazon. You can find any size and any style in large packs and small packs.
This room is now one of my favorite rooms in the house. Small, but mighty. All the white paint reflects the small amount of light we get out out the one basement window and makes the space feel more spacious than it is.
Well, that wraps up today’s DIY coat hook wall tutorial! I hope I’ve inspired you to take on this project, even if you are woodworking beginner like me. To be honest, I only picked up power tools a year ago and it’s amazing how much I have learned by just trying things and taking on projects that make me a little bit uncomfortable. It goes to show that you CAN learn to do things that seem really hard and that learning by doing is the only way you will ever get there.
Be sure to check out this space and more on my Instagram and TikTok where I’m sharing small home organization and DIY tips to maximize the space you have!
basement diy maximize storage mud room organization shiplap small space
