Wonderful!

Thank you @sooz001!

Great job! Looks professional. Isn't Houzz great?

Thank you @Housaon. All those years of being the "gopher" while Dad did projects paid off!

Looks amazing- great job! :)

Great job.. looks awesome!

What are phase 2 & 3? Phase 1 is spectacular!!!!

This is impressive; you should be a pro!

Thank you everybody! @sandradclark, phase 2 is a tower in a corner you can't see in these pictures. It will hold 3 ski boot warmers bolted to slide out shelves with ski bag shelves below. We'll be able to remove the warmers in the summer to make room for everything else! Phase 3 is some shoe drawers on opposite walls with room for guests coats.

Looks amazing and so organized !

Very impressive. I hope you post pictures of phase 2 and 3!

You've got some serious DIY skills, that looks incredible.

Thank you everybody. There are definitely some mistakes when up close but all in all we are pleased with both the aesthetic and functional outcome. It really has changed the flow of entry (for the better) and I'm finding that the kids are so much more respectful about the space. They want yo put their stuff away! Since our down stairs is an open concept, that is a beautiful thing to this mamma! Additionally, we have a bird feeder outside that window now and the kids are starting yo consider that as a reading spot!

Did your hallway just go from almost 4' wide to 2 1/2' ??? You must have another entrance to get an appliance into the house. A great job, but this needs to be considered before attacked as a solution for some of us.

Very nice change! Great colors!

@Christine Kotlark, you are correct, we have several different entrance options for big things! The angle that I took the "before" picture at is a little misleading also. In before option, see blue tape on the floor. Of course, the bench does narrow the space a little but the space between the wall and the bench is still about 31" - close to a standard 34" door width. Even still, I angled that portion though for asthetics and to help avoid "hard corner bump" upon entrance and exit to the space. I used a 24" wide bench (because it was most economical cut use of the 48" maple plywood!) but I think that it could be just as useful at a 20" depth if that helps in your planning. Good luck!