Our little entryway has been much more functional since I made a couple of small additions to the space: I added a cute étagère that I found online (for free!) and a mirror that made this small and darker part of the house feel more open and bright (check out all the updates, here). In that same entryway, there is one more wall, and that’s where I wanted to install a couple of hooks and a memo board. But there is definitely not enough room for the two. And since I really need both, I combined the two in one: A memo board with attached wall hooks!
To make it, I just used a cork tile that I got from a floor retailer, three metallic letter hooks (I found mine at Anthropologie) and a wooden frame that was in the garage.
My memo board is nothing but a cork tile affixed to the wall with three hooks. The hooks are actually what keeps the board in place but they can also hold any kind of item that a hook would normally hold…
… such as smaller items like hats, keys and so on. They can definitely hold heavier items, too, like a jacket or a library bag filled with books.
Everyone in the family has his/her own hook with his/her initial to hang his/her own personal little stuff. If you can’t see mine, it’s certainly not because I don’t need it; It seems that the letter “A” is much too popular and I’m still on the search for one! I will certainly add mine the moment I find it but in the meantime someone will have to share with me!
The frame is mostly decorative. It adds a neater finish to the cork tile but also keeps all four cork corners from popping off the wall. I added some glue on the frame border (with the glue gun) just to keep the cork tile onto the frame.
I was about to give the frame a coat of that same charcoal paint that I used for the étagère the and the mirror but as it was already dark gray, it only seemed like extra work, so I left it as is.
The screws that I used for the hooks were longer than what I would normally need, only because I had to make sure that they would go all the way through the thick layer of cork and into the wall. I drilled firmly and the screws were easily in place in just seconds.
My board is 2 x 3ft. The tile was slightly larger than the frame, so I cut the excess cork with a utility knife.
Last I didn’t need to hang the frame with a nail. The security system panel is located on its left and luckily, the frame fit tightly in between the perpendicular wall and the security panel. I would use a sawtooth hanger (or any other kind of hanger that wouldn’t stick out) if it didn’t fit so perfectly into the gap.
This is the what space looked like, just ten days ago. The narrow eight-inch openings didn’t leave much room for what you would usually find in an entryway such as a bench and/or maybe a console table. And up to now, I had been taping shopping lists and other notes directly onto the garage door.
Now the whole place looks much more organized and pretty.
The cork board is on the right side of the door that leads to the garage, so everything that is needed on our way out is pinned or is hanging right there.
Even though our entryway is nothing close to the spacious mudroom that I’ve been dreaming of, it still has all the basic elements that are needed for such a high traffic zone to function at its best!
