When we first looked at our current home, my husband and I made a typical pros and cons list. Pros- amazing windows and lighting, original wood floors, plenty of space. Cons: the kitchen. The kitchen was no good. It had its fixable cosmetic problems, but the greater problem was storage. There just wasn't much. So we became determined to find creative ways to add extra pantry storage to our space.
I had these lockers from my retail store(s) I decided to bring home. They are the perfect size for extra non-perishable food storage. I also plan to use them to store extra props for photo shoots. They were painted hot pink, which is cool but not a match for our home. I wanted something neutral. My first thought was white, but then I had the idea to paint the doors and the frame mismatched neutral shades. Fun!
Colors I used: (Valspar) Turkish Coffee, Bistro White, Wet Pavement, Madison Avenue, Porcelain Shale. We used regular satin latex paint and then several coats of polyurethane to seal them.
I added a few baskets from the flea market to the top. These will probably be used to hold extra kitchen linens and glass bottles (I have too many).
I am super happy with the result of this restyle! The lockers are located in our mudroom, just one room over from our kitchen. I'll probably spend some of my weekend organizing the cabinets. Hooray! xo. elsie
83 Comments
I have always loved the idea of lockers for home storage solutions. Great colors, and they seem like they are in the perfect space!
http://amysreallife.wordpress.com
I never would have considered lockers for kitchen storage – such a great idea!
http://allysonwonderlandphotography.com
Great solution to your storage problem. And I even love the idea of the door painted different neutral shades. Thanks for all the inspiration!
This is such a good idea! I love taking utilitarian items and making them cozy inside the home.
http://threeinchstitch.blogspot.com
I. Love. This.
Love this!
Katie xx
http://gravityandshe.blogspot.co.uk
What a good idea! I like the colors you picked too. More neutral. Also an easy fix for storage. I have a problem with drawers. Always seem to forget that my possessions are
Such a creative way to find storage! Love it!
much love, Rachel
http://www.rbanek.blogspot.com
You should show what’s inside when you stock it up!
xo Jennifer
http://seekingstyleblog.wordpress.com
Such a great Idea!! Looks amazing! If only I had a house to decorate, your house must be a dream! 🙂
i actually really like the idea of different neutral shades. very inspiring and i’m jealous that you have a mudroom.
http://designthrift.blogspot.com
I love the colors. So cute
-Jess
http://www.JessicasWonderland.com
Such a quirky idea 🙂 x
Brings me back to High-School years: amazing!
http://www.theironyou.com
Jennifer- deal! I will share that sometime. Maybe in a “spring cleaning” type post.
Thanks so much!
I really love how these turned out! Also — the ladder is awesome.
I love the lockers Elsie 🙂
I also lacked storage in the kitchen so my husband turned what used to be a coat cupboard into a pantry for me and it has made a massive difference. We should have made this little alteration years ago.
Cute! Love the color variation.
http://sarahthearchitect.com/
So cool! 🙂
love,
Pili.
http://inavintageworld.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/2013.html
brilliant idea for storage and it looks great!
Hannah xx
It might be a good idea to put felt sticker on the feet or some kind of barrier between the metal and the wooden floors. My parents had filing cabinets in the study for years and when we moved them to remodel, there were some rust spots on the floors. Now we always put something in between to make sure the floors stay nice.
the hunter boots and ladder are the perfect touch to those redone lockers.
What an awesome find.I would love to have some of them.
Vintagehoneybee.blogspot.com
The lockers looks so cool! I love those baskets!!
http://nadine-felice.blogspot.com/
I kind of want to do this for all of my kids’ stuff piled in our entry way. It is kind of a good idea for the coats and backpacks.
i use a set of lockers as my pantry as well – works great and adds character. love the two tone color combo. have fun decorating the rest of the house!
I would have loved have seen them in hot pink!
-Lindsey
http://ettu-tutu.blogspot.com
I loved the pink lockers, but the new look is pretty awesome as well! I like that the doors and fram is mismatches. 🙂 -Katie
http://www.punkprojects.com
this is such a good idea! My kitchen nightmare is not having enough storage space….things like this look original and work. LOVE IT!!!!
I love how you can make anything work just by restyling it. I aim to do this more in the new year.
Sar=)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/owleyevintage
Oh fun! I love that
totally love. looks amazing.
I love that! So cute.
Liz
http://liz-makes.blogspot.com/
This is such a cute idea! Id love to get my hands on some lockers for my work room, but I have no clue where in the world I could find some, lol
Excellent idea!I love re-proposed lockers, for home storage! They look awesome! Did you add additional shelving inside? 🙂
Have a nice weekend.
– KristenInGermany
Brilliantly stylish (dont know if it is possible to say this in english, but its the way I feel : c’est merveilleux!).
Olive xox
Kristen,
I am thinking about adding extra shelves. First I think I will start filling them just to see what kind of shelves are needed. I’ll show a photo later if the insides turn out cool. :)))
Not having kitchen space is a nightmare one of the first ones my husband and I had together had NONE and we had to buy all these utility shelves just to store things. I am sure you will come up with some idea to help you better.
BTW what is up with all these dirty ladders lately? lol
Ihran, ha- I like old ladders. :))
I adore this! I always used to dig the idea of bringing my school locker home with me. For the storage, yes but mostly because I thought it would be cool to decorate them for an at home look 🙂
http://www.popsparkleandshineclub.com
Such a cute and creative idea!
Xx
http://sonicmoonboots.blogspot.com/
This is such a fun idea, I love the subtle colors 🙂
What a brilliant idea!
wow.. i love this idea.. 🙂 http://lovesimplegreen.blogspot.com/
Beautiful! I love that you chose to do this in different shades rather than just the one. Something most people wouldn’t think of doing!
dearmrrabbit.blogspot.com.au
Love how the project turned out! I’m pretty sure I wouldve gone for pink and white, though.
The complete geek in me loves getting new cupboards to organise – so happy organising this weekend!
Wow – I want some of these! Hope you have some pictures pinned to the inside of your lockers too.
Eva x
I would love to see a before picture. What an awesome idea!
Awesome!! xx
http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com
Really cool, want one! x
amazing idea !!
New post up : http://www.thestilettoholic.com/2013/01/12/elegant-friday/
The locker looks great. I liked the hot pink version as well but you’re right, it has to fit the whole concept of your home.
Love it, so modern and really useful! Enjoy organising your storage! 🙂
http://www.missalayneous.co.uk/
I love this idea. Such a cool storage unit! x
cool!
evangelinesallegory@blogspot.com.au
It’s a nice idea for more storage space. However I would use different colours, pastel shades maybe? It looks gloomy for me.
I like the different shades! I am loving every part of your new home and can’t wait to see the whole house tour!
awesome storage idea! it becomes a real talking point with guests i bet.
love the colours that you chose!! I am in love with greyscale & neutral. Looks great!!
I really, really love this! It is such an awesome idea and they look so cool! Thanks for sharing! xx
http://thehonestfox.blogspot.com
i absolutely love this idea! such a nice twist on storage
They look great! Such a fun idea.
I’ve noticed a few projects online where metal objects were painted with regular paint instead of spray paint. I never would have thought of doing this. It definitely opens many more options for color. Do you use rollers to apply the paint?
Haha! Glass bottles.. I caught that mention at the end of the post… (I LOVE the subtle colour variations by the way…but back to the glass bottles…)
What do you do with them? I also have too many – I have an obsession with interesting glass bottles, I just love glass and when it comes free as a beautiful drink wrapper, what’s not to love? 😛
Don’t worry, I have not developed an irrational delusion that we could be twins, based on this common ailment… I suspect you have a perfectly normal reason for why you have too many glass bottles lol!
this is lemonade,
i have a lot of bottles for food blogging props & also i just always keep the really cute liquor bottles for crafty reasons. they add up quick!
glad someone else shares my glass obsession. :))
Alicia,
Yes- I chose latex for the color options. Also, it’s too cold to spray paint most days where we live. Since this piece won’t get too much wear (besides the doors rubbing on the frame- which was probably hopeless no matter what paint we used…) I think it will hold up just fine.
I love this. It is a fabulous storage idea too. This would fit well in my shop.
That’s a great idea for storage! Will you be adding shelves inside them?
x missdottidee.blogspot.com
The lockers look great, what a fun solution!
Beautiful! I love old lockers!!
http://www.janmarcel.com/
Can I ask what kind of paint you used (spray paint, or paint in a can)? Love this – I’ve been searching for the perfect lockers to re-do…the search continues!!
Cghenley, I used satin latex paint (wall paint) with a sealer. I chose this because I wanted more color options and it is too cold to spray paint outdoors (most days) where we live.
XO!
I love coming up with new ideas for storage, I’m getting better after having started university and being given next to none. I did a lot of reorganisation at home over Christmas too – I find the creative aspect really therapeutic 😀
Emily x – prettypleaseprettyplease.blogspot.com
Fantastic color choices! I refinished a set of lockers too. They are the PERFECT solution for taming my craft supplies. Hope your food is now tame too 🙂
This is an awesome addition to a mudroom. I’ve always wanted lockers in the house too! Great post!
Great for storage.
xo
http://www.leslimarie.com
Love it! So innovative! xxx
Very Unique!
XO Nat
http://www.natinlove.com?cm=1
Nat in Love
That’s an amazing idea! I love old school looking things in a home, it feels so cozy. My mom thinks it’s horrible though haha! Lovely inspiration xoxo
Oh I love this so much! Great job!
cute! what did you do on the inside? did you build shelves?
Did you take the doors off when you painted or just cover them?