rental entry makeover

Rental Entryway Makeover: DIY Shoe Cabinet & Dog Food Station Refresh

Holy moly, am I excited to reveal this rental entryway makeover today! This project has been the bane of my existence since we moved into this rental almost a year ago. It has been so hard for me to be back in a space that we do not own. The entryway became a catch-all for shoe clutter, mail, tech—basically, everything. I tried a long bench, a shorter bench, etc. Nothing worked.

Then, in August, our beloved dog Murphy passed away, and her food station sat untouched. I wasn’t ready to move it, but I knew this space needed an overhaul—not just for organization, but also for safety. The basement stairs are right off of this entryway. My son was crawling when we moved in, and now that he’s walking, I needed a solution that worked for our growing family.

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Rental Entryway Makeover Step 1: Safety First

If you follow me on social media, you might have seen the first step of this rental entryway makeover: installing a Qdos baby gate over our basement stairs. This gate was a game-changer. Unlike traditional gates that are tricky to open one-handed (or easy to trip over), this one pulls off the stairs and is customizable. It keeps my little one safe while also blocking his favorite outlet (because, of course, he found one to obsess over). With that done, I started to mark off the rest of my pain-points: shoes, devices, jackets, and bags.

Rental Entryway Makeover Step 2: Tackling the Clutter with a DIY Plan

With safety taken care of, I turned to the main problem: shoes and jackets everywhere. No one actually got to sit on the bench I had in the entryway—it was just a dumping ground for clutter. I considered buying an IKEA shoe cabinet but realized I already had a piece of furniture with sentimental value: Murphy’s old dog food station. Instead of getting rid of it, I decided to restore and modify it for our future puppy (coming April!) and build a matching DIY shoe cabinet to go alongside it. I knew if I did that, the bench would be freed up and I could hang a coat rack over it for bags and jackets, keeping the floor clear. I am always cognizant of what furniture I am building or buying because we are a military family, so I figured two units of the same size would be easy to maneuver around a variety of houses/entryways. The entry way is just over 5x7ft total, for reference!

Rental Entryway Makeover Step 3: Restoring the DIY Dog Food Station

This dog food station piece was one of the first things I ever built over a decade ago, and let’s just say… my woodworking skills have improved since then. I wasn’t happy with the routered top or the base trim, and parts of the food drawer were falling apart. Here’s what I did:

  • Removed the old trim and top
  • Rebuilt the broken food bowl drawer base
  • Reinforced weak spots
  • Installed new hinges and hardware
  • Kept the old, slightly sticky drawer slides (because they make it harder for my 18-month-old to access the water bowls—win!)

The result? A refreshed tilt-out dog food station that still honors Murphy while being functional for our new pup and safe for our toddler. If you are curious, this is basically the same shell as the cabinet detailed below, but a larger tilt-out drawer to hold this food bin and a drawer with slides for food and water bowls on the bottom. Very, very basic. The frame is 1×12 boards with a 1×2 face frame. I am sorry I don’t have sketchup plans or anything for it, it was built on a whim but you can kind of used the shoe cabinet plans below to build it! Just measure for your bowls and food container.

Rental Entryway Makeover Step 4: Building the DIY Shoe Cabinet

To match the dog food station, I built a custom shoe storage cabinet. I wanted something that looked like it belonged next to Murphy’s station but had plenty of hidden storage. I went for two drawers that tilt out and sort of based it off of this Ana White plan, but much deeper because it isn’t as wide. This fits about 4 pairs of large adult shoes per bins, and tons of kid shoes! I am allowing my husband and I to each have two pairs of shoes up here, and then the rest in our closet, haha! Here is a terrible photo of my original little brian dump, but I think I ended up having to adjust some measurements real-time. IT is really is just a 1×12 frame cut and assembled into am upside down U with some support pieces. Then I made a face-frame with 1×2. I still ended up with more of a gap than necessary around the shoe drawer face-fronts after changing measurements. That worked out though because I needed room for the screw heads of the cabinet restraints!

Materials for the DIY Shoe Cabinet:

  • 1x12x8 for the main frame
  • 1x10x10 for drawer boxes
  • 1x4x8 for inside bracing
  • 1x3x10 for the front door frames
  • Plywood for the drawer fronts

I chose a simple, classic design that would work in future homes (since we’re a military family and move often). The cabinet doors have a tilt-out function so shoes stay hidden but accessible. I opted for an antique brass pull handle for a little vintage charm (these were a total steal at $9.99 for six!). Here is the list of hardware I used:

How I Built the Shoe Cabinet:

  1. Cut the frame pieces to size
  2. Assembled the frame with pocket holes
  3. Built the tilt-out drawer fronts with simple plywood panels and 1×3 frames.
  4. Built the tilt-out drawers with 1x10s and curved side pieces.
  5. Added hardware and hinges for smooth function
  6. Painted it in Behr Boreal—a deep, rich green that matches my old board-and-batten bathroom!

There are a million and one tutorials for how to make a drawer front, and I wanted to use scrap wood from my dollhouse project. I settled on running the edges of my frame pieces down the table saw to make a notch that the plywood panel could sit in. It’s not the best method, but my router died years ago and this worked. lol. ALSO I forgot to mention that I cut out little curved notches to allow for baseboards so these could sit flush against the wall. I did that on the old food cabinet as well.

Rental Entryway Makeover Step 5: Creating a Functional Charging Station

One of my biggest pain points in this house was cord clutter. I was sick to death of all of the cords and electronics all over my kitchen counters. I don’t know about you but something about cluttered counters just gives me the heebie-jeebies and honestly makes me feel really stressed out throughout the day. In my old house, I built in charging drawers when we remodeled our kitchen. This being a rental, I have not had that luxury and it has been driving me CRAZY. Since this entryway has an outlet, I added a simple charging station on top of the shoe cabinet. Here’s how:

Now, our devices are out of sight, out of mind and I have nice, clean countertops. 😅

Rental Entryway Makeover Step 6: Final Touches & Entryway Organization

To make the space more functional, I added:

  • A cactus hook for our dog leash (within easy reach for the kids!) – This used to be from world market, butt hey don’t sell it anymore! I’ve had it like 10 years.
  • A prickly pear cactus grown from a paddle gifted by my friend Britt Skye Photography—because plants make everything better.
  • Simple wall hooks for extra coats and bags (Of course Magnolia stopped selling the antique brass color RIGHT after I purchased!
  • A fancy antique brass toggle plate (that I can easily swap back before we move)
  • The giant IKEA mirror I got when stationed in Japan that was already there bc I didn’t want to drill any more holes in the wall.

The Final Result: A Functional & Stylish Rental Entryway Makeover

This rental entryway makeover took some trial and error, but now it finally works for our family. It’s safe, organized, and looks like a designed space instead of a chaotic dumping ground. Everything can go with us when we move and should be versatile enough to be rearranged in any space!

If you’re tackling a small space makeover, here are my biggest takeaways:

  • Assess what’s actually functional. Don’t keep furniture just because it “should” work!
  • Maximize hidden storage. Tilt-out cabinets are a great solution for shoes!
  • Think long-term. Pick colors and designs that work beyond your current space.
  • Make it work for YOUR family. If sticky drawer slides keep your toddler out of dog food, it’s a win. 😂

More DIY Home Projects You’ll Love

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