How to DIY a Drop Zone for Any Room in Your Home

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Time: 3 Hours

Cost: $50

Skill: Moderate

This project can easily be used to convert any unused closet or wall space into an open concept mudroom or a drop zone with a floating bench, for all your day-to-day essentials.

Last fall I made the decision to tear out the ugly brown hollow core doors in one of our upstairs bedrooms, that we were renovating, to make my husband a proper home office. Once the doors were off, I built a lovely floating bench.

What is a Drop Zone in a Home?

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term “Drop Zone”, here is a quick little explanation.

It is likely that naturally occurring spot in your home where your husband or kids like to throw their belongings. Think shoes, jackets, backpacks, hats, keys, and so on. What’s nice is that a lot of homes have a spot where this takes place, but in our house I decided to make one upstairs in our office.

Or perhaps your home lacks this space, but you have a little nook or a low use closet. Just take those doors off and start building your own drop zone with a floating bench! Keep reading to see how…the organizer in you will thank me.

Building Instructions to DIY a Drop Zone

Here is the list of tools and materials that you will need to complete this project in your own home!

Materials:

Bead Board Sheet
1 x 2 Common Board
1 x 5 Common Board
Sanded Plywood
Wood Panel Glue
Caulking
Paint

Tools:

Nail Gun
Caulking Gun
Table Saw

Step One: Install Panels to the Back of the Drop Zone

There are quite a few options out there for bead board. I had originally wanted to go with a thin stripe option, but I was limited by the size of my car. I needed to choose something that could be cut along the seams and covered with the grid framing that I planned on adding. As a result I chose a 4 x 8 board that had the lines running the long way.

The 4 foot height was perfect for running from the bench to the shelf, and the 8 foot length was enough for me to cut 5 sections that would cover the interior walls of the closet space. If you can transport the 4 x 8 sheet whole, you can cut three pieces, two for the side walls and one that will go across the back.

Note: If you have good quality walls you could choose to skip this step and do a more simple wainscoting design shown in the next step.

In order to attach the panels I used panel glue with finishing nails for reinforcement. This worked very well with the ugly popcorn textured walls. The Liquid Nails brand has consistently held up for me. I typically buy 4-5 tubes each time I need it for a project but depending on your space 3 tubes should be more than enough to generously apply and hold, especially if you are also reinforcing with a nail gun.

Note: Turn down the pressure on the nailer or it will go right through the thin boards. I used it to get the nail in and then hammered it smooth. I only put a few in along the top, bottom, and sides of each panel piece.

Step Two: Install Decorative Framing [Board and Batten] to the Drop Zone

Cut two sections of 1 x 5 to the width of the back of the closet. I recommend measuring the top and bottom separately in case they vary slightly.

Using a level and your nailer, attach the 1 x 5 to the bottom of the bead board, along the bench. Doing the same, attach the other 1 x 5 to the top of the bead board. I bought a couple of extra inches by only overlaying this 1 x 5 with roughly an inch of the bead board. Rather than sliding the bead board all the way down to the bench.

Cut four more sections of 1 x 5 to the width of each side of the closet, top and bottom. Attach using a level and a nailer.

Once all the 1 x 5’s are in place, measure each 1 x 2 to the length between the top and bottom 1 x 5’s. Based on the size of my closet, I decided that I liked the look of three sections, which meant installing two vertical 1 x 2’s plus one for each of the back corners and two for each of the front two corners that you can’t see when facing the closet.

Once you have your pieces cut to length go ahead and use a level and nailer to secure to the wall. The 1 x 2’s are very light, and with the support of the bead board I did not have any issue not having studs. If you want to reinforce you could always add some adhesive to the back of them before nailing. Similar to what I did with the bead board.

Here is what it will look like once you have the 1 x 5’s and 1 x 2’s in place.

Step Three: Caulking

This is my favorite brand of caulking. It is not tacky, it is easy to use, and it cleans up wicked easy with water and a rag. I am fairly new to using caulking, and this is perfect for beginners. (I actually used to just skip caulking because I didn’t know how to really do it, looking back its a bit comical given how easy it is)

Anyways, follow the directions for the product you get. Typically it is as easy as cutting the tip, putting it in a caulking gun, and getting to work!

It takes a bit of time, but moving systematically from one side to the other, caulk every seam you can see. I found it easiest to do a small section and then wet my finger in some water and run it over the seam. This helps smooth it out nicely, and this product wipes right off your skin.

Make sure you give the caulking adequate time to dry before moving onto the next step.

Step Four: Paint the Drop Zone

Although bead board is typically white, it can be dirty/dingy/chipped. I recommend painting it since you will already have the paint out for the wood. I actually primed all of it (including the bench) and then used a high-gloss white paint.

Once I got it primed…

You could totally get creative here and paint the bead board one color and the framing pieces another! My original plan was to stain the bench to add some contrast, however, we were preparing to sell our house and I needed to get the project done.

You can see the stark contrast between the “white” of the natural bead board (even with the primer) and the bright white paint.

All painted! Nice, clean, and white.

Step Five: Add Shelf Above the Mudroom Bench

I used sanded plywood that I had laying around in the garage to add the shelf. Simply measure it to your preferred depth and the length of the closet. Even though our closet is almost 2 feet deep, I chose to only make the shelf 1.5 feet deep.

Note: Painting before installing is much easier with this piece! Lesson learned.

Once you are ready, rest your shelf piece on the top 1 x 5’s. Depending on your use of the shelf, and how well you overlapped it with the lip of the 1 x 5’s you may not need to secure it. I lightly secured mine by shooting a few nails at an angle into the 1 x 5 and wall.

Step Six: Add Hooks above the Mudroom Bench

I used these beautiful farmhouse style hooks from Home Depot. Bonus: The were on sale!

These are also a great affordable option from Amazon, you can get 5 for $10.00!

Here is the final product! A DIY Drop Zone with a Floating Mudroom Bench

I ended up finishing this project days before we put our house on the market, so I never got the chance to decorate it. Had we been staying in our home, I think I would have either stained the bench for contrast or sewn a padded seat cover. I always envisioned some nice whicker baskets across the top shelf, and perhaps a wreath on the hooks.

Do you have a low use closet that you could convert to an open concept focal point in your home?

Share in the comments!

You could also add baskets below if you want some extra storage for kids shoes, hats, gloves, and all that fun stuff that is hard to organize! Making this the best choice for a small mudroom or drop zone.

How to DIY a Drop Zone for Any Room in Your Home