DIY Sunglasses and Key Holder

When Steph moved into her house in 2013, we converted a hall closet into a landing zone. She has color everywhere in her house and her landing zone is no exception! The original key holder in this space features a bright green frame with purple background and the bench cushion also features the bright green color as well.

The old key/sunglass holder has served her well, but she has now collected additional sunglasses for kayaking, hiking, and more. She needed more storage space.

But, a priority in making the new one was to make sure it featured color which we achieved with a rainbow snowflake wrapping paper. The completed holder is a fun colorful addition to the space.

Here's what we did to make a larger storage space for keys and sunglasses.

We used scrap wood we had on hand which included faux pallet wood and the thin back from an old kitchen cabinet. In addition we used heavy weight wrapping paper, two brass rods, and a French Cleat for hanging.

1. Wrapping paper
2. Round Brass Rod Assortment (Amazon)
3. OOK 55310 French Cleat (Amazon)
4. Wood Glue
5. Spray Adhesive

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We first cut the pallet board in half lengthwise so we could set them up to determine the width we needed as well as the length by putting the keys and sunglasses into place.

Once the width and length were determined we cut the back board to size as well as the boards for the sides.

To hang the key/sunglass holder we will be using a French cleat. We are insetting the backboard about three quarters of an inch using square dowels so that the unit will sit flat against the wall. If we didn't do this then the unit would stick out from the wall and not lay flat.

We determined the placement of the rods by putting the sunglasses and keys into place. Once this was done, we marked the placement of the rods on each side of the sides. You could also use wood dowels in place of the metal rods.

When I made the original key holder, I used a piece of wrapping paper as the background. We decided to do the same with this new enlarged version. We sprayed the board with spray adhesive and then laid the board on top of the wrapping paper to adhere and then carefully cut off the excess.

We added a cup hook to the center of the top to hold keys.

To assemble, we used wood glue along all the edges of the backboard, clamped the sides and let it cure for 24 hours.

Because the back piece is so thin we were unable to screw the French cleat into place so we used contact adhesive which worked very well.

Here's the original key holder. It served well for over a decade! With the wall portion of the French cleat attached, it was time to hang the new holder. Here it is in place. You can see the entire landing zone with the bench in the next picture.

It's a happy pop of color that makes us smile as we pass by. Keys and sunglasses are conveniently located and ready to grab as Steph heads out the door to her outdoor adventures.

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