Master Closet Makeover

We love our house. But like any place, there are things we’d prefer had been done differently. And the Master Closet was one.

It’s not the smallest closet we’ve ever had, but it was poorly outfitted and didn’t hold all of our stuff. And it’s not like we have a ton of clothes. Since we moved in this past February, there’s been a wardrobe box sitting in our bedroom, simply because there wasn’t enough room for our clothes in the closet. And organized? No. It was impossible to keep picked up, simply because there was no place for things to go.

It’s about to get real, y’all. I’m showing you the gruesomeness that is this awful closet. At least, that was this awful closet.

Before:

It’s horrifying, right? It’s a jumbled mess. And honestly, this is exactly how it looked last Thursday night before I dove in. I mean, come on. There’s just no way to make this look a whole lot better – and it stay that way. Those towers of T-shirts on the top shelf continue to topple, no matter how nicely they’re folded and stacked.

The first thing I did was take the door off, hinges and all. When you have a small space (and the door stays open most of the time anyway), the door just gets in the way.

Also? Let me just pause a moment to tell you how much I loathe, despise, and detest wire shelving racks. They’re awful. And my hatred for them grew as I removed them and there was no way to get them down without leaving giant holes in the wall. Look at the size of these holes.

And don’t tell me they’re meant to be up there permanently. Sunday afternoon, one of my neighbors posted on Facebook that they’d come home from church to discover theirs had completely fallen off the wall and ripped giant gashes in the sheetrock. I’d like to say this stuff is gone from my life forever, but it’s not true. Maybe one day.

I finished emptying the closet completely and ripped out the offending wire shelving (and patched the holes) on Friday afternoon. That evening while Husband was watching the kids, it was time to paint.

I decided to use my closet as an experiment before I start on the rest of the house. I figured it’s the perfect place to try out something new. If I don’t like it, it’s just a closet. And if I didn’t repaint this closet now, it was likely to happen approximately a quarter past never.

The ceilings in our house are all painted the same color as the wall – a beige. It’s not awful by any means, but I think it makes the ceilings feel short and dark. I tested my theory by painting half the ceiling in the closet and stepping back to look at and “feel” it.

It’s hard to tell in this picture (it’s a phone picture taken at night), but there was a huge difference from one side of the room to the other. I made Husband come in and “feel” how much taller the ceiling was, and he thought I was crazy. I’m not. At least, not about this.

After the ceiling was painted, I started on the walls.

The gray I’d chosen was looking really blue next to the beige. But once I finished and removed all the tape and plastic, it magically turned gray. I love how paint does that.

Also? Successful experiment. I love this paint color. I didn’t really have any doubts, but seeing it on the walls and loving it always makes me feel better about the choice.

After the painting was finished on Friday night, I went to bed. Saturday morning, I started installing the new storage system!

For the right side of the closet, I used a ClosetMaid unit. I reinforced the wall anchors (Because who thinks it’s a good idea to hang a butt load of clothes on something that’s just stuck into sheetrock?), and re-installed the wire shelf over the top of it. This ClosetMaid system didn’t come with a shelf over the top, and I knew I needed the storage space. I thought about putting something completely new up there (that I actually like), but I thought saving money was a good idea, too.

On the left side, I built double-hanging rods with shelves. This side of the closet is a weird shape and size, so no pre-fab unit would fit. It was pretty easy (and not that expensive) to buy the materials and cut them down to the size I needed.

I hung a curtain rod over the door, and put a curtain on it to use instead of the in-the-way door. These are both items that we’ve used before in other places. I’ll probably replace the curtain when I re-do our bathroom, but it’s fine for now.

I finished all of this (and the touch-up painting) around dinner time on Saturday. I took a little break to let the touch-up paint dry, and started re-loading the closet after the kids were in bed.

It took a little time to figure out the best way to put things. And I may, at some point, be able to take a few things out of here. But for now, what’s in there has to be in there. Including the laundry hamper. It makes the floor a little crowded, but if we don’t keep the hamper where we change clothes, they don’t get to the hamper. And that’s just the truth.

Behold, the After:

(There’s a little extra space here because, um, someone was building a closet instead of doing laundry.)

I may, at some point, install a few more shelves or a storage unit of some sort on the back wall and to the left of the door, over the black shelf unit. But for now? It’s wonderful.

I’ve caught myself walking in there and just standing in the middle of the closet, soaking in all the fresh, organized-ness of it.

So there it is, our new Master Closet! What closet (or room) do you wish you could re-do?