One of the things we looked for when apartment hunting in Chicago was plenty of storage space. I like to think I’m a sweetheart but when it comes to closet real estate I’m ruthless. This started when we first moved in together in Florida. I’d store all my stuff and Elliott would use whatever space was left. Sorry, I’m a girl and an only child on top of that. Clearly I didn’t learn squat about the gift of sharing.
Now things have changed. Elliott has his own closet space: in the guest room. I used to feel guilty but only before I realized my father-in-law uses the guest bathroom (Justin, if you’re reading this, it’s too late for them but save yourself!) FYI, Justin is the other married man in the family. That’s right I’ll use this as an excuse: I’m carrying on the Robinson tradition alive.
This leaves me with two small walk-ins, the smallest is what I named my accessories closet (see my other closet makeover here) and as you can see, the space was being poorly used (not to mention I took shots before “walking” in there.) Boy, my judgment must have been impaired. So messy! I asked for a closet makeover for Christmas and that’s what I got. Ready to witness the process?
Shoes on the floor make me teary eyed. It’s so sad. To begin the revamp they had to be migrated into the living room in an orderly fashion. First I measured the wall where we planned on installing shelves and aligned them in a way that gave me an idea of how many shelves we’d need. I’m such a brilliant mathematician we ended up with two extra shelves. Fine with me.
After I’d decluttered the area, my handy man came down with strength to remove the pre-installed shelves. Because they were nailed in (not screwed) the walls, big, ugly holes were left all over the walls. Spackel and a lot of sanding helped smooth out the surface. Three coats of semi-gloss Martha Stewart Eggyolk paint later, the wall was ready to receive some wood shelves…
which I was painting in the other room. I probably shouldn’t have but skipped the primer. If it’s not absolutely necessary, who has patience to wait for that to dry off anyways! Three coats of latex semi-gloss white paint and two coats of polyurethane and bam! I had several white pieces of wood laying around in my living room. I had to torture myself and wait until the next day to go on with the project.
This part gets a bit more complicated and I wouldn’t know how to explain well since I had absolutely nothing to do with this, but lucky for me the pictures are pretty self explanatory.
Shelves are great for shoes, but what about belts, necklaces, sunglasses and earrings? All it took were a few frames, grey paint , wall hooks and a screw driver to create a storage solution for the other accessories. Don’t worry, detailed tutorials will follow.
And now, for the grand reveal, without further ado: my new accessories closet!
Since I had some shelf space left, I figured why not through in some books? “That Extra Half An Inch” and “I Love Your Style” among others. All fashion related, of course.
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Dope closet! Love the idea of the frames!
http://www.thefreshfactorgc.com
Thanks!!!
I’m amazed at the skill set you two bring to fashion and practical apartment living. I’d like to take some credit for it all, but alas….nada! My strengths lie elsewhere I guess. But WELL DONE Elliott and Flavia!!!
the father-in-law (still in the guest bathroom)
hahahahaha you crack me up! Thanks, Layne! You’re always an inspiration to both of us
Fla! I love the shadowbox idea for the accessories!
Thanks Fran! It took me forever to come up with something and this was the best solution I could find.
How about Ell’s closet makeover?! We also deserve a nice and clean place to store our underwear!!!
hahaha his closet makeover happened before mine it just hasn’t made it here (yet)
YOU GO! that is AWESOME! we are re-doing our closets and this helps a LOT! x
p.s: i voted for you on refinery29.
http://thesparkle.net
awww thnaks erin!!! I really appreciate your vote. You’re awesome! I’m not sure if you should be using us for closet building reference but you’re welcome to try (you know…we’re not pros)!!hahaha
Thanks for stopping by
xoxo,
F
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I am so jealous of your amazing closet, oh man- I’d kill for one like that! I found your blog on refinery29′s style blogger page and I have to say, I’m a fan! Following asap! – Berni
Hi Berni
I’m so glad you found the blog and you liked it so much. I’ve always wanted a closet like that too, and building it ourselves makes me even prouder.
Welcome and thanks for stopping by
xoxo,
F
Love it! The splash of color really looks great
Thanks for stopping by, Kimberly!
xoxo,
F
Assim, vc só me surpreende…oq significa esse closet??? Amei a idéia de colocar as molduras para guardar e pendurar os acessórios…um show!
hahah Tata, to ficando mto prendada neh? O Elliott eh responsavel pela maior parte do trabalho mas foi uma colaboracao. Que bom que gostou. Bjos
I really am loving the frames for your jewelry/sunglasses, what a great idea! Thanks for sharing! I’m a girl that is an only child too so I totally get the not sharing closet space thing
[...] I showed a best-of-all-times sunglass solution as seen in my new closet. Now to the earring solution tutorial. Here’s what you’ll [...]
[...] got walls to work with). I was working with a very limited wall-space, since it was already inside my barely-walk-in closet. If I could pull it off, you can too. Or at least [...]
NICE!
[...] conclude to closet renovation DIYs, here’s the belt organization system I came up it. Really, it’s nothing. Just a [...]
LOVE this!!! what a perfect blend of function and design!! Do you mind sharing what your budget was for this? thanks