Bedroom Closet Organization

I am either on a closet organization high due to painting and organizing my coat closet. Or, it is just cheaper and easier to tackle the smaller rooms in the house instead of the larger rooms. I think both could be the case, but added to that is simply, builder grade sucks. My mission now, our master bedroom closet. Our master bedroom is by no means the sanctuary that it should be which is why you haven't seen any photos of it. But don't be fooled! We're working on it. The closet however is where I would get really frustrated. Seriously, what is it with me and closets!!? Maybe it's just that you mainly see them with the doors closed but when you open the door you see the wasted space, or underutilized space, or just ugly space. Our closet is that ugly creamish color that builders use just to disgust you. Couldn't they use white? It's much fresher. We also have those not so lovely white wire shelving that measure 7 feet tall and form a perfectly square shaped letter C. Though they're ugly I'm all about using what we have and then adding and embellishing to make the closet a little better.

Now, as I swallow my organized pride, and lower my head in shame, take a look at our closet in it's present state.

  See the clutter on top? Tacky I know, it's mainly folded items that don't fit in our dressers. We just hurl them up on this stupid little shelf. And why that memory foam pillow is up there is a mystery. Probably because the stupid shelf makes it so easy to just throw it up there...it's still random though isn't it? and weird.

Great use of floor space right? I have this thing about keeping shoes in their boxes so that they stay organized. Only now, the boxes have started to annoy me. They are different sizes and unsightly and HAVE GOT TO GO!

Here we have a great example of underutilized vertical space. When I walk in this closet I sometimes just look up and stare! It's as if the ugly wall space is taunting me. Must remove vertical space. Oh, and those mismatched hangers!! Those little slits on the left and right of the hanger drive me crazy!! I totally have a mommy dearest moment every time something gets caught on those little slits. I literally yank it out of the closet and throw it away. I know I need help for that.

Here is a better view of my Manolos and Jimmy Choos. The boxes may say totes, Sam and Libby and Steve Madden etc. but that is just a way to keep you from seeing the name brands that are really in them. I'd hate to make you jealous after all. And do you see the bags in the left corner? Yep another great use of floor space. I promise you that it's not our fault! Blame the builder for this nightmare!

So there you have it. My mission is clear as clutter! Stay tuned to see if I can make this closet more Tatum and Chris friendly.

Tatum

Coat Closet Organization

Well you've seen the beginning of my coat closet project here, the hanger debacle here and the stencil of the inside here. Now it's time to finalize it. There were a few more essentials that I needed in order to get all of this:

Off of the love seat and back in the closet. So I went to Lowes to get:





a coat hook and a basket. Then went to Family Dollar to get these little baskets for $2.00 each!

 I took this rod that we already owned from another project, sanded it down to size, and spray painted it white.

I purchased an S hook and O ring in hopes that I could create a hanging area to utilize the vertical space.

Then I took some left over scrap wood from molding that we removed from our walls, primed it, then painted it with chalkboard paint to make labels!

Are you ready for the finished product? Well here is the before:


And here is the after!

Yay!!! I love it! Here is a close up of the specifics:

And here is the closet fully functional:

Now, I smile when I get home and hang up my coat! Oh the joy of unexpected simple pleasures.

Tatum

I'm linking to Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff ,  All Thingz Related , Anti-Procrastination Tuesday at New Nostalgia. Frugal Fridays at The Shabby Nest and Friday Flair at WhipperBerry and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
and Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick! , How To Share Your Project at Jones Design Company ,
Organize and Decorate Everything , Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs










   

Painted Wallpaper

When it came to tackling our coat closet as referenced here, aesthetics were essential. I simply want it to look pretty! A while ago I stumbled on the idea of painted wallpaper by the Jones Design Company and I thought to myself I can do that. Sooo, I went to her site printed out the stencil, cut the shape out on a cardboard and got to business.

I removed the single shelf from the closet and had a blank canvas. Regarding closet color, our living room is a color called gaucho in satin. One day in an effort to purchase more gaucho we mistakenly purchased flat which does not work for our living room so we just stored it. This closet project proved to be the perfect chance to use some of that flat paint. Here is how it looked after painting it:

 Next it was time for the stencil which will be done in white paint since we always have it! Oh the nerves...I've never done this before! However I was up to the challenge. I began to trace the stencil on the wall with a pen and then I gathered a couple small paint brushes. Once the pen marks were down I proceeded to trace over the pen with white paint. Here is how it looked 11 hours later:

Halfway through this pattern I was so excited about how it looked! I immediately realized however that I had done something wrong. If you look at the original of Jones Design Company (below) you'd see that she has a double trace thing happening there.

Image from the Jones Design Company

After realizing that I missed the mark I was faced with this dilema, do I just leave it as is and let everyone who doesn't know of the Jones Design template be completely impressed! Or, do I try my hand at attempting to free hand a smaller shape within the shapes presently painted. Decisions, decisions. After looking at the original design with great envy I decided to free hand my way through it. I figured if I messed it all up I'd just paint over it and I would be the only one privy to my embarrassment. (Jones Design has since updated with images of how to get the double line..now I'll know for next time)

After 8 more hours I was finished!

If you look closely it looks a bit shoddy but if you don't look close it looks pretty darn good! Yay me for the attempt! My coat closet is well on it's way.

Tatum

I'm linking to the Not Baad Sunday Blog hop at LambAround

Major Buyers Remorse!!

Alright, if you know anything about me you know that I have a major shopping problem. I do not like to shop, which is why quite a while ago I had been tasked by Chris to spend a little amount on myself weekly to fix this problem. I have failed at that task completely but if you want to read more about it click here to read the $30 a week segments.

My shopping problem only occurs when it comes to shopping for myself, shopping for others or my home is usually a non issue. As you know from reading here I am on a mission to tackle our dreadful coat closet. I am all about a deal, but I want to make sure that the closet is just as I like it. Remember the crazy mismatched hangers that I had in the closet...well no more buddy! I went and purchased these beauties:

Yep, non slip hangers with a cherry finish. You only see 2 hangers here because of this:

I hesitated a bit on the purchase thinking well I'll just get them overtime, because THESE are what I want. Every step toward the checkout was met with a bout of trepidation, that lingered all the way home. When I got home I let the hangers dangle there as I walked passed them over and over again in absolute shock that I spent $9.00 on TWO hangers! At Walmart!! What the heck is that about? Everything there is supposed to be cheap. It wasn't shortly after I took this photo that I began to hyperventilate.

What in the world was I thinking! I mean did I really need 'coat' hangers? Yea it's a coat closet but it functioned just as well with cheap mismatched plastic hangers. OH MY I spent $9.00 on two stupid hangers! Abort Abort!!!!! First thing that next morning I went back to right my wrong and regain my bearings. I marched back into that crazy fancy high end Walmart store, held up those hangers and yelled I will not be taken advantage of. I will not let the perfect cherry coat closet hangers control me! You're Walmart, not Target. Your hangers should be $2.00 each! I said that with a look that let them know I meant business. And then I hurled those hangers back to where I got them from! Ok none of that actually happened that way, but as I politely returned them to the service desk I felt that powerful!!!

Anyway, I walked back to the hanger section and downgraded from coat hangers to shirt hangers! What do you think:

I think these will work mighty fine. After all they are an upgrade from what I had in the closet. Did you notice that it's a set of five? Yep and how about this receipt:

$4.24 for a pack of five. I can now breathe easy and continue with my closet project.

Tatum

Coat Closet Chaos

I'm sure many of you out there have a coat closet, right? A closet that you must look at everyday when you come home because that is where you put your bags, coats etc. Well for all of you mudroom challenged peeps out there like myself, I'm sure your coat closets are very organized. And you know me, I am all about everything having its own little place in the home. It's getting our home to this point that is my challenge because it's just not happening fast enough.

We have a coat closet. Take a look, isn't it just adorable?

When I look at this closet, I like it. When I look inside of it I HATE it! Hate is such a harsh word but take a look:

UUUHHHGG!!! You see what I mean? Unfinished floors (because we're good at cutting corners and it works when the door is closed!) underutilized vertical space that I MUST find a purpose for and random bags, scarves, gloves, hats and mismatched hangers. The things on the shelf are just piled there because they have no home :-( And everything needs a home, even inanimate objects...Note to self, seek a therapist. Anyway, I am determined to make this closet something that I don't mind seeing when I come home, something that I LOVE. Well it will be my inexpensive, DIY, work with what you have and try to spend little money because we don't have much version!

Stay tuned...

Tatum