I am a girl who LOVES fashion. I can not deny it. I love clothes, shoes, bags, hats, all of it. I guess I get that from my grandmother. Let's talk about a lady who always "stepped-out" going to church. One of my dreams in getting a house has always been to have a giant walk-in closet...and when I say giant I mean like CRIBS big. Those amazing Pinterest boards filled with celebrity closets, that's what I was going for. Sadly I did not get it. It was one of the things that I had to compromise on. Though my closet is a pretty decent size (by normal people standards), it doesn't work for the amount of clothes, shoes, etc that I own. Oh and before someone says anything, I am not trying to be on the Minimalist Journey. Nope, not for me.
2 1/2 years ago when I moved in I had no thoughts on what to do with my extra bedroom. Naturally the thought was to put a bed in there and make it a guest room, but it was such a big room I figured there had to be a better way to utilize it. Then one day a friend of mine said, "You should make this a dressing room". I thought to myself "What?!, that's so obnoxious". Secretly though I actually kind of liked the idea. So I went for it, and a couple of weeks ago finally finished it. 18 months in the making, and it's one of my favorite rooms in the house. I realized though I blogged a lot of the projects in here, but never the full tour. So here we go. Here is what the room looked like originally.
See, I told you it was pretty big. The last owners had it as their daughter's room. It was actually very cute. This is what it looked like post my move in. It became the catch all storage and shoe room.
I know, before you say it...apparently I've been told that I have a lot of shoes. In my personal opinion it doesn't really seem like that many. However, I guess that's all a matter of public opinion. The shoes are actually what prompted the need for the closet room. I like everything to be in one spot. The actual closet was large enough for clothes and some accessories, but the shoes were definitely not going to fit.
First thing was to get rid of the paneling and paint the wall. I woke up one morning, and with the permission of my uncle (because no serious demolition takes place without his expert OKAY) I tore that sucker down. Luckily the paneling was not done professionally, so it was not that bad to take down. I patched up the holes and loose pieces that I had ripped off in my excitement of destruction. For the paint color I went with a warm off-white. I liked the blue color, but it was not a good backdrop for clothing.
Now, I will say I am not the biggest fan of the color. I really wanted it to be a bit warmer. However, this room was not easy to paint and since it was going to be covered with clothes I just left it. Next I designed the space. This room only has 2 empty walls. The other ones are filled with windows and doors, so that limits my options. I tackled the shoes first since they were in need a of a permanent home. I thought about several fancy solutions but the one that made the most sense was just to go up the wall. Click if you want to see the full blog. Shoe Wall
Next I added clothes racks. I measured out everything so I knew exactly how much space I needed for each group of items.
I went with wire closet racks instead of built-ins. If I was renovating an actual closet I probably would have went that route. Being that this is a room, I didn't want to go full scale. I wanted to stick with something that could be taken down or repurposed if need be. I also used adjustable shelving, leaving myself the option to change the setup or height if I needed. For longer items I bought a rolling rack from IKEA. In between the racks I added a BILLY bookcase also from IKEA to use for folded items. For the full blog click Closet Install.
That was a year ago. Today this is what it has turned into.
I am absolutely in love! I affectionately call it My Dollhouse. This closet is amazing. Surprisingly it has really helped me keep my clothes buying in check. Since everything is so out in the open, I can see just how much of it there really is. I find myself less inclined to feel like I don't have anything to wear. Instead I just look for something I haven't worn in a while, and at times try to wear it in a different way.
My shoe wall is still intact, and having them set up like this makes me feel like I'm shopping every morning. At the very top I added my fedoras. I love a cool fedora. Until recently they were stacked on top of each other, so I would always forget them. I decided to utilized the empty shelf and spread them out. Oh and don't laugh at my step stool. When you're vertically challenged such as I, it's very necessary.
I function best when I can visualize and see everything. If I can't see it, then I forget it exists, and thus never wear it. So you'll notice everything for me is on full display. My clothes are organized by item, and then by color or style. That's what works best for me. I am also really organized. So my OCD comes out heavily in this room. The left side are my blazers and tops.
The right side are my dresses, skirts, and pants. The rolling rack to the right side of that has longer dresses and rompers as well as my warmer dresses. On the bottom I keep my sandals.
The shelving in the middle is where I put my pants and t-shirts. I like my items to be a little more flat so I went with the deeper shelving.
I did well in my planning because I haven't had to redesign anything...yet.
To give the room a little "Fancy" I added a chandelier. This one I purchased from IKEA. Shout out to my wonderful electrician uncle for guiding me in putting it up. Underneath that is my fancy pink ottoman. Which my best friend Fatima would be upset if I did not mention that she helped me tuft the buttons. Full blog post here Pink Ottoman
Next to the rolling rack are my belts. I had a really hard time trying to figure out how to organize these. With minimal wall space I had to get creative with some items. One day while at a festival, one of my friends said those magical words "Tanaira, you can make that" and the light bulb went off. Full post here - Belt in Boxes
In front of one of the windows is where the island ended up going. I built this piece to hold my bags and some other random accessories. Full blog post here - My very own Island
I free handed a design on the top. I have definitely contemplated the glass display look, but the painting is one of a kind.
The far end is where I put my guest area. I originally was going to build a small day bed, but then I realized how far it would actually protrude in to the space. Luckily for me I just got a new couch, and since the original couch was pretty deep I decided to just move it upstairs. It splits apart into to 2 pieces, so it works out perfectly. When someone comes to stay I can just pull it out.
I made a few pillows to dress it up.
The scarves are the newest thing. I originally had these hanging on a door, but with the reconfiguration of the bed/couch it opened up space on the other wall. I actually like them better over here.
So that's it. The Dollhouse revealed. Hope you enjoyed. My closet room is one of my favorite places in the house. It makes getting dressed so much fun every time. I also realized I'm pretty good at organizing and designing closet systems. It's the only room I haven't had to change. A giant plus, considering I have changed every room in this house at least once, and in some cases several times. So it's nice to still LOVE this room. You know, I may have found my calling. Hmmm.... Well, I guess it's on to the next project!
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