One-Day Reorganization Project–My Hubby’s Closet

"His" closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

A few months ago, when we put the house on the market, I embarked on a weekend mission to tidy every. single. closet in the house.  I had already done mine, well before the move, in pink with a cute chandelier {read about that HERE}, but everyone else’s needed help, too.

Pink and silver closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

My husband and I have his and hers walk in closets in our master bedroom, which is a first for us.  We’ve been blessed to have walk in closets in the past, but we’ve always had to share one.  The two closet doors face each other and I used the Kvill frame from Ikea on each door to label them “Hers” and “His.”

Ikea Kvill Frame to label "His" Closet

My husband’s closet was already a tan color…if we weren’t moving, I probably would have done a brown 9″ vertical stripe in there, but it just seemed more important to get things tidy and organized.  I picked a weekend while he was away for work, although I promise I didn’t give anything away without his approval–he had a stack to go through when he got home!

One of the best ways to make clothes look organized in a closet is to use one kind of hanger.  I bought several big boxes of wood hangers and hung everything up, organized by color and season because that’s the way I roll.  I have the slimline velvet hangers in my closet, but the hubs likes wood ones, so that’s what I used.

"His" closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

Would you believe the wicker baskets on the top shelf were originally on my kids’ changing table?  We have about twelve of them because I ordered extra–they’ve organized lots of closets over the years!

I decorated the wall that holds his pants with a metal golf sign that was just collecting dust in the attic…he is QUITE the golfer!

Golf decor in his closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

I tried to use all wooden hangers for his slacks, but it looks like a metal one has crept back in.

I had enough room left over after organizing and re-hanging his clothes to put a shoe organizer on the floor, with our laundry basket in front of it.  Mens’ shoes take up so much space, so it saves room to use a vertical organizer rather than to line them up on the floor.

Shoe storage in his closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

I also had enough space to create an area for his valet box–it’s full of watches, cuff links, bow ties, suspenders, and hundred of tiny little Army uniform thingies.  I try not to get involved in all that!  The empty bourbon bottles are from a couple of single barrel batches that his unit has ordered over the years.  He might uncork them and sniff when he needs strength–who knows?

Men's dressing/valet area at 11 Magnolia Lane

I also hung a few things in here that weren’t being used in his office or elsewhere in the house, to make it feel more like a library than a closet.  His commissioning certificate is over the valet box:

Men's closet at 11 Magnolia Lane


And his master’s degree is on the wall where I hung his Australian hat and his tie rack.  Lest you think I’m dissing his accomplishment, I’ll have you know that mine is covered with spider webs in the attic!

Tie rack in his closet at 11 Magnolia Lane


 The back of the door is an underutilized area in a closet, so I put some hooks on his:

Door hooks at 11 Magnolia Lane

And that’s it!  It only took about a half day, but it made a big difference in how functional his closet was for him.  I wish I’d done it sooner–all those Army uniforms take up a bunch of space, and organization is key to getting everything to fit.

Thanks for stopping by (and thanks, honey, for letting me show your closet to the world!).

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Organize Your Closet with Chalkboard Shoe Labels

Did you see my closet makeover?  Read about it {here} if not; it’s one of my favorite rooms EVER!  When I started out, though,I hated my closet because I thought it was too small.  Seriously?  It’s a walk-in closet, and it’s about 5′ x 8′.  So I sound kind of spoiled when I say it’s too small.  Obviously, the problem was with me and my overabundance of STUFF, not my closet.

So my closet redo started with a major purge session.  That means that I spent a day sorting everything by color (yes, that was a little bit OCD) and season.  Goodwill got several bags of stuff that were just taking up space, and I freed up a bunch of space.  I also realized that while I have a lot of clothes, there’s not much money tied up in my wardrobe.  The bulk of it seems to be from Target or thrift/consignment stores, but don’t tell my secret!

In a continuation of the closet post, today I’m going to show you how I organized my shoes using chalkboard vinyl labels and plastic Sterilite bins.  This small and inexpensive change made a huge difference in the look of my closet!

I’ve used plastic Sterilite shoe boxes for years to organize my shoes.  I’ve noticed that the sizes vary a little bit from one store to the next, so I try to buy all of mine at Wal-mart.  They used to be about $1 apiece, and might still be, but I haven’t had to buy any in years because I have a strict one-in, one-out policy when it comes to shoes.  I remember buying them a few at a time until I had all that I needed.

I used to use a white square label and a sharpie to label the boxes, like this:

I know, it’s not very pretty.  Once I painted and redecorated in the closet, it was time to jazz up the shoe system a bit.  I peeled all those old stickers off and whipped out my vinyl cutter and a roll of chalkboard vinyl.

There are tons of cute frames out there, but if you happen to have a Silhouette (I have a Cameo), I used Design ID # 2296 (frame border).  I cut about 40 of them out, slapped them on and labeled them with my chalkboard pen.  I even had a couple of empty boxes left, just in case!

The plastic bins let me see the shoes, as well as keeping things uniform and neat, and the labels let me write a short description of the contents.  And when it’s time to enforce the one-in, one-out policy, I just wipe the label clean and start again!  As is true with most organizational systems, it’s simple and neat–and that’s the key to sticking with it.

What if you don’t have a vinyl cutter?  I would buy a roll of chalkboard Contact paper and a scrapbook punch and make them that way (you can buy chalkboard Contact paper online).  I’ve seen some really cute paper punches lately–some round with scalloped edges, some rectangular and very similar to the frame I used.  Then you can reuse the punch for all kinds of fun tags and labels in the future.

Below was my biggest problem with the shoebox project: Harley, our newly rescued furry family member, realized there were DOZENS of pairs of shoes spread out in the bedroom, ripe for the picking!  He has good taste in chew toys, yes?!

I forgave him.  He’s too cute not to!

Don’t forget to enter our fall giveaway for a pack of darling teacher notecards {here}. Giveaway closes Tuesday, September 25th.

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My Pink & Silver Closet Reveal–Organized Bliss!

 

Last weekend was our 17th wedding anniversary.  I got married as an infant, I promise you!  We went out to a trendy restaurant in East Nashville to celebrate (so you know we were out of place with all the young hipsters :) ), and then on Sunday, I decided to celebrate by painting my closet!  My husband just rolls his eyes–he knows that’s as fun for me as playing a round of golf is for him.

We are fortunate to have his-and-hers walk-in closets in our room; this is the first time we haven’t had to share a closet.  It probably works out well for my husband, because even though his is a tiny bit smaller, he doesn’t have to worry about all my stuff crowding him out! When we first moved in, I was having a hard time making the closet work.  Finally, I realized the fault was my own–I had too many clothes!  I did a huge purge and took bagfuls to Goodwill.  There were so many things that were nice but I just never got around to wearing.  Why not bless someone else with it?  And then there’s room for MORE!  Never mind, I didn’t really mean that–well, sort of. If you promise not to hold it against me, I will let you look at the disorganized “before”:

I know, it burns, doesn’t it?! Everything worked so much better once I got rid of some things.  I love all those gorgeous closets on Pinterest–the ones with accessory islands, chaise lounges, refrigerators, swimming pools, etc.–but that’s not real life for most of us.  And I am perfectly content with my life, and my closet! I LOVE harlequin diamonds, and decided that I wanted to go with a pink and silver wall treatment to honor my love of all things girly and blingy (if that’s a word).  I’m going to do a separate post on how to paint harlequin diamonds, if you’ve never done it before.  It’s a bit tricky and time-consuming, but SO worth it in the end result.

My paint color was “Princess” from Valspar (from Lowe’s).  There was a $5 rebate on paint that weekend and while I intended to buy a can of pink paint from their “Oops” section, they only had quarts and I figured I’d need a gallon since I planned to paint the ceiling, too.  I used Martha Stewart’s glaze (from Home Depot) in Mercury, and while I’ll cover the process in more detail when I write the “diamonds post”, I used 1 part paint to 2 parts glaze to give a silvery sheen to the harlequin diamonds.  The last part of the painting process was to use a silver upholstery tack to embellish the diamonds.  I snagged those at Hobby Lobby. I painted the ceiling pink, too, to disguise a pop-up entrance to the attic, although I didn’t put any diamonds on the ceiling.  Here’s how the diamonds looked when I was finished (they’re very subtle):

After I reinstalled the shelving (yes, I had to take it out to paint), I moved on to the fun part, installing the chandelier.  I bought the Kristaller chandelier for $40 the last time I was at Ikea, and that’s what I hung in here.  Perfect! As I’ve mentioned before, I despise white wire shelving.  I ripped it out in my laundry room and my pantry, but since we know we’re moving in a few months, I just didn’t feel I could justify the expense of doing the same thing in my closet.  So I didn’t have to stare at SO much white wire, I used a couple of black lamp/chandelier cord covers to disguise the front of the shelves.  The little velcro closures made them fit like a charm.  Check them out in the “after” pictures…

While I’ve had my shoes stored in plastic Sterilite bins for years, I upgraded my labeling system with chalkboard labels.  I’ll write a separate post about them next since they were so easy but made such a big difference.  I’ve also set a strict limit for myself–I can only have as many shoes as will fit on the top shelf.  And in the shoe organizer (below).  That’s it.  REALLY.

I had so much extra space that I got to hang a gorgeous quatrefoil monogram in pink and gray from one of my favorite sites for free printables, For Chic Sake.  Thanks so much, girls!

They have several different color choices, by the way.  Here’s a close-up:

I also printed out their hanger tags {here}.  My daughter might get more use out of them, but they sure are fun!

I brought in my black and white mannequin to show off some jewelry.

A set of hooks that I snagged at the thrift store holds necklaces, or tote bags.

Another little shelf (also from the thrift store) holds scarves and pins.

By the way, I spray-painted the light switch plate metallic silver…I thought it would be a fun touch.

The big wicker trunk was my mom’s.  It holds my purses and tote bags; I just can’t make them look good when they’re out in the open!

The hat box on the floor holds–you guessed it–hats.  Go figure!

Here are a few last shots of the “After”.  I hope you love it as much as I do.  Oh, and keep reading at the bottom, because I’m going to let you in on a secret!

OK, in case you were wondering, not ALL of my clothes are black, white, and sequined.  However, wouldn’t it be easier if they all were?!  While I had fun staging the closet for the pictures, that’s not real life.  Here’s what it really looks like:

I might spray paint those natural-colored baskets silver.  What do you think?

Thanks for keeping it real with me, and thanks for stopping by!

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Goals for 2011

When I saw this link party at The Nesting Place, I immediately wanted to sit down and put together a post. In fact, all 3 of us–Terry & Christy & I, have lengthy lists of goals for our homes (and lives!) this year.

I already have a written list of house projects, my dilemma is that we are contemplating a move–which means I really have two lists depending on what we decide to do. One list is what I will do to my house if it remains mine for awhile, and has things like paint the kitchen cabinets white, put in hardwood steps and add built-in closet organizers. As nice as these are, we don’t have limitless funds so my list of To-Do’s if we are selling is very different. Like, we have to re-carpet (with 3 kids and formerly dog…as boring of an expenditure as it seems to me, it is just a must), and we need to put up drywall in part of the basement. Both will add value, but are expensive, so I see some of my more fun “decorating” projects getting pushed aside.

The one thing I know for sure is that I HAVE to finish some of my half-done projects. I typically can’t stand to leave a project “undone” but for some reason, my kitchen island has been incomplete for almost 3 years! (That reason might have been my 3rd pregancy, and consequent baby that has sidetracked me!). Here it is, isn’t it lovely? (sarcasm!)

It just needs a sign saying "finish me"....

We are on the hunt for a piece of granite to enlarge the island so it can seat three kids (and stop the fights over which two get to eat breakfast there), and I need to finish painting it, and trim it out nicely. Just in writing this, I am wondering how I have lived with it for so long?

This is also embarrassing to even post–but hopefully it will motivate me! My daughter’s closet is also on my to-do’s…of course, its a little harder as so much of what I accomplish happens during her nap, making it hard to get to the projects in her room. But, this is the “before”. (big cringe)

Hmm...its even worse then usual today...

Having a much “wished for” girl after our two boys, I have a weakness for buying her clothes (and shoes of course), so I can’t believe her closet that stores all her pretty things, looks this bad. I might have to move this to the TOP of my things to do list!

I could create a long, long list of other things I would hope to do. But, really my outstanding purpose is to have a home that makes my family happy, and provides respite and comfort for family and friends. Above all, its the place where my children should feel safest, and where I hope they they will learn the skill of self-reliance, and have an appreciation for order and responsiblity for the “things” they value. We love to entertain family and friends, and so my goal is always, to create an environment that makes someone want to come, relax, and stay awhile.

I can’t wait to see what Terry and Christy are hoping to do. I know Christy is facing a move (courtesy of the military) too, so there will be a lot going on around here in 2011.

(linking to the 2011 Home Goals Party at The Nesting Place)

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