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. (UPDATE: the diamond tutorial is here) 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. 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. (UPDATE: The post on the shoe boxes and chalkboard labels is here.
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.
They have several different color choices, by the way. Here’s a close-up:
I also printed out their hanger tags. 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?
See the other posts on this closet here and here.
Thanks for keeping it real with me, and thanks for stopping by!
