Closet, Closet, Closet!!!

Our closet is finally in and installed. I guess technically it's been installed for a few months now, but I took too much time to organize it and then even more time to photograph it and then I needed to relax a bit. But she's here and she's beautiful!

This has quickly become one of my favorite spaces in our house and easily ranks near the top of Best Things We Spent Lots of Money On, right there with the window trim and the fenced backyard.

I love how functional everything is. I have labeled drawers for all my delicates and jeans, pull out shoe storage, boot storage, space for care items, like my steamer and Febreze, and too much overhead storage space. We even added a valet hook so there's a convenient place to steam or lay out tomorrow's outfit.

I also finally got around to boxing up the less used items into bins on that top shelf. They are still accessible but out of the way. I sorted into "Out of Season" (right now it's summer items), "Swim", and "Bags." I'm sure some women couldn't live with all their bags out of sight, out of mind, but since I seldom carry a bag other than my everyday purse, having the extras in a bin works perfectly. I hope to add another out of season bin, one for items that I want to keep but currently don't fit (think fat jeans and too tight sweaters, which would clear out half of the clothes you see).

Of course, I've already shared my accessories storage which I'm head over heels for:

Pat's side is also pretty neat. In addition to the same pull-out shelves and glass front drawers, he got a pull-out pants rack, which I love and he hates. Go figure.

Plus, there's one happy coincidence that worked out more perfect than I could have planned: the end of Pat's side backs up right to the closet entrance, which I worried make the whole closet feel cramped and blocked off. In the end, it provides the perfect spot for an unobstructed full length mirror, something we previously had to walk to the guest bath for. It might be a solution to a first world problem, but it's a solution, no less.

And with all this amazing awesomeness, something had to give. As always, Leo spends a lot of his time hiding in our closet and this set up has a perch for him to chill that allows him to rub up against all the clothes.

Everything has little ginger hairs all over. #FML

Uh. So worth it.

Accessories Storage and Laundry in the New Closet!

If you follow me on Instagram, this isn't even close to a surprise, but I'm so head over heels I gotta mention it: I lurrrve my new jewelry storage. It's all gold and sparkly and looks more beautiful on the wall then any of my pieces do on me.

Previously, my necklaces just hung on 3M hooks and all my earrings were stored in a jewelry box on our dresser that also houses our wedding rings...and my Princess Kate knock-off from back in 2011 when I was "Katie Middleton" for Halloween. #TBT

hahaha, never gets old.

Back to the issue at hand, both the earring holder and the necklace corkboard were really easy semi-DIY pieces. One afternoon, some craft paint, and a little bit of fabric gave me both of them.

The earring holder was actually a boring ring holder I picked up from The Container Store. I kept trying to come up with a better way to store earrings than the little foam semi-circles, but since I wear studs almost exclusively, I couldn't think of any better way to securely hold them on a wall.

Since this piece and everything similar are just solid colors that are too neutral, even for me, I decided to take a little bit of fabric and just tuck it in. It only took about one quarter of a fat quarter, so roughly 1/16 of a yard. Once everything was tucked nice and tight, I spritzed some spray adhesive heavily enough that it soaked through the fabric and made my tuck-job extra secure. Done!

The necklace organizer is just an old corkboard that I stenciled with gold paint and then some hook tacks (also from The Container Store). To take it up a notch, I modge-podged/stapled some black ribbon around the perimeter. Gives it a little extra texture I wouldn't have gotten from painting it.

To finish it off, I hung a belt rack diagonally and spray painted a basic wire hamper gold.

Considering this was the corner of the closet I previously used to hang seldomly worn coats and dresses (including the rest of Katie Middleton's get-up), this is a HUUUUGE upgrade in terms of both style and functionality.

We should be getting the last piece of the closet next week so there will be a lot to share in the very near future! Tootaloo for now.

Closet Update

Woot woot! The closet is here, it is in, and it is ready to be loaded up!

It took three long days, a few late nights, and 4 hands blistered from all the screwing, cam-locking, dowel-hammering fun! And, out of 43 pieces, we only broke one part (albeit a big one and we're still debating whose fault it was; we'll say it was Ikea's fault for the sake of our marriage.)

What you see is only my side. Pat has half a side, but the other half is the piece we broke. It'll take about 2 weeks before that piece's replacement arrives, so until then he has to live in three and a half very small-yet-well-organized feet.

Here's a quick look at the journey we took to get to this point:

This is definitely, positively, absitutely (who got the HIMYM reference?) not a reveal. There's still a lot to be done in here and many more pictures and updates to come.

Until then, friends...

In the Meantime...

Yes, yes, yes, all the excited and commotion around our house is about the arrival of our new closet next week. We have a lot to do to prep, mainly taking out the old set-up so we have a blank canvas for the next unit.

On the to-do list:

• Purge contents
• Pull down wire shelves
• Patch holes
• Paint
• Build units and install
• Fill 'er up again
• Add molding (eventually)
• New light fixture (eventually)

Buuuuuut... we still have to live and function around our current closet for 6 more days, so there's really no sense in starting those projects until just few days prior to our closet's delivery. While we wait, I shifted my attention downstairs where (instead of putting away Christmas decorations) I decided to move the dining room set into the breakfast area.

I've really, really been avoiding this as a possibility since we moved in. I'm a hardcore, ride-or-die formal dining room fan. You can't have Thanksgiving dinner in a breakfast nook. I guess since we're currently about 11.5 months away from our next formal dining room meal, I broke down and said, "it's now or never." Might as well be now.

It was a simple shift really, just Pat and I lifting a table with 4 minutes to spare before the Bagel Bites came outta the oven. But the change is ah-mazing. I don't know why we didn't do it sooner (I mean, I do, but I didn't wanna...). The whole area looks much more done, even though it's totally not.

Ba-da-da-da-da! I'm lovin' it!

The only downside I can find is this leaves our dining room empty. I'm swimming in ideas to get the office downstairs and re-purpose the other bedroom. I guess we'll file this one under To Be Continued...

Note: I took all these pics around sunset, to serve as a flawless example of bad lighting. That's why they all look really yellow and grainy. I'll redo them sometime soon, when I'm not in the middle of a Love It Or List It marathon.