A few weeks ago I published a post on the cost of installing a walk-in closet. It was through researching the post where I learned a lot of information as to how to go about making over a closet, or building one from scratch.

When Geoffrey and I revamped our children’s shared bedroom we ignored the closet. For whatever reason this seems to be an ongoing trend with us. I think a large part is due to the fact that they are behind closed doors it is easy to overlook them. Another reason is because by the time we are done renovating a bedroom, the last thing that we want to do is have to think about painting and remodelling a closet. (In fact, we didn’t touch the closets in our master bedroom.) Well, not anymore!

I loved the outcome of Remy and Wilder’s room so much that whenever I opened their closet door I felt embarrassed. Above is the before picture. Yikes! I really wanted their new closet to reflect their modern and earthy bedroom. So the only thing to do was to make it over as well.

At first we didn’t really know where to begin. I decided to look at closet kits at all of the major hardware stores. I spent days looking at their products online. Geoff looked too, and after discussing it we narrowed it down to a white ClosetMaid kit. Only we didn’t like the white bars, the laminate shelves, or the depth. We had intended on using crates to hold all of Remy and Wilder’s blankets, but they would be hanging over the edge if we went ahead and purchased a ClosetMaid.

Thus, we were still in need of a closet system, but knew that buying one was now out of the question. I had downloaded a Flash Player and tried designing one from scratch on IKEA’s website. However, even that was not providing any useful results. I felt like I was back at square one. 

I took a few days off my search for a closet kit. I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but could not find anything close to the image that was stuck in my head. That picture was wood and metal.

I eventually went onto Pinterest and and searched “child’s closet.” This yielded so many results and yet, I began to see a trend emerge of two closet types in particular. It was then that I came across a diagram of those two exact closets. I suddenly knew the answer, I would just get Geoff to build one of them. That way, we could customize it to have the dimensions and materials that we wanted. The answer was right in front of us all along.

Now to narrow down which closet system to build. While I really liked the one on the left, Geoff thought that the one on the right would be more practical. So to break the tie, I posted the picture on my Instagram stories and asked my followers which one they preferred. Again it was pretty much a tie! I heard pros and cons with both but in the end, my heart was just with the left one.

Finally, not wanting to be a dictator in this decision, I asked Geoff to forget everything that we had seen so far and to just draw what he had in mind. I did the same. We ended up drawing almost an identical picture. We did final measurements on the closet and crates, then went to Home Depot for all of our supplies. Here is how it turned out:

I took the old shelf and bar down we were left with a blank slate.

We painted the biggest wall the same colour as the accent wall in their room, and left the remaining walls in the closet white. I wanted it to mirror their bedroom as much as possible.

We chose our favourite type of pine shelf boards and Geoff cut them all to size. He constructed the frame then screwed the shelves in place.

After purchasing two closest rods, he cut them, researched the standard hanging heights, and mounted them to the wall and shelving unit.

I organized the closet by hanging Remy’s clothes on the left and Wilder’s on the right. They are low enough so that they can both reach their clothes themselves. The outfits that do not yet fit are placed on the higher bars.

I reused the wood and wicker crates that we already owned. I finally had a shelf for Wilder’s diapers. Their socks and undergarments are kept in two smaller crates higher up.

I purchased the cutest sign from the dollar store that reminds me of Remy but has part of Wilder’s name in it. The faux succulent is also from the dollar store.

As with anything that we pour this much time and energy into I end up loving. Of course this is the case with their closet. It turned out better than I had ever hoped for!

Emory

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