Closet Makeover

As I began the One Room Challenge, and looked at my checklist:

• New Room Color
• Accent Wall
• New Closet Color
• Closet System
• Furnish Room
• Hang TV
• Accessories and Art

I realized that I would have to tackle my daughter’s closet first – before painting her full room. The closet had to come first for the main reason of containing her toys and clothes to one space over the course of the 8 weeks instead of maneuvering around toys and clothes on the floor.

To start I had to take down the existing shelf in her closet and fill the nail holes. I had never filled nail holes before so I used the color changing formula to know when the spackle was fully dry.

While the spackle dried I began prepping to paint the closet doors. To prep its important to clean and sand the surface of the doors. Once I had the doors prepped I applied 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Network Grey.

I love the new color and know the gold accents I have planned for the room will work well with the gray tone.

After painting the closet doors, I brought my focus back to the interior of the closet. I spoke to my daughter about how she wanted her closet to work, she asked not to have hangers, so I quickly sketched out what her closet could look like organized with no hangers. The new configuration for the closet differed from the preset directions for the closet system because of the lack of hangers or need for hung clothes.

Because I didn’t follow the shelf configuration from the directions, I referred to my sketch and measured out the new markers for the shelf clips, and made a new configuration for the shelving to fit all my daughters storage needs. Next I hammered in all the shelf clips and shelf braces for the sides of the shelves. I also had to borrow a saw from one of my neighbors and cut one of the shelves down to size.

Once all the shelves were in I wanted to purchase shelf covers but felt the price was too high because my daughter is still young and likes to draw on things randomly. I didn’t want to purchase shelf covers only to find she has them marked up within a weeks time. So I decided to use a rental hack I saw from Do it On a Dime and create foam board shelves and cover them with contact paper. They will serve their purpose for the time being, and when my daughter is a bit older I will replace all the shelving with wood covers.

With the shelves complete I labeled her toy storage and school clothing bins and set up her closet.

My daughter loves her closet! I think getting rid of the one shelf hanger system was the best way to allow her to learn organizing habits that she enjoys and I believe will carry through as she gets older.