Before and After: Master Closet

The time has come for me to stop yapping about this and just show you the goods! So this post is all about, you guessed it, our new master closet.

Let’s begin at the beginning. Our house was built in 1920 and is blessed with those closets that are so old that people used to hang their clothes on rails then went front to back, vs. side to side. If you can even picture that. Most people can’t. Anyway, Jason filled that closet up pretty quick and my clothes went on two racks in the office, awaiting a more long term solution. When we found out we were expecting another baby, I knew I wanted to make the office into a nursery and my clothes and other stuff needed to come out.

The far wall on our bedroom has a pesky radiator and one window. Following the same process as the living room built-ins, I took to the skies (er, internet) for an inspiration picture as to what I saw working for a built in closet there, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, complete with a window seat that doubled as storage or a hamper:

And proceeded to get some quotes from various carpenters. They averaged $10,000-$18,000. Laugh with me: Ha ha ha ha ha! Undefeated, Jason did some more research and found a few different DIY bloggers that had posted about using the shells and inserts from Ikea to fashion themselves their own built-in closets. Their Komplement system is very comprehensive and while labor-intensive, produced a similar result to custom cabinetry at a fraction of the cost.

We’ll get to the nitty gritty but I have no patience and have been dying to post this!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

And the money shot:

Jason’s side on the left, mine on the right 🙂 It’s probably easier to picture now why the radiator needed to be moved back. The left-most closet door still doesn’t open all the way (which meant Jason could not have the big wide drawers like I do because they wouldn’t be able to slide out) but, typical Jason, he made it work and used two dividers to be able to still get drawers in there.

One of my favorite parts is the lights on sensors on the top of each shell, so when you open the door, your clothes are bathed in a warm glow. Ahhhh. This is particularly pretty on my side behind the mirrored door because of the glass shelves:

I am running pretty lean on clothes these days because there isn’t much that fits me. Once I’m out of maternity clothes and can move all my regular stuff back in, those shelves will fill riiiight up.
Another favorite part is the window seat, for which I still need to get a cushion made.
It opens on a hinge to hide all our dirty laundry.
I have super wide drawers:
And both Jason and I have accessory racks that slide out for belts, scarves, etc. 

In general, there is just so much wonderfulness about this closet, I am beyond obsessed and could not have asked for a better finished product. The best part? We spent $1,250 vs. $10,000.
Now I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about how Jason (and his brother Chris, who helped with the infrastructure during a visit a couple weeks ago) built this. But here are some construction pictures to give you an idea of what went into this little project:

Beginning of insert install:

 

And it went on from there. Drawers, shelves, dividers, wire baskets…the works.
Obviously, Ashton (and his pacis) helped.

Next, I really want to get a new bed, rug, and in general upgrade the other furnishings like nightstands and wall art, but that’s another project (and other money!) for another day. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, home decoration takes a long time and it’s expensive! I guess that’s technically two things. But everything is such a process!
To close, I’ll leave you with the panorama of our beautiful bedroom as of this morning. Another amazing dream-turned-reality by my amazing husband (is that enough praise for you honey? 🙂 You are the best!!)

Ikea closets: so easy, a toddler could do it.

Leave a comment