I just have to say that pretty much anytime my hunny Dug leaves me for a weekend alone I start somekind of a project!!! It could be a simple reorganizing of a space or a major overhaul!!
Let me think back.... oh yeah, the master bedroom closet was a weekend he went away for a hockey tourny.
I'd never done a closet before but thought I need this space completed the way I want it so I can put our clothes away without always feeling overwhelmed.....we'd only just moved in but I knew already the previous owners design was not working for me. I have to say too that I get soooooo excited about doing the space that 95% of the time I forget to take a before picture.....guess its cuz I know how much I gotta get down before he gets home and every minute counts!!! This is something I'll have to work on!!
I don't know if you are lucky enough to have a nice sized master closet.....we are, its not huge but it works. I don't know why people set up the his and her sides to be mirror images of one another, maybe its for symmetry...I don't know but it just doesn't make sense.... Guys do not wear long dresses as far as I know so therefore they don't need a designated area for such. So there was one of my problems I had 3 -4 feet of unused space on his side begging to be utilized and on my side lets just say I don't know any one girl that can fill up 4 feet of space with just long dresses... unless of course we're talking about all my red carpet dresses I own... but you see I only wear them once so no use in keeping them!!
So lets think Dug left Friday morning and on that day I had lots to prep...... if you don't have one of those lil multi tool drills get one worth its weight in gold!! I undid and tore out ALL the closet fixtures they had up so I could start with a fresh slate. I mudded the holes, pulled off the base boards and cut out the carpet swept, vacuumed and wet washed the wood floor then bought some of those sticky backed floor tiles and went to town.....(very easy to do all you need is a straight edge, pencil, measuring tape and a sharp utility knife....so so easy) laid the floor...blow dried the putty holes lightly sanded, cut my corners and edging in twice then did the rest of the painting.....day one done!!! its that easy!!
Day two... heres where we have some fun.... I had a general idea of what I wanted the closet to look like, I didn't have exact measurements of everything set in stone before I started. Basically I started on his side and figured out what would work best for him... he needs everything as simple and easy to reach as possible or he would not be able to keep his side up to snuff!! I made a top shelf for all things he barely wears, I took his garment bag( which is the longest thing he owns for shirts and measured the length of that and added a couple of inches to it so I knew how mush space I needed to devote to his shirts, Did the same thing with his pants and added a couple of inches so he could see his shoes under his pants and voila half of his half of the closet was done...I wanted deeper shelves than your standard closet so I made them quite wide My hunny is 6'2 so he can pretty much reach anything he wants...so I put all long sleeved heavy shirts and sweaters on the first shelf, all shorts and jogging pants on the second,all white ts then grey t's on the third then all multi t's and long sleeved t's on the fourth, under that I put two laundry baskets.....originally I was thinking one for lights and one for darks but it never worked out that way....seems too hard of a concept for Dug to grasp!! I'm just happy that most of the time he's able to find the laundry basket!! By the way whats up with MEN AND THEIR T SHIRTS!!!!!! god forbid they get rid of ANY!!!! I also hung a hook for his ties and most used belts(kinda hidden)....plus a his and hers hook for our housecoats and anything hes worn but isn't quite dirty enough for the laundry yet.
Now because Dug was away I couldn't use the table saw...its alot better if theres two of you ( ours is just a small one so you need two people to pass the wood through....but don't get discouraged you to can do straight cuts on your own... all you need is a straight piece of wood to use as a guide and a couple of clamps and your cuts will come out almost as good as the table saw. Don't try and free hand it you'll make a wobbly mess.
On my side of the closet ( which I still need to finish) The simple system I set up for Dugs pants is great for him cuz he's too lazy to actually hang them up on a hanger and he has 50 pair of pants less than I do so I did hangers on my side so I could fit more clothes. Above that I built in a drawer which is currently not working for me and I'm awaiting my WONDERFUL FATHER IN LAW to build be a velvet lined drawer with a place for my necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings I think I'll have to resend the drawer measurements and hint that my birthday is coming up!! Anyway then I did the same thing as on Dugs side measured my longest top and gave it a bit of space and thats where I decided to place the pole, I only gave my myself a small amount of room for long dresses as its not the staple in my wardrobe...where Dug needs to see his stuff I don't have too... Plus I wanted to use the most amount of space I could in my closet so I ran a shelving system the opposite way of my closet, I just have to push back my long dresses to access some of it but its not stuff I wear all the time, I also have a basket holding all my purses and a basket holding all my shoes. I still need to place a top shelf on my side for all my sweaters and such and a reinforcement bar for the clothes pole9its a bit weighted down...Funny I feel like that all the time)....But thats what you can do in a weekend if you want to and if you know your hunnys on his way home and you gotta have the mess cleaned up!!!! ( as in my case!!!)
Also in my closet ...this was a different weekend project!! I built a storage unit for all of our other stuff.....I have to say I'm not a dresser drawer lover!! I think they take up too much room in your bedroom and they always end up with stuff on them instead of in them so I did away with ours and made something that works very well for us.......I bought a bunch of baskets when they were on sale and stained them the same as the closet ( As you can I see i still have a few to stain) then just made a wood frame to hold each one( trust me, alot less headaches to go buy one at Ikea now...but when I made it they didn't have one...wonder if they copied my design???) anyway so I made it as large as I could with as many cubbys as I could think of to fill with stuff, so we have my tank tops, his undies, his white socks, my bras, my undies,his other socks, my socks, my jammies, his tanks,my dress socks/nylons, swimsuits, empty mostly with some belts, my long undies, sexy stuff, Dugs long undies....Plus I'm a shorty so I left a space to fold up a step ladder for when I needed it to get stuff off the top shelf.
What I really love is that EVERY stitch of clothing Dug and I own(except Jackets ...thats a whole other organizing night mare I have to tackle) is in our closet.....I'm not one to rotate out summer and winter I find it easier to just have the space for it all and then I don't waste my time switching clothes out each season...... but I also at least once a year go through my clothes and get rid of...don't likes, don't wear, don't fit, haven't fixed.... I really need to do this but figure I should wait till I'm not pregnant!!
Hope you like the pictures......... Maybe for your first reno project it doesn't have to be sooooo ambitious start with ...I don't know hanging those pictures you've wanted to put up but haven't got around to. But really once you start its not that hard and trust me its rewarding when you get what you want out of it in the end!! Just take your time!!