Favorite Thing #73: Functional Closets

OK, so here's the thing, I am a strong believer in having functional closets. Like seriously. If it could be a religion, I would probably join. It just makes so much more sense to have a closet be functional, rather than a pile of stuff jammed behind a door. Now I am slowly working to practice what I preach in this department. We now have 3 out of our 5 closets re-done. Apparently its a small obsession of mine considering I have posted about closets so. many. times. on this blog. Oy.

June 2011 was my first attempt at a re-do on the front closet. Then there was that time in July 2009 when we re-did the linen closet. Or in June 2009 when Abbi's closet got an overhaul. Yup. I think its safe to say I have a closet obsession.

Now if you will recall, our front closet has had some decorating love over the years, each attempt getting it closer and closer to being what I wanted it to be. But to be honest, considering the picture below is what we started with, I'd say anything was an improvement. The top of our teeny little shoe rack wasn't even functional after that time Rob tried to use it as an ahem, foot stool. Hence why pretty much all of the shoes are just piled on the floor. Ick.

Plus, I knew when people came over, they would be really curious about which cleaning products I used, so I was being really courteous by displaying them for all of our guests to see. So thoughtful of me.

Ugh. Anyway, needless to say, it was a sad scene.

Not to mention the prison gray paint color that dominated my front entrance.

But after a weekend of some hard work and lots of finicky stuff, we finally got the front closet up to par and I am no longer ashamed of this little hole in the wall. Not only is it functional, but it is terribly pretty!

Seriously. I am IN LOVE. This is precisely what my front closet needed.

So first off. I must say I am a big fan of mistints. A mistint is a tin of paint that was either mixed incorrectly or the wrong finish or just plain not up to the customer's standards. Most home hardware type stores sell them. I have seen them at Lowes, Home Depot, Canadian Tire and Rona. AND its where my paint hoarding obsession began. I mean really, who can pass up a tin of paint for $1.25? Well...maybe you can, but I certainly can't. And the best part is that the color is almost an exact match to the kitchen paint color, which meant I could save the leftover kitchen paint for any future touch ups. Even better, this paint was a dream to work thanks to the primer and paint in one! Plus, I still have a little bit leftover to do any touch ups in the future.

The first step was figuring out of a way to maximize the space above the ClosetMaid Cubical storage units, so we picked up some white shelving and a few brackets and installed them. These shelves mean that we can now store both of our gym bags up there, plus our yoga mats, plus Rob's lunch bag, plus a few little extras. I am amazed how adding one little shelf increased the functionality of this space so much. 

The ClosetMaid unit really is a genius invention. I was able to pick up two more of the brown bins so it now looks complete, only took me two years to finally get on that, eep! It is honestly unbelievable how much storage these little units provide. I thought I would post a few pictures of just how much I can store in these little suckers. They are worth every penny! One of the top bins is full of dog items such as leashes, brushes, nail clippers, etc. The the other bin is just random stuff that I have to return to a store or to a friend. Below those is a bin of plastic grocery bags, reusable shopping bags, an entire bin devoted to my scarf collection and one more bin for my winter gear (toques, mitts, hats, etc). Beauty.

The lower unit is devoted to kids items. So we have a unit of outdoorsy summer stuff, chalk, toys, hats, sunscreen. Another bin full of sweaters for the kids. One for splashpants and outdoor gear. Then they share a mitten/toque drawer. And then a bin for each of their shoes. Seriously amazing right? So much stuff, neatly stored in such a small condensed space. Its my happy place.

Because Rob had to adjust these units to fit into this space, we are not able to use bins in the end cubbies. Regardless, it works perfectly to store all of my cleaning products. I suppose if a guest was really curious what products I used, they could still check it out, but at least it looks a lot more tidy and discreet than it did before.  

 

Next, we needed a more functional shoe rack. After our first epic shoe rack fail, we had two bamboo racks, double stacked, but over time pieces broke and they were barely standing upright (and no, Rob did not attempt to use these ones as a shoe rack). So those had to go. My cousin had given us a white shelving unit quite awhile ago now. It was in Gabe's closet. But recently I was in Value Village and found the exact same unit...for $12.99. Um, hello shoe rack fate! So we started out with three units looking like this (there is a third tall unit that is not pictured here). I saw the potential. The husband grumbled...

Thankfully, with a little (not-so-subtle) influence from the wife, he was eventually convinced. Carpenter husband to the rescue! He shortened the units and added a few shelves to make them more functional. We even made the spacing between the shelves on one side a bit higher to accommodate his shoes. Talk about custom made!

About a month ago I had picked up this large woven basket at my fave MCC thrift store for $5. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it, but like paint, its rare that I can pass up a good deal on a basket. Thankfully this basket found a perfect little home. Its the perfect width and depth. Basket love! It now houses the kids backpacks.

OK, so I am honestly most excited about these three little flower hooks. I picked these up years ago. I think for 10 cents each at a garage sale. I loved them, but again, had no idea what I was going to do with them (there's a bit of a theme going on here...). Fast forward a few years and voila, they have found a happy little home in my front closet! The spacing needs to be readjusted, but I put putty over the screw hole and painted the centres to match the wall color. They add a little fun to this space! They make for excellent purse and umbrella storage. Plus, if Rob ever decides to take up the man purse, he'll have a hook waiting for him. 

In terms of coat hooks, we had a total of 8 hooks going on previously, but it got quite cluttered once it was all filled up because they were so close together. This was the perfect opportunity to put to use some hanging apparati that I had also scored from my cousin's house. I am a fan of pure white trim and moudlings, so I added some white paint to spruce these up a bit.

 Rob had to reinforce them as they were not meant to be used for such heavy items, but with a little putty and paint and man love, they look like they were made for this space! I was also able to hang some cute art that I had picked up at Bargain Shop years ago now. I love the sentiment of these and have been meaning to hang them somewhere. This turned out to be the perfect spot for them!

The final touch for this space was finding something that we could hang on this white panel on the outside of the closet, above the bi-fold door. We are now discussing putting in a faux transom window here with an old barn window frame, but in the meantime, this "N" that I picked up at the thrift store for 50 cents with a splash of white paint works perfectly!

So there you have it, a front closet makeover Nepper-style. We are thrilled with this space and its always so rewarding to see a space that used to cause grief and frustration turn into something that is user friendly AND pretty!