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11.16.2015

Be It Ever So Humble: Closet Makeover

It was very common back in the day for houses to not have closets. Don't quote me on this, but my understanding is that it had something to do with getting taxed for each "room", and closets were counted as rooms. Therefore, many older houses are closet-less. 

My house was built in 1924. I  have friends with similarly aged homes which have teeny tiny closets, which I have heard came from the fact that homes were taxed per square foot (and why waste it on closet space). Luckily, my closets are not too tiny and I even have a bonus hole in my hallway. However, there is not a lot of shelving in any of them.

The other day my Dad calls me up and says that he would like to come down and fix something in my house. Fortunately, I do have a self imposed Honey Do list. However, most of the things on it are pretty easy things I can do myself (not that I always want to, but I CAN). Luckily, I can think quickly on my feet, and when he requested a project AND a drawing, I quickly got to work. Here is what I came up with. 

Bedroom Closet Plan

Hall Closet Plan

Aren't my drawing skills fabulous? NOT. For the bedroom closet, I wanted a few shelves to put shoes or clothes on, as well as a rod to hang things. For the hall closet, I wanted some shelves and also a space for the broom/mop and a space to hang people's coats when they came to visit. 

So Dad came down and got to work. Here are the before and after shots. 

Bedroom Closet: The day I moved in
Bedroom Closet : Before
Bedroom Closet : After

Don't judge me. I have a lot of shoes. 

Hall Closet : Before
Hall Closet : After

I still need to paint the shelves in the bedroom closet and to figure out how I want to organize everything, which will involve a bit of shifting and time to see if things are working the way I want them to. However, overall I am quite pleased with the way everything turned out! 

Do you have enough closet space? If you could have a closet makeover, what would you change/add? 

9 comments:

  1. Looks great! I would add more shelves in my closet for shoes and things. A girl can never have enough shelves for shoes.

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  2. Looks great! That is awesome that your dad was willing to come down and help with a project like that! Having storage space is so important! I live in a very small condo but it has amazing closet space. I have a walk-in closet in my bedroom and then another closet in there. In the hall by my bathroom, I have a linen closet and by the entry I have another closet which is an outerwear/cleaning supplies/etc closet. And then I also have a storage room that is in a room that is one door down from my condo. That's where i keep things like Christmas decoration and seasonal things like golf clubs and XC skis.

    Phil's house was built in 2015 so his closets are not stellar. My biggest issue with his closets is that they are along a slant (he has two peaks to his roof and the rooms are located within those peaks, so the walls in both bedrooms are triangular). So the closet space is super awkward since it's slanted! It's really deep at the bottom but not so deep at the top. It's more than enough space for my super duper minimalist but when I move in (someday) we will need to figure something out...

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  3. Ahem, I mean the house was built in 1915. I need coffee!

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  4. Wow your closets look great and how lucky that your Dad was able to help. My old house was built in the 1820's and had no built in storage so we had some work to do there and my Dad was able to help heaps with that. I'm in a 1970's house now and have lots of storage and a closet probably about the size of yours but it just has a long shelf and a rail so I could do with some kind of inner organisation. I am always amazed at some of walk in closets I see on the internet, and to have a closet with a window would be the ultimate in luxury!

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  5. Oh gracious. Your closets are basically walk-ins compared to mine. Our house (1910ish) has just two closets, both only as wide as the doorframe, and just barely deep enough for a hanger.

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  6. That's awesome that your dad was able to do that for you so easily and quickly! I think you need to show us your new place :)

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  7. Outstanding craftsmanship! Our house was built in 1932 and has tiny closets. drives me insane.

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  8. There is never enough closet space. That is the biggest issue I am finding as we look at new apartments! Your Dad did an awesome job for you!

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  9. Awesome! Yay dad!! Our place has TINY closets and they don't even have doors so we hung curtains over them! They work though and just make me stay on top of all my clothing :)

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