Evolution of a Closet!

Beginnings…

When we moved into this house seven years ago, there were many things I found attractive. The kitchen was large and had granite countertops. There was a full basement with about 2/3 of it finished. We had three good sized bedrooms and a huge master bedroom. We even had a fireplace. But the pièce de résistance was the existence of two large walk in closets in the master suite! That meant Nigel had his own, and I had mine.

Builder grade…

We had just redone our last house (a few years before moving), turning a less than ideal full bathroom, walk in closet, and strange (and unused) “dressing” room into a powder room, galley type walk thru closet, tiled shower, and “vanity room”. The vanity room was basically a square room that contained all of the cabinetry. Our plan changed as we went along to take advantage of existing walls and spaces. We did have to make a huge change as one of us (who shall remain nameless) goofed and figured 60 inches meant 6 feet! The house I’m currently in (not the new one) had those two wonderfully large walk in closets, but the shelving was all builder grade and all at one level.

Making it work…

I also may or may not have schlepped some clothing into the large closets of two other bedrooms. They’re empty, now, so I guess we’ll never know, right? Whenever I walked into my closet, I would just sort of sigh and wish it were more organized and less cluttered-looking. I could see almost everything at a glance. But, the sweaters were always in danger of collapse should I pull one out of the wrong place. I had my own personal sweater Jenga situation! Over four years ago, I started to nag Nigel about making it better instead of just making it work.

Give a girl a Kallax…

I scoured Pinterest. I googled closet makeovers. I even looked at the big brand closet places online. They were never really options because as much as Nigel likes to spend money on me, he won’t spend money like that on a closet. Honestly, I wouldn’t either. So, I kept thinking and pondering and calculating. Finally, I grabbed some graph paper and sketched out my closet as it existed. My daughter had bought several Billy bookcases from IKEA. She used them as bookcases, but I had a different idea in mind. I started looking at the IKEA website and stumbled across the Kallax units. I think these are the ones we bought. I figured we could get three units and place them one on top of the other. We would put these on one end of the larger (of course) closet in the master. I could put a Billy on a short wall behind the door.

Convincing Nigel…

Once I drew everything out and nagged asked nicely if we could update the closet, Nigel was open to considering it. I may have started this before Christmas of 2017. He was recovering from breaking one of his ankles (he’s now broken both so I’m not sure which one it was). He may have been a little ouchy, but, finally, he was ready for a makeover! The closet…not him!

The process…

I started (no way did I want him to see just how many clothes were crammed in that closet) removing clothes and putting them on the beds in the other rooms. We then took out the builder grade shelving, but we didn’t get rid of it. I had plans for it because I wanted to accomplish this spending as little as possible. After installing the Kallax units as well as the Billy bookcase, Nigel insisted they didn’t look nice enough. Ah, I’ve trained him well in some things! He then bought trim to make them look more like they’d always been there. During down times, I’d figured out where that shelving was going to go in the newly configured closet. Using the metal shelving we’d removed, I was able to put in two rods and a single rod for dresses on one wall. The narrow wall at the end of the closet also received two rods. These were at different heights as they held jackets and maxi/midi skirts.

How it turned out…

Well, as you can see from the photos, it turned out really well! In fact, we did a similar makeover in Nigel’s closet. And, I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this, but my daughter’s house is almost exactly like ours. For her birthday, we did the same for her closet. She actually has the smaller closet at her house so her closet looks like Nigel’s. One other thing…the photos with clothing in them are old. I changed around where I put what and made it look so much less cluttered.

Affiliate links and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I recently became a Brand Ambassador for Sarah Flint shoes. You can use SARAHFLINT-BAMARSHA for $50 off your first pair. As of right now, I also have an affiliate code for Kantha Bae! Use MarshaintheMiddle in the promo code box for $5 off any order (excluding Bestie restocks)! I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

As you know, we have sold this house and may have already moved by the time you read this. When we moved into the “Big House,” as I called it, I wasn’t immediately enamored with it. But, with all the changes we made and with time, I have grown to love it. I love it a lot. I think it really reflects my personal style and taste, but it has no bedrooms on the first floor. This is a tough move for me in many ways. My daughter, favorite son-in-law (the only one, but still), and two of my grandchildren live just a street over…I will miss those texts asking if I have any fill in the blank or asking if I need something from the grocery store. I will also miss our neighbors. Even though we live in a huge neighborhood, we have made more friends here than we did in our small neighborhood of only seven houses. So, can we talk? Do you enjoy DIYing? Are you a Pinterest-aholic? Have you ever wanted to move so very much, and then when it happened, regretted it? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk! I promise I will respond to your comments. Lately, I’ve responded, but the responses haven’t shown up right away. I still think Mercury is in Retrograde!

Thank you!

Thank you so much for reading my blog. I know there are times it seems like I’m using this to pour out my heart and soul. And, it is! But, I do appreciate you for being there for whatever I write about! Thank you so much to my subscribers…I cannot tell you how much that means to me! If you want to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here!

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, Being a Wordsmith, and Mummabstylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I’m a co-host on the Weekend Traffic Jam (here). I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I also host Final Friday Print Mixing on the last Friday of the month. I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties! Come along to the link party this week!

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