As part of our current bedroom update, we desperately needed to clear out and freshen up the master bedroom closet. The closet is actually off of the master bathroom, so we probably could have tackled it at the time we remodeled the bathroom but truthfully, that might have put me right over the edge. So we sealed off the closet with plastic and entered in and out of it for months via a little slit in the sheeting.
View into one part of the closet:
View from the closet into the bathroom:
During the bathroom project, as one might expect, dust managed to filter into the closet (not that it was dust-free to begin with...). Following the bathroom project, I cleaned out the closet as best I could, knowing it was on the list for a major freshening up -- new paint, new carpet, better hangers, etc. This will be a low-cost overhaul, but I'm anticipating that small changes will make a BIG improvement in this space!
Saturday was the big day. First, I cleared out all the contents of the closet (which I won't scare you with here). Trust me, it was like going on a journey to the center of the earth. Have you ever read this book? Yeah, it was just like that.
This is just the luggage that came out of the closet.
POP QUIZ: How many people live in this house?
ANSWER: TWO!
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: Considering that we hardly ever travel -- and when we do, we never even check luggage -- HOW MUCH LUGGAGE DO TWO PEOPLE NEED? (Not a trick question!)
ANSWER: Not this much!
I kid you not, the amount of stuff in this closet boggled the mind.
Once I could see what I was dealing with, it was pretty bad. Notice the sad state of the carpet, which will be replaced -- and not a moment too soon.
On the plus side, the space is large and there's a nice amount of shelving (wire shelves are not my favorite, but a complete closet makeover is not in the budget). Unfortunately, the space has been filled with a lot of stuff that we don't need so it looked a lot smaller than it actually is.
When I could finally see the walls, they weren't a pretty sight. After 22 years in
this house, the walls of the closet had somehow taken a beating, I
guess from hangers, shoes, suitcases, and the like. I was embarrassed that they looked this bad -- but in my defense, I couldn't even see them with all the stuff in there!
Spouse went to buy paint, then I set to work taping everything off. He will paint the baseboard at a later time, so I didn't worry about that.
I was closely supervised during this entire process...
After taping, I used a roller to paint the entire closet. I could not believe what a HUGE -- I repeat, HUGE -- difference a simple coat of white paint made. Other than falling off the step stool and nearly impaling myself on a wire shelf, the painting process went smoothly and only took a few hours.
The pictures certainly don't reflect the vast improvement!
Once Spouse paints the trim, it will be even better. And when the new carpet arrives, life will be good. In the meantime, our task is to SORT THROUGH EVERYTHING and bring back only the items that we need and use. Everything else will be donated.
Stay tuned for pictures of the completed closet!
jp
Hey thanks for sharing......I never seem to post in my blog and I was glad to see you entering something like this....I'm not redoing my closet, but mid November, I am getting a new floor in my bedroom and in my closet and since my bedroom is my office as well, I have a lot of things to move out....We are only doing two rooms but I have put a couple weeks in-between so I could move things in and out without holding the other rooms of the house hostage. I'll keep you posted on my upgrades as well.
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Good luck with your project! Anytime you have to move furniture around, it's a big job! I'm amazed at in the process of clearing out the closet, I now have two bedrooms full of stuff to sort -- held hostage, as you say! :) Thanks for stopping by! Will look forward to your post!
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