TBMD

Last fall, our house sustained water damage in multiple places due to contractors' negligence. As a result, we went through the lengthy process of dealing with insurance, repairs, and living like guests in our own home. In the midst of all this, I suddenly had the AHA! moment of all aha moments. Since our closet was already cleared out and waiting to be painted, we just need to remove the existing wire shelves then we'd have a blank slate for a closet makeover. If there was a time for such a project, this.was.it.

In our household, DH gives me free rein on design decisions, but says he has veto power, lol. I was fully prepared to present my case, but surprisingly he didn't think a closet makeover was a harebrained idea at all. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.


I was pretty much set on the IKEA Pax wardrobe system for a few reasons: 1) Best value for a semi-custom look (we spent $1,000 whereas a complete custom closet will have cost us $3,000+), 2) Rave reviews from a friend about her Pax closet, 3) Had everything on my wishlist (doorless, deep enough wardrobes to cover hanging clothes, jewelry pull-out tray).

Ultimately the final decision came down to whether I could customize the Pax to fit our wants in the limited physical space. Our closet is long and narrow, measuring at 160" x 61.5" (about 13' x 5'). Using the PAX Planner (one of their many 3D planning tools), all I had to do was input the closet dimensions then start dragging in options. Quite a lot of time was spent on this step -- all fun though because I seriously enjoyed every second (perhaps IT was the wrong career path?)


I was this close to pulling the trigger on the top closet design... until I realized I forgot to take into account the attic opening in the ceiling! The opening was off-center, so there was no way to keep the symmetry with 4 large wardrobes. I cried a little inside as I went back to the drawing board. I played around with more configurations before deciding on the bottom closet design that was basically a rearrangement of the first without compromising too much on interior organization space.

IKEA makes it easy to purchase the finished closet online via a one-click button. Shipping is a flat fee of $40 (best.deal.ever). There is also an option during checkout where you can pay an additional fee for people to come and assemble the closet (I believe a few hundred dollars).

We spent a good part of a long weekend building our 6 wardrobes and their interior compartments. It definitely helps to have more than one set of tools (especially hammers). I'm a weakling so could only build the smallest wardrobe frame myself before needing DH's help to move it upright and into place. The first wardrobe frame took the longest to build; each of the rest took less than half the time. We actually bought a couple extra rods and interior shelves because I wasn't 100% sold on the configurations until I saw them in-person.

The finished closet in its empty glory (personally I think the closet looked the best in this state):

As I predicted in my last home post, a year did indeed fly by without any new updates. My SIL recently moved out after living with us for a couple of years. With her (and all her stuff!) gone, our home suddenly looks and feels much larger. So much empty space that I couldn't wait to fill and decorate to my heart's content... much to DH's dismay, lol.

I'm a bit obsessed with mudrooms (darn you, Pinterest!) There's something about how everything is neatly organized that really appealed to me. And so first on my to-do list is our front entry.

Our foyer isn't very large and neither DH nor I are very handy, so a full-sized custom-built mudroom is a wishful dream. However, that doesn't mean we couldn't create a simple variation with key mudroom components -- hooks, storage, and seating.

Before: I took this photo right after we moved into our home. The previous owners took all the window treatments with them when they moved, so we were left with nothing to cover the long windows on each side of the front door. The quick and fast solution? Garbage bags to the rescue (as suggested by my MIL), LOL. Would you believe these stayed up for 2+ years?! So unsightly upon initial inspection, but I have to say, I stopped noticing them after about a week.

After: Gone are the garbage bags! Shortly after SIL moved in, she took us to G Street Fabrics to pick out material to use for both windows (her wedding present to us.) The DIY fell through the cracks as life took precedence, so the yards of fabric were left untouched until right before her recent move. A parting and belated wedding gift rolled into one? We loved the end result. I keep going back and forth on which way to display the patterned side. Right now it's facing the street, so from our point-of-view indoors, we're seeing the "faded" back side of the fabric. I'm thinking of flipping it so we see the sunny yellow and not random strangers passing by. We'd surely enjoy it more than they would.

For the "mudroom" portion, I briefly considered an all-in-one piece (ie: one, two), but I felt that type of furniture would look bulky and take up too much room in the small space that we have to work with.

I ended up going with something more modular, because that opened up more options (item, size, style, color) and gave me the freedom to mix-and-match varying pieces together. I used the Morrows' front entry (as featured on The Curtis Casa) as inspiration for our space. I loved their clothing rack with the moveable hooks and was happy to see that I could copy the setup using the IKEA Fintorp series. Unlike the Morrows' use of a boot tray, I wanted a bench below the clothing rack so DH has a place to sit and tie his shoes instead of using the stairs. A bench was a must, but a bench that also doubled as shoe storage?! Ahh... functional and practical. I really love our finished setup. Simple, aesthetically pleasing (goes with our home's style, I think), practical, and is porportional to the space (foyer still feels pretty airy.)

As Elle keenly observed, none of the shoes on the shoe bench are mine. I own wayyy more than DH's ~10 pairs, so mine are stowed away in a nearby coat closet (photos at the bottom of this post.)
Clothing rack: IKEA Fintorp (31" rail, 5-pack hooks, flatware caddy) / Art: from random street vendor in Rome / Shoe bench: IKEA Tjusig / Jacket: Gap (similar) / Hat: MLB Washington Nationals / Shoes: DH's

On a final note... a doormat for the front door wasn't on our radar at all. That is, until I literally laughed out loud the first time I saw this cheeky doormat. The saying is so true! And definitely applies to us.

Pinterest's home decor section is one that I browse daily. Sometimes I don't even know why I bother pinning images to my own board because turning decor inspiration into reality is daunting, especially for someone as lazy as myself. If only transformations were a mouse click away! Yep, first world problems.

When DH and I moved into our current home over a year ago, we pretty much transferred over our existing furniture and added a couple new essentials (couch, TV). Then we just sat back and enjoyed our bare-walled and spartan living space. It wasn't until recently that I started to "decorate," a term that I use loosely. I started with one side of the living room since it's where I spend a lot of my time at.

[Photo above] I still joke that our home looked its best on moving day when it was completely empty. Gleaming wood floors, sparkling countertops, and clean white blinds are all just a distant memory now.

Looking through my Pinterest board, I see similarities between what I find aesthetically pleasing in home decor and in fashion. I gravitate towards light colors (a lot of white), clean lines, and nothing too cluttered or fussy. My approach to decorating is pretty simple: buy and decorate with practicality and maintenance in mind while staying away from overtly feminine designs that DH would wince at.

My reading corner may just be my favorite spot in the house. A comfortable chair and cozy blanket were musts. A rug would certainly pull the space together and make for prettier photos, but it'd just be another thing to clean (plus we'd have to buy a vacuum, lol). I do think the walls could use a piece of art/photo, but I'll save that for when I find the right shot.
Target lamp / CB2 chair / Room Essentials stripe throw / West Elm pillow insert with DIY cover thanks to SIL (fabric from G Street Fabrics) / Coaster Contemporary side table

Across from my reading corner is where I've set up my workstation. My earlier spiel about my decorating approach went right out the window when it came to my desk area. I normally don't like displaying random accessories for the sake of staging because dust gathers so quickly, but most were gifts and hold sentimental value.
Crate & Barrel desk / IKEA chair / The Container Store trash can / Coaster Contemporary side table serving double duty!

Up next on the home improvement to-do list is hanging up photos and artwork. Some I'd like to place on wall shelves, so I'll have to step up my persuasion game and convince DH that they won't just topple over one day and leave a gaping hole in the wall. At the rate we're making progress, it might be another year before I have something to update ;)