I've lived for 18 months staring at my disaster of a closet. There has been so much other stuff going on with the property that, despite the eyesore, I couldn't begin to think what I could do to enclose it. Believe it or not, this is the good version. For months I was sorting through boxes that I would drag up from the basement and they spent an awful lot of time sitting in front of this gaping hole of a closet.
The one thing I'm super thankful for is that it's BIG. Good thing, since the flippers I bought the house from took all the other storage out of the house. Meaning, no broom closet, no linen closet, nadda, nothing.
Not wanting to have slider doors installed or to do any major construction at all, my choices were limited to something in the curtain family. So, I decided on the Kvartal system from IKEA.
I decided that with my slightly lower than normal ceilings (just a hair under 8 feet), I wanted to hang the tracks from the ceiling to give the illusion of height. I also thought that going the full length of the wall would increase the airiness by not breaking up that plane.
Of course, as with all IKEA construction endeavors, it looks easier than it is. For one, each of the Anno Tupplur panels was supposed to be 118 inches long. Turns out they were not cut uniformly at all and I found up to an inch discrepancy in the lengths of the 6 panels. Lovely, right? There were a few moments of choice words being shouted in frustration, but overall, I'm pleased with the results. One major tip: don't use the hacksaw they sell as a kit with the pre-sized miter boxes. There is no way it's properly constructed to cut through balsa wood, much less metal. The blade flew off twice and nearly hit me in the face. So I used my own heavier duty Black and Decker hacksaw.
I'm considering painting the track to match the wall so that it blends-in better. And, eventually, I might want to customize the panels. But for now...it sure is nice to not look at all that stuff!
(Images: Michelle Chin)
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One thing at a time, my friend. Having 3 jobs (including this one) plus taking classes on the weekends kind of puts a crunch on organizational time ;-)
This looks lovely and yes I want to attack the closet too (I'm good with closets being a clotheshorse in my pre obsessed with all things home days).
Much better than sliding doors, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to grab something in the middle or fix a door gone off the track.
For years I only wore vintage dresses and am having a hard time letting go of them.
I'll be happy when I can do another before/after once I've purged a third of that stuff and buy an actual dresser for the clothes folded on the floor to live inside :)
Hmmmm...! I'm thinking doing this on the Kvartal system hiding my closet.
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=19191915&color=018&itemdescription=true&navAction=jump&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS
It's like decorating that side of the room on one planar level. A little spray fabric adhesive and scissors is all you need :)
@ Cheria - I LOVE IT! You should send us before/after pics if you end up doing it! It would be great inspiration for the rest of us.
It looks great. why would a closet come without a closet door? The mysteries of renting.
Michelle, can't wait to see your before & after! If you can find a great charity to donate your items too, it might ease the pain a bit to know your beloved items are being put to good use. I donate to Women helping women on Maui, the domestic abuse women's shelter, the clothes and household goods either go to the women in the shelter or to their thrift store (proceeds to go to the shelter and working in the shop also provides job training to the women). Dress for success for business wear is another favorite of mine, provides gently used interview appropriate clothing to women in need along with interview/resume writing training.
Hang your clothes by height, you'll be able to better see how to work with your space on the closet floor.
Velvet flocked hangers made such a difference for me (costco) but since this is re-nest, I don't know how you'd feel about that since it is replacing your current hangers (not very green but is space saving).
Fold jeans and sweatshirts (don't hang) and place on shelving.
If your vintage wear is display worthy, you could make a hanging rack somewhere and display a few. Or on a dress form.
For some of my clothes in my small space, I actually have a dresser in my living room underneath my tv. It looks like a sideboard and provided me with some extra storage.
For clothes that don't fit or are for travel only (winter clothes for my mainland trips), I store these in clearly marked boxes elsewhere.
I'm embarrassed to say, looks just like mine, only a larger version. I'd kill for a closet that big,door or no door!