By far the best part of our day job is the fact that it allows us to travel, and sometimes even to live, overseas. Though we love the experiences, this lifestyle does come with its own design challenges. When we made the move to Bosnia a few years ago, we had mixed feelings about our new apartment- the great view and semi-open floor plan were offset by the complete absence of built-in closets. Given our limited supply of wardrobes and the need to have open space to hang wet coats (the picture above is our old street on an average day in March), we had to get creative...
Mine isn't really a DIY but I took a magic eraser (or 3) and elbow grease to my 25 year old white bedroom set I had as a child prior to giving it to a friend and it looked like new. She actually thought I had repainted it!
view Enamorada's profile
I'm living in Bosnia now and immediately thought "this can't be DC; it looks like Bosnia!" Clever idea for dealing with the nearly complete lack of closet space in housing here.
view M.B.'s profile
Forgive me if I am the only one that feels this way, but I don't find this solution to be particularly attractive.
view gabrielle's profile
Clever, but needs some more organization to look nicer. Hanging them like that really puts your coats on display, so maybe having nicer hangers or having a shoe rack underneath might help.
view first5times's profile
Must concur with first5times. Maybe close that up and make a real closet.
view Easyenough's profile
I would get another towel bar and hang a curtain one or two steps up and then alter a curtain so that it could hang diagonally and would basically turn the makeshift closet into enclosed storage
view megbar548's profile
I think its an eyesore but storage is storage and you can't hang your coats on the floor.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
given the luggage, boxes and what look like shelves stacked in front, I'm assuming this picture was taken when she was still unpacking. I think the idea is good, though a curtain might have been a nice touch. Closing it up to make a real closet would probably defeat the purpose- wet wool coats don't dry out well in true closets.
My best cheap DIY? Making a new duvet, shams, and curtains from Ralph Lauren flat sheets I found on super clearance. I got an all designer bedroom for under $50- plus the time I spent sewing of course!
view mcq's profile
we did a similar thing in my son's bedroom -- we took out one of the built-in shelves in an alcove and installed a $5 closet rod. it does need a curtain to hide it, but for now, we're enjoying not jamming everything into his dresser!
view miss sparrow's profile