Jen Ramos, of the beloved blog Made By Girl is known for her colorful posters and chic style. So it's no surprise that when she redid her closet, she came up with a glamorous, practical redesign.
As someone who would "FREAK OUT . . . if my closet wasn't neat & organized,'" Jen knew she wanted designated spaces for everything. She hired a handyman to customize and build shelving, including cubbies for her purses. She also papered a wall in leopard print to create a "boutique" feeling.
While Jen may have a bigger closet than many of us apartment dwellers, her ideas are easy to translate to smaller spaces. For example, the wallpaper adds personality to an area that's often ignored. It's also a great way to try wallpaper if you've been hesitant. The pricey-looking shelves, meanwhile, were stained and created out of 2x4s from the Home Depot — a much more reasonable solution than those from closet-design companies. These clever changes, which could be DIY depending on your abilities, show that even a lackluster storage space can be turned into a truly stylish one.
For more information and the full tour, see Made By Girl.
Images: Jen Ramos for Made by Girl.
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Amazing transformation!
Wait, where are all the clothes? Am I the only one who has more than a month's worth of clothes in her closet?
@WelcomeReality, my thoughts exactly! She has about 3 days worth of clothes and 5 years worth handbags. But it is totally glam. I love the dark wood and leopard print combo.
Very cute makeover. There's another wall of shoes on her blog that's not shown here but it does look rather light on clothes.
Ha! That was my thought. It looks like she must wear the same outfit all the time but change handbags every time she goes out. Far more likely, though, is that there's another (even bigger) closet somewhere ... either that, or outside the closet is a hoarder's paradise of stacked containers full of wadded-up clothing. OK, that last scenario is not likely at all, but imagining it helps assuage my jealousy a bit. Does closet karma ever come back on people?
The animal prints and high-contrast colors are fun.
She may have a dresser that she uses for her clothes?
I'm sure here closet got a little fuller after the photos were taken but still I would need WAY more hanging space. I really like the design of this, the colors, etc. and I'm certainly envious!
Love the shelves.
clothes at the dry cleaners? : )
looks great! Shows how you can turn something bland into something really personal. I just reorganized my closet this weekend, didnt look this good. The black shelving has me envious I have the nasty cheap wire stuff like the before pic.
If Im getting a proper layout of the room based on the pics im guessing there is a thrid wall we arent seeing that probably is just racks of clothes.
Maybe she wanted to show the closet off more and not her clothes? It'd be pretty hard to see the details if all you could see were her outfits.
Great closet!
The English say that a man's home is his castle. More spiritual folk may consider there home to be their sanctuary. I guess that little girls who grew up on Sex in the City, want their home to look like a Temple of Eternal Shopping.
And to think that people once decorated their parlors with pianos.
Love it!
Very clever! I love how you made the shelving.
WHERE did you get those pink shoes?? LOVE!
Where's the glam?
Mm. Not 2x4. More like 1x12.
very cute my sister would die for this she love leopard print... me not so much, but i'd love to have the selves and such... did no one else notice the drawers in the back that I would guess has more clothes? also like another commenter said she was showing off the details not her clothes.
This is great. I like that she covered the awful carpet with that leopard print rug.
I like it - I am yearning for more designated spaces rather than the slumping towers of sweaters I currently have. But this line:
She hired a handyman to customize and build shelving, including cubbies for her purses.
made me think of nothing so much as Overboard and that rotating shoe turntable Kurt Russell builds for Goldie Hawn.
Love that wallpaper! And I think I want to steal her handbag collection!
No hangers???
I must say, I thought this was the entry foyer (the chandelier and what, to a NYer, looks like a HALLWAY, not a closet gave me this impression). Maybe this is the entry closet, and that's why it's all handbags and shoes?
I have square footage envy now.
Looks great! Totally jealous. ;) I was wondering where her hanging clothing is as well. Either she's wearing 2 outfits and just changing accessories, or more likely clothing is elsewhere or out of view. :)
Someone likes animal prints~ ;D
This isnt a picture of the ENTIRE closet, it's just one side. I have my hanging clothes on the other side as well as a ton of folded in drawers etc...
You can see the rest of the closet in a post about my home here:
http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/2008/04/glimpse-into-my-home.html
Thank you for all the nice compliments! :)
Fan. Tastic. I love seeing people decorate in their closets - which is where we spend a lot of time deciding what our day will look like!
lovely!