apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would wall paper upper and mirrored doors, but that's because I hate mirrored doors... If you don't, I would simply paint the top ones white or even the colour of the walls.

What do you find most offensive about the closets?

I, personally, am least fond of the top cabinets - maybe if you had those mirrored to match the doors things would look better?

The always cheap, but potentially aggravating solution is to put pretty fabric over the closets (again, I'd do this to cover the top cabinets, too)...maybe this would be a pain, though, when you wanted to get in the closets?

If you don't have a problem with the upper cabinets but hate the mirror doors, I can't imagine it's that much to buy new doors at somewhere like the HD (I could be wrong, having never shopped for that sort of thing... I have no closet doors in my rental and use curtains :-)

Good luck! Congrats on finding your dream home!

What about white paint for the upper little cubby things and sliding panels to cover the mirrors when not in use.


http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00107548

Oh! I wanted to add - what's going on behind the bed? Is that built in, or something you added? It makes for a whole lotta mirror in that room - perhaps if you got rid of that it would make the closets seem less over the top?

i would paint the top cabinets to match the wood work, take off the mirror doors, put up curtain rods and use the ikea curtains with the big metal rings through the curtains

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00120979

they hang nicely and slide easily

mrs yow

Oh. I feel your pain. That is just about the ugliest closet arrangement I've ever seen.

Painting the cabinet doors might help. Assuming you can't replace the mirrored doors at this time, how would you feel about frosting or etching them? On a recent episode of HGTV's Design on a Dime, they flipped the mirrored doors on a closet so that the mirrors were on the inside. I think that they did a painted beadboard insert on the back (that now faced the front), which really looked good.

Why disguise them? Knock out the wall in between. Turn it into one big closet. Get rid of those doors and add either fabric panels or maybe even jute blinds that you juts roll up and stroll under.

Good god.
If you can't just re-do them entirely, definitely paint the molding and top cabinets the same color (either white or maybe the wall color so they are less overwhelming) and get rid of the mirrors! Aldyth's suggestion sounds pretty simple and cheap.

Ummm, perhaps you should buy new closet doors. Perhaps you forget that you are a homeowner now! You dont have to go for cosmetic and superficial changes as renters usually do. Just browse Home Depot for something like this http://tinyurl.com/2jal6d . There are tons of nice sliding doors on there. You might need a carpenter or handyman to change the tracks to accomadate the new doors. Also you could change the doors for the cubbies too so it looks more seamless.

Gut the whole deal and turn it into one big closet with either sliding doors or curtains. Elfa behind it.

What is it that you find offensive mostly?

If its the mirrored aspect - flip em round (as above)
If its the sliding doors - remove and replace with a track curtain (or actual doors, though it looks like the bed would be in the way)
If its the storage above - paint it white to blend
Is the white trim somehow ornate? (Hard to tell in the picture)
Can you replace it? Repaint it to blend better with the room (I'm thinking something like your bedcover)

You could also remove the doors, and storage doors, leave it open and hang a curtain across the whole wall

If you want something without any major renovations I would simply remove all the door, upper and lower. Paint the molding a nice deep brown color. Hang a nice linen curtain on the bottom half of the closet doors, such as these, the carmel or wheat would be nice.

http://www.lnt.com/sm-nate-berkus-linen-window-curtains--pi-2028728.html

Add some rattan or wicker baskets to the top opening and use them for storage and a touch of texture.

Sledgehammer. Seriously. If you own, why not just take those closets out and replace with anything you like better? You'd probably even gain some floor space.

Thanks for everything so far-
We haven't moved in yet - so nothing in that room is mine. Bed frame, wall color and tv over the fireplace are OUT. Hope the current owner is not an AT fan ;) Mostly I dislike the mirror doors, the trim around the top doors and the fact that the top doors aren't the color of the walls. I also wish it didn't take up so much room but I don't have the cash to completely redo right now. The first thing I will do is rip off the doors but I would like to replace them so I don't have to look at my clothes. It a beautiful 100 year old house, and our furniture is deco and we have some asian art in our current bedroom if that helps.

Paint the trim around the closets a gloss of the (eventual) wall color.

Paint the upper doors the same color of the walls.

Live with the mirrors until you can afford to gut. They may grow on you.

The mirrored headboard contraption in the current set up is not making you love those mirrors any more, but once the room is cleaned up and painted out, you may find them livable. I personally don't hate mirrored doors.

I like the basket/linen curtain suggestion. And Patrick is right - without all that clutter it will be a completely new room.

Paint the upper cubbies to match the rest of the wall. The molding around the door look like their sort of 'wavy'. If you can replace them with more streamlined moldings, that could help too.

Personally, i'd keep the mirrored doors. They really do make a room seem bigger.

take off the doors and hang a curtain until you can afford to do what you want. cheapest, easiest solution. hang them from the ceiling on a hospital track and i think it will look dramatic.

I like the symmetry of the doors on the left --it's hard to see what's going on behind the bed, but that's where my eye is drawn and it looks not-so-good. But looks like some rennovation is in order. Take down the doors and install something gorgeous!

Maybe bamboo screening? Maybe fabric covered doors? I really like the idea of the invisible door -- conceal it with wall paper so that it looks like a wall until you open it.

congrats on owning a house! you can now do what many of us renters cannot: WHATEVER YOU WANT!

i understand that you're short on cash, but i'll agree...those are some seriously ugly closets! i know the task might seem daunting, but swinging a sledgehammer costs nothing except a few hours and some dusty clean-up. once the closets are knocked out, you can do some simple drywall yourself (or find a friend who knows how and pay for their labor with drinks and dinner...or something).

this is honestly a weekend project that shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks and it'll increase the size of that room!

1) Remove all closet doors and paint to match the walls.
2) Install 3 ceiling tracks in front of the closets, going the full length of the wall.
3) Hang 3 flat panels of fabric - canvas, burlap, whatever - onto the ceiling track. Weight them properly at the bottom so they pull easily - and hang them so they overlap slightly. Use them as sliding doors (panels).

I would arrange them so the one that will end by the entry door is closest to the wall.

Use fabric with some weight to it, and something that won't wrinkle/get too dirty where your hand grabs it.

The other thing about being a home owner is that you have lots of time to make improvements - there's quick stuff you do when you first buy, to make it look better, and nice stuff you do over the years, as you can afford it. So for now, clean it up visually and do the many other things you need to make the place "yours."

Go with what p(too) said, and consider also painting that elaborate headboard contraption. There's so much going on that you need to just make everything look built-in, and he's dead-on about how to do it.

Then if you hate the mirrors, replace them with regular doors or wallpaper them. But they may be considerably less annoying when they're not reflecting as much visual action.

However, if you keep that much mirror in the room, you'll definitely need to keep the place very uncluttered and perpetually "picked up," as mirrors amplify every little mess.

I wish I could find the link but does anyone remember what company profiled on here within the past week sold those window decals? They covered the window in a modern print and prevented the outsider from looking in. I think that would look lovely on the closet doors!

We have a similar situation in our apartment, and we did exactly what others here are suggesting.
I think the storage up top is invaluable, so if you like the mirrored doors, I'd paint the top doors to match the wood trim and maybe add some nice modern pulls.
If you don't like mirror, remove the all the doors and just put up a curtain rod or ceiling track and hang really tall curtains in a great modern print. It will add a lot of drama (for a small price tag!).

(We got our super tall curtains from Ikea!)

Now that we know the wall color and awful furniture will be gone, the closets don't look so bad after all.

I'm with the masses - paint the top cubby doors white to make them mostly disappear. Leave the mirrors for awhile - nothing adds space like mirrors (and light). Once the room is repainted and decluttered, see if you still hate the mirrors.

Really, the most offensive parts of this room are the headboard and bedspread and the general mess. Take heart, those will be gone soon enough. :)

I agree with patrick - paint the trim and upper doors a glossy version of the wall color. Since you have an old house, you don't want to make it look too modern. I have very similar closets in our bedroom. It's a Manhattan loft, but the previous owner apparently had a yen for the farmhouse look. We're pulling off the doors and molding and putting in tall Ikea sliders, but I don't think this is the right approach for you.

I'm not fond of mirrored closet doors. Don't do anything with them yet though, live there for six months before you make a decision.

Mirrors in bedrooms = bad feng shui. I'm on team basket & linnens.