Andrew and I have this running joke. He walks into his closet, which is right across from mine (identical layouts in a mirror image), walks out, closes the door, and says, “Your closet is SUCH a mess.”
Because, you know, it never is. But his closet…
Let’s just say it’s clean if you can see the floor. And I find it so hilarious. Because this incredibly organized, cleanly man just throws stuff in there and closes the door. But sometimes, just sometimes, I catch him peeking into my closet (which I “prettied up” almost immediately after moving in 3 years ago because HELLO! My own walk-in closet??? Dreamland). I’m pretty sure my husband wanted a nice-looking space too, even though he would never admit it!
So, I “prettied” up his closet. Here are the before and after shots, though I apologize for the quality and lack of good light. Turns out even a walk-in closet is pretty hard to photograph.
Before:
After:
So what did I do?
First, I cleared every mother-loving item out of there (including the shelves), then vacuumed, dusted, and painted the background walls black-ish (it’s Martha Stewart’s Francesca, slightly darker than charcoal grey- find it at Home Depot). I found different homes for the empty guitar cases, empty duffel bags, and extra blankets and pillows for guests, which freed up a lot of space for… dun, dun, dun… clothes!
I brought in one of our wooden crates for storing shoes and drilled in two small hooks for hanging hats or bow ties (he has a pretty crowded tie rack on the back of the door). I added the horns as a joke… he can’t stand them, so I’m sure they will come down after he sees them and groans and laughs.
Then I just organized: sweaters with sweaters, pants with pants, tee shirts with tee shirts, etc. All the pens went into an old mug that used to belong to my dad that Andrew has always loved. All of the miscellaneous items strewn about went into the basket next to it, and that about sums it up! It really wasn’t a very big job, but it made me feel so good to do something nice for him.
And because I’m showing his closet, I only thought it fair to show mine as well… so how about it? Would you like to see my closet tomorrow???
Definitely want to see your closet! And I can’t believe you did all that while single-parenting.
I love pictures of home improvement or organizational projects. I seriously, seriously do. There is something just so satisfying and nifty about seeing how other people do things.
Closets make me so happy, weird, i know. Especially organized and like colored clothes together, it looks awesome!!!
What a great project! I seriously love little projects like this, and you did such a great job of it. And at the risk of sounding exceptionally creepy, I’d love to see your closet.
I love this! Will you come organize my closet next? Definitely want to see yours now, too…please do share!
I am so jealous that you have a walk in closet! Our house is old and unrenovated, which means closets that are strangely small. Wyatt’s room used to be my very decadent closet, and now I have to rotate out seasonally with garment racks in the attic which isn’t ideal. I’m also a mess though, so anytime I can close a door on my mess is very dangerous, if you thought Andrew’s before was bad you should see the damage I can do 🙂
The redo looks great, so clean and organized. Looking forward to getting a peak at your’s next!
Lauren, you are such a good wife! I love the closet re-do and I’m sure Andrew does, even with the horns. Haha! I love helping (or bossing) my husband when it comes to his side of the closet. 🙂
Yes, I want to see yours!
xo
cortnie
YES! Show me the closet. 🙂 Andrew’s looks great!
I wish you still lived here so you could makeover my closet! Wow, you are magical lady. One of my favorite touches is the framed pictures. I keep pictures and favorite nick-nacks in the closet too and I thought I was kinda weird, but it’s such a cozy/small space and you are in there so often so it really does make sense!
Me next! Looks awesome!