Closet Makeover: Big Reveal

Interiors

Big huge thanks to everyone who has commented on our awesome closet makeover! And I also have to give a shoutout to The Riley Group for facilitating my closet therapy. Valerie and her team are incredible; I was so pleased with the way this turned out that I want them to come help me out with some other projects up my sleeve. Warning: this is a long post, but I think you’re going to love the detail and thought that went into this makeover!

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You can see the original post here w/ all the background on how our closet got to be so ugly. Check out this post for what I learned in the great closet intervention of 2012.

So how did this great makeover happen?  The first step was the hardest and possibly the one I dreaded the most: taking absolutely everything out of the closet. It was like ripping off a band-aid: just DO it and get it over with. So pile by pile, we unloaded the entire closet of every last piece of clothing. And when I say piles, I mean mountains of clothes. That’s how we roll.  And once every item was out of the closet, I then had to go through and start making my Maybe and Goodbye piles. See that photo above? That was just after I’d gone through and purged all the Goodbyes.  Lauren helped me toss the castoffs into Hefty bags; after it was all over, she took everything to Goodwill and brought me back the receipt. Totally painless.

As an aside, can I just tell you how much that means to me? It’s the follow-through that gets me every single time. I end up feeling like a failure because I will clean out the closet only to have the trash bags sit there for literally weeks because I can’t quite prioritize dropping everything off at Goodwill. Life just gets in the way, you know? Maybe I won’t want to mess with dragging a 4 year old with me to Goodwill or maybe I don’t want to spend my precious Mother’s Day Out hours on that when I could be filling orders and finishing up work projects.  So for Lauren to simply handle it all for me was worth untold amounts to me. It was a job well done from beginning to end.

At this point, my job was pretty much over. So I took off to run errands and then when I returned, voila!

So, won’t you join me in a tour of our newly-organized and exceptionally clean closet?

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Remember the before? You could barely see the floor for all the piles and piles of clothes and shoes. But look at the after! Nothing says clean to me like being able to see the baseboards. And look at how she was able to fit all of my clothes onto the one rack on top! We went from me filling up 3 whole racks to occupying only 2. Um, and there’s room in there for one of our Tolix chairs? Wow! Not to mention the fact that the shelves on the left are perfectly organized as well. The closet has NEVER looked so good. Lauren vacuumed and dusted the entire space til it was sparkling.

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Again, check out the before above: I had baskets literally full of trash & junk. What a waste! Also, my leggings and random things were shoved into (are you ready for this): old freezer bins. YES – Freezer bins from a refrigerator that my sister had. Not exactly the most fabulous DIY, huh? We joked that it was definitely not Pinterest-worthy.

So here’s the after below: again, all of my clothes are organized according to color and by category. Those baskets filled with junk above? Now they’re holding my winter boots that can be traded out when winter comes for all the summer sandals that are organized below. And my handbags and totes are happily organized and ready for use.

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The best part about having someone come in to help you is the fresh perspective they bring. Lauren nailed it when she said, “You have two entire walls of this closet that are under-utilized for storage. It’s frankly a waste of space.” That had never occurred to me before, but she was right. Of the 4 walls in the closet, only 2 were maximized for storage. So it was off to Lowe’s where I picked up an easy-to-assemble 5-shelf rack. It was way easier than installing other closet components and it can be customized to what ever height we need.  More on that in a bit.

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Remember before how Jude’s old changing table had been another pile of laundry and baskets full of random items?  Not to mention the random artwork, photos, and 5K paraphernalia hanging sadly on the walls. No more! Out it went and we were able to put our full-length mirror on that wall.

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I’m still amazed that we have empty shelves. EMPTY!  And Simon’s tshirts are all organized and folded according to color. Genius.

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Check out our pinboard below for all the random photos, 5K stuff, etc. It organizes what could be a potential mess into a clearly-defined area. Again with the boundaries1 Yay!

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Here you can see how all those previously tangled-up leggings and jeans are now all nicely folded and arranged.

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And the baskets on top are great too because they hold all the seasonal items that can be quickly grabbed. Or, when it’s winter, switch them out with the baskets of my boots. Form and function, folks!

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I’m also loving that the shoes and the laundry basket are up off the floor. They’re in their very own space and out of the way. I can’t believe how much space this shelf creates for us. We have easily increased the storage space in the closet by over 1/3rd.

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Look at my baby.  Jude’s in a total stupor over it all.  He’s clearly contemplating the meaning of life here in the closet since it is now a soothing and calming place to be.  Again, look at that clean floor! I cannot believe it.

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At the end of the day, I feel like a burden has been lifted. I no longer feel sickeningly overwhelmed at the thought of doing laundry. I can’t say thank you enough to The Riley Group;  Lauren did an amazing job and I was extremely impressed with her professionalism and her organizing abilities. She was personable and easy to talk to and we meshed well together.

Does this sound like a service that appeals to you? Would you ever consider using a personal assistant to help you get stuff done?

 

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with love,
Rachel

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