David and I rent the cutest house in Columbia, SC. Seriously, we love the house. It is a 1930's bungalow in the Historic Heathwood area with lots of charming details. From talking with neighbors who have lived in the neighborhood forever, they said that David's and my house was the neighborhood builder's house, where he lived with his family. He designed and constructed most of the bungalows on our street, and evidently, ours is the best, because it was his family home. The rest of them are similar on the inside as far as layouts are concerned, but ours is unique, which I thought was cool. While in my opinion, the outside could use a little work (just your basic brick bungalow...nothing too great as far as curb appeal goes), the inside is what drew us in. That, and the backyard, which is perfect for our furry-child, Colonel Mustard.
While I want to do a full house tour eventually, one of the rooms that has been virtually untouched is our "third bedroom/office/junk-room/storage for boxes our parents made us get out of they're houses since we're adults now" room. My parents are probably reading this and thinking, "we got a LOT more you can take if you've got a spare room!" But alas...we've got other plans for that room.
While it did get a coat of paint...that's about all it's gotten. When we moved in (June 2011), Bedroom 3 as we'll call it, was a bright frat-boy Salmon color. It was an obvious "convert this room into a bedroom so we can charge more rent" type space, and we totally bought into it. We'd just come from a NYC apt that was really long and narrow...so space was all we wanted. And a dishwasher.
So whats the plan? A walk-in closet of course! (
Carrie Bradshaw...eat your heart out.) Y'all might be thinking...a priest and a social worker/nonprofiteer (not to be confused with
Mousketeer fellow children of the 80's) couldn't possibly have enough money to afford enough clothes to need a walk in closet ROOM?! And, you'd be right...but it isn't as much a space thing as a practicality thing.
Most days David and I are on different schedules...particularly Thursday-Sunday...so it's annoying for one of us (i.e. me) to try and get ready for work in the dark or with a dim light so I don't wake him up. And he has the same issue on Sundays especially when we heads to work way before I get up...
The brainstorming went something like this:
Me: Since it's hard for us to get ready in the dark sometimes, I had an idea.
My Inner Thoughts: "I really hope I can use some of those
Pinterest Closet ideas I've pinned"
David: What's the idea?
Me: To clear the junk out of the third bedroom and turn it into like a...dressing room. Like a huge closet for BOTH of us...TO SHARE!! We can hang a long rack on one wall or....blah blah blah...
My Inner Thoughts: "please say yes...please say yes...."
David: Yeah, that'd be cool. Sounds like a good idea.
My Inner Thoughts: "THAT WAS EASY...commence pinning"
Me: Awesome! Let's get to Lowes and...blah blah blah...
So, this is what we're working on.
Since I can't find the OFFICIAL before shot...I took this one in the molding to at least show the color it used to be before we painted it (that pinkish color)
Guess some spots need to be touched up...eh heh heh...
But we painted it
"Grey Squirrel" by Martha Stewart. It was also the first room we painted...now we've done like 8, so we could have done a little touch up. We're a lot better painters now, I swear. Quit judging...
So here's the room now-and this is "after" the junk was cleared out I mind you.
So we've got a huge space to work with and at this point in my shopping career, I won't fill up this entire room. Yet. But we'll probably add some additional storage that's not permanent since we're renters and we want something we can take with us. We're smart like that.
But check out some of the cool "charming" things besides that amazing thick baseboard molding and the crown molding on top.
The Transom Windows above all the doors and the crystal/glass doorknobs are just a few sweet touches in this wonderful house of ours...that we rent. Stay tuned for the closet room update. I'm hoping to get some stuff I need either tomorrow b/c we're making a trip to Charlotte and could drop in Ikea...or I'll do some local closet shopping Sunday. Stay tuned.
Some of my closet inspiration to tide you over...(less about the decor, more about the closet units themselves)
loving the double racks above
Brass/gold bar going straight across with overhead storage
storage for shoes, bags, sweaters...could be inexpensive if done thoughfully
again, like the single bar with the overhead storage
this is actually sold as one unit (Martha again), so it's the most convenient.
Ps: If you're reading this blog for the Bible Challenge info--take my advice. Skip Leviticus. Well, don't if you're trying to read it all. Keep going, but just text David your questions. Lots of laws about cloven animals and which ocean dwellers are acceptable to eat. I'm a vegetarian, so I say...
fuhgettaboutit.
