As Promised

Sort of. In my last post I told you how much I love the system I installed in our walk-in closet. I also told you I would post about it when I got it straightened. Well, since that (the straightening) probably won't happen anytime soon, I decided to go ahead and show you anyway.

When we bought this house, the closets all had the white, plastic coated metal Closet Maid shelving. Now, there is nothing wrong with this but after awhile, the plastic got sticky and no amount of muscle or any cleanser I ever found could get them clean.

I saw this new Closet Maid system in daughter #3's home in Thornton Park and decided I could do that. I had put together countless Sauder shelf units, etc. and this system went together very much the same way. I did every speck of this closet myself. The hardest part really was in the design...and then in emptying the old closet.

When I first opened the boxes, I will admit I was a bit overwhelmed at the sheer amount of screws, but once I read the instructions-quite a concept for me-it all fell into place. If I were doing it again, I might have done it a bit differently, but you have to work with the size closet you have and the corners just fall where they fall!

 When you first walk in and turn back to the left, we have shelves that store our luggage, baseball caps and hats, extra pillows and any other things I need room for at the time. This side houses hubby's shirts and suits on the top tier and pants on the bottom. At one time I had all of his slacks color coordinated but now he likes to keep them according to which ones are getting old-or too big-or something-so I leave it to him! Looked better my way-just saying!

 Here is THAT corner that stores the out-of-season bedding and hub's shoes. All along the top of these units I have room for containers with holiday items, extra shoe boxes and even the box that stores my 47 year old wedding dress!

 My in-season hanging clothes go here (the rest hangs in a guest room) along with more of my husband's shoes, my dress shoes in boxes and folded sweaters and tops. The very bottom shelf holds different totes and one of those shelves has handbags. My casual shoes are along the bottom of the closet-arranged by style.

My jackets, blouses and tops hang above and my slacks below.

 This is my favorite piece. I tried hard to get 2 of these in here but there was just no way. I have my folded tops on the shelves and then the top drawer holds jewelry and the bottom two hold sportswear. The two baskets at the bottom hold my belts and scarves.

This corner holds most of our jackets and our clothes hamper. The white hamper on the other side gets my husband's shirts so they are always ready to just grab for the cleaners. I found two key holders that I hung by the door for my short necklaces and have my longer ones hanging on hooks on the sides of the shelves. I use one of these hooks to hold whatever holiday necklaces I might need that month and I keep a bowl of holiday earrings and bracelets on the top surface of this piece. I also deposit the jewelry that I wear every day here when I take it off plus car keys, sun glasses, etc. After so many years of "hunting" for where I left this stuff, I love having a safe, designated area.

This system was not inexpensive-and Lowes doesn't carry this particular set any more but it has similar systems.I will say it was so worth doing. I love this closet now-almost enough not to mind when hubby leaves the door open-well, almost! If you are looking for something functional and attractive to add to your house, this is a definite go-for project. And, I did every bit of it myself and in one weekend to boot-and I even gave it a quick coat of paint. One of my favorites. Stay tuned.