IN EACH ROOM â—½ HOME
Maybe you have a huge closet with a center island and stepstools and bags on display and lush rugs…how fun! Or maybe you’ve seen those pictures and wondered how you could design your own smaller version of a walk-in closet into a “boutique” style retreat for a fun place to pick out your outfits each morning. I looked at what I would need/want to make it happen for my closet that I share with my husband. It was hard work, and I was pooped at the end, but here are the steps to make it happen…
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I knew I wanted these things: a mirror, shoes off the floor, pretty drawer spaces, a nice stepstool, no more mismatched plastic bins, and all our clothes really organized by type and color…and finally…some pretty lighting for ambience.
First step was to clean out the junk. Everything came out and we donated about six huge garbage bags of clothes and shoes. How had we stuffed so much in that one little closet? Mostly, it was my stuff that went. Clothes I held on to because I thought I’d wear them, shoes I hoped wouldn’t hurt, items I felt guilty getting rid of…you name it. But this time, so much went and it felt so good.
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Then I shopped, on Amazon, at Marshalls, PopShelf and I even had a favorite organizer I found from Five Below! I opted for lots of rattan pieces as a central theme. Here’s what I purchased:
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Three sets of rattan baskets for shelves from Amazon
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Two rattan sconces (battery operated with remote) for wall from Amazon
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Four plastic boxes with lettering for folded t-shirts from Five Below
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One vegetable rattan bin for slides and sandals from Marshalls
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A rattan mirror and wastebasket from PopShelf
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Two drawer units from Amazon
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My husband hung slat board on one whole wall, and I purchased hooks and baskets and shelves from Amazon.
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A few things I changed on our closet rods: I didn’t want my jeans/pants hanging any longer because they took up so much room. I had purchased pant hangers (several times) but still…they took up too much room. So in the drawer units, I placed all my pants folded in half, then in thirds, and filed like folders. Next, I organized our clothes by color, and my husband’s shirts by sleeve length. His pants still hang on pant hangers for now. (He has a lot less pants than I do!)
Shoes were placed on hooks on the wall and a few displayed on acrylic shelves, with the slides and sandals lined up in the rattan bin, placed under the large mirror, with a wastebasket beside. I kept a jewelry organizer above the mirror for hanging headbands!
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All the rattan baskets aren’t full yet, but a couple have half-tees (Do you have a stash of these? They’re great!), slip shorts and half-slips for spring/summer. One has a few shoes on display above the closet, and one large one has a few out of season blouses I’ll pull out later.
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The drawer units also have some of my husband’s work shirts and all of his shorts, again nicely folded and stashed like folders.
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One rule I’m trying to abide by as we move forward, is when I purchase something, i.e. like new sandals for summer, then that many old ones come out…so that we maintain a nice flow and a good amount…without becoming stuffed again.
Finally, the lighting. I didn’t want corded lamps since there are no plugs in the closet, and I wanted ones with a remote so I could turn on as needed, and these rattan lamps were my fave. Pretty easy to hang, too! And the drawer units weren’t difficult to put together, either.
Does it look like the pictures of boutique closets I’ve seen? Not really, but I love it. It looks cozy, inviting, and pretty to me. My husband even commented one night as he got ready for bed, “It’s looking very boutiquish!”
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(We donated most things to Salvation Army, and sat our old plastic drawers on the curb. A young couple stopped and got them, and told us they were in their first apartment and the drawers would be great!)
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Closet Boutique
by Marcy Lytle
