2016-11-21

As we worked through our remodel, one thing I knew we wouldn't skimp on for budget purposes were the closets. Working with our architect, we had planned loads of storage space for the top floor, including his & hers walk-in closets. Growing up we had California Closets, so I knew that's where I wanted to start our hunt. We ended up looking into some other alternatives along the way - the Ikea closet system, a DIY version from Home Depot, and custom closets from The Container Store - but none of them had the benefits that the California Closets systems have: lifetime warranty, a design consultant who comes and measures/designs, and installation of all the components. Oh - side note - this is 100% not sponsored by them. I just loved our experience (and the result) and wanted to share it here.

Okay - on to the closets:

I'll go from when you walk in from the bathroom, starting on the R and then wrapping all the way around to the L.



First up, shoes. I'm waiting on a few additional shoe shelves from them (they'll arrive on Wednesday) but this shelving area is amazing. Being able to store all of my sneakers, flats, heels, and wedges in one area is so life-changing. Prior to this, I had things separated in three different areas of my old closet downstairs.



Next to the shoes are a couple of shelves and then four drawers. The drawers house (from Top to Bottom) underwear, pjs, workout pants/capris, and swim/summer wear. On top of the shelves, I have two pair of riding boots, and then right now, the shelves are still empty! I'm thinking one of them will be for clothes I take off that I'm going to wear again (like the hoodie I live in for an entire week after work before washing). And maybe some jewelry storage on the other?

The closets are built into the slanted parts of the house, making the back wall shorter than the front wall. This made the perfect space for all of my normal-length hanging. And the slant on the shelf fits my booties like it was built for it (although that hadn't been the original intention!). When the California Closets consultant was here, she measured my clothing to make sure things would hang at the right heights, so she measured from the top of the hanger to the bottom of a handful of items - and look how perfectly it all fits! From L to R hanging is: golf polos, tanks, short sleeve blouses, long sleeve blouses, button-downs, cardigans, blazers, vests, workout outerwear. I'm amazed how much fits along that wall, and its nice tucking the less-worn items behind the drawer areas. I also have my work suitcase tucked back there since I have to use it so often!

The far L side of the closet has 4 more drawers (these ones are socks, Everlane & graphic tees, sports tees & long sleeves, and then workout tops). I've swapped out that lululemon workout bag with 2 more pair of riding boots, and the shelves are filled with sweaters and sweatshirts and jeans/casual pants. The hanging space has my long cardigans that don't fit on the short wall, slacks, skirts, and scarves.

Not pictured here are my dresses; they live in the other room on the top floor (the one that can be an office or a nursery, depending on our current situation). I didn't take a good picture of that, but here's one from snapchat a couple of weeks ago:

I'm just as impressed with the layout of Travis's closet, which is quite different from mine. When the closet consultant was here, we counted items for each of us and she built a layout based on that. So he has hanging area for his work shirts, his suits, his cardigans, and his polos & sports jerseys, and then he has more drawers for his sweaters, tees, sweats, and other items. And his shoe rack has different height & width shelves based on how much bigger his feet are than mine! I am so happy with how everything turned out - our closets are organized, easy to keep clean, and while they were not the cheapest route we could have gone, they are backed by a lifetime warranty I completely trust.

In other "not cheap house project" news, today we're FINALLY getting our blinds installed - the very, very last thing we have to cross of the list before we can put our house 100% back together. We can't wait to host Thanksgiving this year to show off our completed project - and with that will come some blog posts with more detail, finally!

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