Divine Dressing Room From a Boring Closet!

Cynthia Castelhano
by Cynthia Castelhano
4 Materials
I've always wanted one of those chic dressing rooms you see in old Hollywood movies, but never really had a walk-in closet to make that transformation. But I do now, and decided to go for it!


This was the "before" closet. Ho hum. Organized, but oh so boring!



The work began--took out all the wire shelves (3 total) and saved those for another project. So many holes to fill in!



Endless patchwork! Ugh!



This closet is only 5' x 7', so I painted it white to help reflect light and make it seem larger than it actually is. I took the door off and left it off. I want to hang some curtains when I find the material I want which will hide the hinges. ( I don't want to fill those in because I will some day resell this condo and don't want to assume that the next person won't want a door.)



I used a Closetmaid shelving system which I bought on-line at Home Depot. It was on sale and I had it delivered, free, to my house. I've used this shelving many, many times in the past, but I still read all the reviews to discover any flaws/problems that might be a factor in this particular system. For some unknown reason, you cannot get extra shelves for it and there were lots of complaints about that. Hmmm...I knew I was going to need several extras because of the way I would negotiate my shoe storage (picture coming up). I solved this problem by buying a small bookcase and cannibalizing it. You can take pieces to Home Depot and they'll cut them for free, by the way. I needed a bridge across the top and some extra shelves. I used some scrap pieces for other parts, which I will show you later. And the rest of the scrap pieces went to a couple of other projects. I did this alone, by the way, so the hardest part was lifting the completed upper part from the floor onto the base. Of course, I secured each unit to the wall for security. I also bought a laminated piece to complete the number of shelves I needed for shoe storage and, of course, the pegs needed to hold the shelves. Side note: A couple of the shelves had corners that were banged up from shipping (but still usable). You just call Closetmaid and they will send you, completely free, replacement shelves. Voila!



I bought this lovely Art Deco style light fixture (Home Depot) for the fun of it! I love it! My very tall daughter came over and installed it for me.



As you can see, I needed extra shelves for my shoes. Since there doesn't need to be as much space in between each shelf to house the clear plastic shoe boxes, I can fit a lot of boxes in there! Also, I don't really have much long hanging clothes. They went into another closet because they are hardly used. : )



If you look at the previous picture, you will notice the completely wasted space beneath both tall units. This was where I used scrap pieces, had them cut to size, installed rolling ball feet on the bottom corners, added a small piece that keeps the contents from falling off the back, and put two drawer handles on the front to roll them in and out. Great storage for my athletic shoes on one side and other items under the other unit.



I put in three drawers in the left hand unit. My foldable items, like sweatshirts and tee shirts, are neatly on the shelves above. The drawers are for lingerie, socks, some sweaters. I do not have a dresser in my bedroom. This closet holds all my clothes, except for long hang, as mentioned above. (You can see the rolling shelves below the left-hand unit in this picture.)



You can see the shelf bridging the two units together. You could use this for extra winter clothes storage, if needed. But I live in Georgia, so that's not necessary for me. (Yay!)



I papered one wall because I really like wallpaper. This wallpaper was kind of expensive as it has some gold foil in the design, so that was another reason to do only one wall. It just adds so much, I think. Worth the outcome!


I added a chair (my daughter gave me), a beautiful pillow, a framed picture from a thrift store, along with a really great find--a very heavy, framed plate glass mirror ($4 from the thrift store). I don't have it pictured, but I added a small square wrought iron table between the chair and the mirror as this is my "prayer closet," so my Bible and devotional are by my side there.
 
I really love this room! It has been everything I had hoped it would be. It took me about a week to finish as I had to stop here and there. I am in my mid-60's and there was a lot of heavy and tedious work on this project. But I always pick a big project to do over my birthday weekend (over Memorial Day) and this was one of them. If you're looking for a project that is inexpensive, I would say, this is not it! I think, all said and done, this project cost about $600. The shelving/drawer unit is not cheap and then there was the wallpaper and light fixture. But I was able to do the labor myself, and that helped.
Suggested materials:
  • Closetmaid materials   (Home Depot)
  • Light fixture, hardware, Behr paint   (Home Depot)
  • Wallpaper   (American Blind and Wallpaper)
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  • Siti namira fitriany Siti namira fitriany on Feb 24, 2017
    Where then you put the bags?
  • Laurie Laurie on May 17, 2017

    I love this. You are my inspiration.

  • Diena Cameron Diena Cameron on Jun 25, 2017

    Cynthia Castelhano, this is such a beautiful transformation. I am in love with your wallpaper, can you tell me the name of it ? I just bought some beautiful turquoise wallpaper for our "everybody " bathroom off the living room but have not installed it yet .( Have some back and neck problems to take care of first. I can't wait to to put the paper up, it's driving me crazy not being able to do it ! I was thinking that your paper would look beautiful in my little craft room, it's a teeny tiny room, maybe 4x6. So i wouldn't need much. I can't believe how expensive wallpaper is nowadays, it's crazy ! Well, thanks for sharing your project, really love it .)

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  • L.M. L.M. on Sep 09, 2018

    Hi Cynthia: Your closet is wonderful, cheery and so personal as prayer space. We thank you for sharing. My closet is about the same floor plan of your and with your results, I am inspired to try to look at Closet Maid for my area. Keep creating!!!

  • Patty Patty on Oct 08, 2021

    Beautiful.

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