Closet Glam [Project 3]

My CLOSET is FINISHED !!!

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Isn’t it unique?

Most definitely.

Best of all — all 3 shelving units are portable! And no closet doors are needed — I’m certainly not covering up all that beauty! I am mesmerized, . . . in awe — not quite believing how elegant this all looks. Is this really my closet?

The design was very organic — a simple shelf tower to add storage & bump up the sagging closet rod became a whole closet organizing system. [I was thinking function more than beauty — had some sort of plan to maybe use drapes as ‘closet doors’.]

The first change was when I found the Martha Steward fabric cubes at Home Depot — at 11″ square, they determined the measurements. I planned to start with the cubes from the top & end with an open area for shoes, etc. at the floor.

That got switched around when, after I’d finished my first leaded stained glass window & was wondering where to place it [somewhere I’d see it often!], I got an ‘Aha moment’ — why not make it a door on the shelving unit? Mr Carpenter, can you do that? Hmmm, without a router — we installed it like a mirror. Not the best but I wanted to see every inch!

Now my little plastic ‘dressers’ looked really tacky beside the beautiful glass & wood, so, . . . I designed a little cabinet & bought a small 2 sq. ft. sheet of glass [$15] to match the petals in the window [from my fave Glass-Smith & Co.]. Then Santa brought my carpenter a router — yeah, proper grooves for the glass!

Of course when that worked out so well, it led to the left cabinet becoming a double [yup, exactly 16″ of the 12″w glass left — just enough to get 2 more 8″ sq. doors out of it!], to complete the whole tacky-plastic-dresser replacement.

When the double was put in place, I had a breathless, & speechless, moment. OMG, it all goes together so well & so much more than originally envisioned — the simple gold-white swirled glass panes add elegance & enhance the soft pine grain.

I figure I’ve got the equivalent of two 4-drawer dressers in all those shelves. [Hee hee, I might have enough for all my clothes now! — another dresser-worth of storage is under my bed [hidden by the bedskirt] in those great blue & red laundry baskets from The $ Store in Sooke.]

Then a little organizing of some of my many storage boxes [okay, a major addiction!], some colour co-ordinated books, a couple of clown-dolls that I can’t part with [gifts from my sons], a little colour co-ordination of shirts, & voila, I am organized.

I am putting together a full supplies list & rough plans of the construction [hopefully in 2-3 days] but I’ve worked out the approximate cost of each unit:

1) tower — 5 shelves –> ~$ 105:

pine board — $42 = 12″ w x 14′ [2 x 7′] @ $3/ft –> excellent grade priced by the foot, has a nice, all-over blonde grain with few knots, & satin finish on both sides & edges
spruce 1″x 2″ — $3 = ~6′ @ $.50/ft
cubes — $28 = 4 @ $6.99
hinges — $4/pair
mirror clips — $3/set of 4
stained glass window — priceless, hee hee –> no, really, I made it in a course at Glass-Smith [$84], they supplied the material [~$10 for glass & ~$10-15 for lead, solder, putty, & whiting] & it took me ~8 hrs. [obviously longer than I could do it now, hee hee], . . ., so, let’s say:
stained glass window — $25 with value = ~$50-75

2) single cabinet — 2 shelves –> ~$39 :

pine board — $15 = 12″ w x 8′ –> shelf grade priced by the board, has a mix of blonde & golden grains with some knots, & matte finish on both sides [not edges]
spruce 1″x 2″ — $2 = ~4′ @ $.50/ft
hardboard [backing] — $2
cubes — $7 = 1 @ $6.99
hinges — $4/pair
lion pull — $4
glass panel — ~$5 [11.5″ x 8″]

3) double cabinet — 4 shelves –> ~$62 :

pine board — $16 = 12″ w x 9′ –> shelf grade priced by the board, has a mix of blonde & golden grains with some knots, & matte finish on both sides [not edges]
spruce 1″x 2″ — $4 = ~8′ @ $.50/ft
hardboard [backing] — $3
cubes — $14 = 2 @ $6.99
hinges — $8 = 2 @ $4/pair
lion pull — $8 = 2 @ $4
glass panel — ~$9 [2 x (8″ x 8″)]

So, total cost for my elegant closet shelving units — $ 206

Not bad at all considering what a lot of those fake-wood or wire closet systems cost — at least double & triple this! And you still need closet doors.

Of course this cost doesn’t include labour, tools, or miscellaneous stuff like nails, bolts, & glue that we already had on hand.

The closet as it progressed from before through 3 phases:

My mind is awash with possibilities for other projects using this simple construction — pantry doors with a rainbow of blue glass, a tv cabinet, a unit for my desk, & of course, plenty of bookshelves!

Update May 11th: Does anything ever stay the same? As soon as I saw the new colours of Martha Stewart’s fabric cube drawers, I knew they’d be perfect for my closet — more at Create XXIX — Colour Change Bumps Elegance Level Up a Notch.