A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of flying to Los Angeles for work. I was there to help an adorable couple facing spacial issues in their new home. Their master closet wasn’t providing enough space for her husband’s clothing and hers. With the exception of a few things, most of his stuff was in the guest room closet, a dresser, a nightstand or packed in a suitcase. She sent a few photos and we spoke on the phone prior to my trip, but I pretty much walked blindly into this challenge. Typically I do an in-person consult, then have a few days to mull over the options before presenting a game plan. In this case, I had the consult one evening and returned the following 2 days to get the job done.

I loved every second and grew immensely from the experience. One of my favorite projects to work on are the type that require deep-thinking and serious DIY’ing. This certainly provided that…along with the additional challenge of a defined period of time to get it accomplished. I love the challenge of walking into a situation where a homeowner feels they’ve hit a brick wall or the issue can’t be remedied for less than a certain dollar amount. No matter what the situation, my eyes only see the “after”. There is always an option to remedy and always one to fit your budget.

Always!

When it comes to updating a closet on a budget, there are inexpensive options. Yep, believe it or not – you don’t need to tear down your closet and build a custom from scratch. In this case it was clear to me what was missing / what was wrong…

Do you see all of the wasted space? Not only the obvious waste from minimal shelving and limited storage up high…but do you see the space not being used to its full potential?

This might help you see the after I was envisioning…

Sorry the images aren’t the best quality…there was no natural light in here.

The after included the addition of more shelves, modular pieces up high and moving items around to where they would totally and utterly maximize every square inch. All while still keeping the space / clothing accessible and pretty.

Modular pieces are a game changer and really do provide so much more opportunity to get organized and create space…without banging holes in the walls. I’ve used modular pieces time and again for renters. But these work exceptionally well if you own your home too! It requires just a few tools to assemble. That’s it.

His sweaters were previously in the guest room, but these modular cubbies gave us a spot to compartmentalize, keep everything in order (nothing is going to flop over) and provide space above it for shoes…

A quick trip to Home Depot for laminate cuts created additional space for shoes and folded clothing…

All of her jewelry was living in that beautiful box you see below. She wasn’t wearing it, couldn’t find pieces and many of her necklaces were tangled together. Now her pretty accessories are divided into acrylic organizers and her necklaces are safely on a belt hanger until we can get something pretty on the wall…

The addition of shelving below gave me the option to custom fit items like thin flip flops vs tall heels…

Her tall heels are below, while the shoes that fit into modular shelves are sitting pretty up high…no longer hiding in boxes (which was also wasting space). And remember how the jeans were hanging before with nearly 12″ of wasted space above the hanger? All I did was remove that rod to add a full bay of shelves allowing the jeans to be folded neatly…meaning not one inch is wasted.

The final touch to finish off their clothing was a makeover of dresser and nightstand contents. This method of folding ensures every piece of clothing is seen and worn…

Anyone can walk into Home Depot to have shelves cut to fit your closet. They even do the cuts for you! All of the shelving I purchased for this closet (as well as a few smaller cuts for the guest closet) was less than $80! That includes the shelf pegs. The modular pieces were found at both Target and The Container Store (on sale!). These are easy to assemble and if you like they can be stacked to really give you loads of new space!

If you’d like to update your own closet, you can shop the post right here to get started this weekend!…

Happy closet organizing!