Tag: closet

Closet Plans and Layout
Being surrounded by all of your clothes as you drift off to a peaceful slumber really kicks up that urge to pare down, especially with the whole New Year thing.

It has been a couple of months since the closet’s contents took over the bedroom as we emptied the space to work on it. The carpet has already been ripped up, the terrible subfloor repaired, and new solid oak flooring put down. I’ve also removed the old sheet mirror from the sink nook and have made progress on those crumbling plaster corners. (They’re so much better! I scrapped the corner trowel and just did one side at a time. Far easier technique.) One spot needs a touch more work, but I’ll wait to mix up another batch of mud. There are new holes to come, hopefully as soon as this week, when new wires will be fished through.

One of the electricians was working on pulling a whip from the closet today, and she lowered the ceiling fixture to get a better look at the wiring in there. The house is 125 years old and it has been updated in bits and pieces over the years, so some areas are all right but the closet doesn’t look like one of them. Paper covered wires (plus a few modern wires spliced in, temporarily).

This, by the way, is the only type of wiring I’m ever confronted with when changing a light fixture. What a crazy day it will be when I go to put up a new light and the colored wires will match what the instructions tell me to do!

Once the rewiring is done in there, I can get in patch the new holes that are being made. Since the ceiling needs to be accessed anyway, I’m taking the opportunity to move the light over about six inches and center it. More patching will of course mean more sanding, which means more fine white dust everywhere, but then it will finally be time to wipe down the walls, prime, and paint. The walls and ceiling will both need it.

Here’s where we’re at.
- ~~Empty the closet~~
- ~~Remove wall-to-wall carpet~~
- ~~Rip up old wood floor~~
- ~~Repair the subfloor~~
- ~~Install new hardwood flooring (to match the original)~~
- ~~Remove sheet mirror~~
- ~~Patch the plaster wall and corners behind the mirror~~
- Rewire (sconce, ceiling fixture, two switches, two outlets)
- Patch holes and damage from rewiring
- Paint prep (mostly cleaning all of the plaster dust everywhere)
- Prime (walls and ceiling)
- ~~Finalize design plan~~
- ~~Repair or replace garment rack~~ (I fixed it!)
- ~~Research and order new closet fittings~~
- Paint (walls and ceiling)
- Rewire antique lights or choose replacements
- Rehang lights
- New mirror above the sink
- Add storage near the sink
- Install new closet fittings
- Zhush it all up a little
- Put everything away (paring down in the process)
Is that everything? I think it is.

I worked with the 3D rendering I’d made again, playing around with the best way to organize our closet. There’s only one long, straight wall that makes sense for most of the clothes, but I thought that a mix of double hanging (what we had) and shelves would be more useful. And if we could get our floor length mirror in a different spot, it would free up space on the only other straight wall for additional storage. The Sarah Storage collection looked like a perfect fit so I reached out to Ballard Designs and they’ve sent a few pieces over. They’ve already arrived and I’m pretty excited about them, but they’re hanging out on the first floor until the closet is far enough along to bring everything up.

Such a funny layout, but it’s going to be so great when it’s all put back together again!
January 6, 2016
15 Stylish Garment and Coat Racks
Garment racks. Coat racks. Oh, the multitude of racks I have looked at! Here’s what happened.

The bedroom closet had an Intermetro rolling garment rack setup for double hanging when we moved in. It was nice and sturdy with a shelf right in the middle, but when I took it out so that I’d have the height to hang dresses, the whole thing got a little wobbly. I put its shelf back and relocated it to the laundry room once I found one of those ubiquitous reclaimed wood garment racks at Yearbook a while back. It was a little wobbly too, but it was better than the other rack and it had the bonus of looking good.

Well, I guess the carpeting in the closet must have kept it stable, because the day after I wheeled the thing back in, the whole thing fell over with the weight of all my dresses on it. The floor and trim escaped damage, but the Elfa system on the opposite wall was pretty badly dented, the wall was gouged, and the rack was bent out of shape. I righted the garment rack and am using it for now, but it’s precarious and I’m on the lookout for a replacement. Hence this roundup.
1. Allison Coat Rack, Pottery Barn
  I can’t decide if the hooks are good or not. Helpful for scarves, I suppose? Otherwise, superfluous.
2. Ceiling Clothing Rack, Urban Outfitters
  Copper and clean geometry, and takes up no floor space. If I were more confident about the plaster ceilings and stud spacing, this would be pretty appealing.
3. Vintage Tailor’s Clothing Rack, Restoration Hardware
  Vintage design, modern sturdiness. Has an additional bar to make this into a double-hanging rack.
4. Mulig Clothes Rack, IKEA
  $10! Comes in black or white. On the flimsy side though. For a (presumably) sturdier but still minimalist option, there’s Pottery Barn’s Blacksmith Clothes Rack.
5. Garment Rack, West Elm
  Asymmetrical base, plus a cute color. Comes in black too, but that blue is so much happier.
6. Calvin Clothing Rack, Urban Outfitters
  OK, when I started pulling these together, it was available in gold (for an extra $100). Now it’s just black and white. Cute design though, yes?
7. 4040 Locust Industrial Storage Rack, Urban Outfitters
  Pipes and wood, plus copper. Trendy hipster loft style.
8. Mercantile Coat Rack, Restoration Hardware
  Small footprint, but still plenty of hanging space. Sturdy, too! I went and checked it out in person. Definitely my favorite design of the bunch — also among the most expensive.
9. 19th Century Couturier’s Rack, Restoration Hardware
  Doesn’t hold all that much and it’s pricey. Awesome if you don’t need much hanging space though and are looking for something beautiful.
10. Emily and Meritt Wardrobe Rack, Pottery Barn Teen
  Pipe meets faux-Victorian details.
11. Toj Clothes Rack, Normann Copenhagen
  A little too Danish mod for my house, but the design is fantastic.
12. Monroe Trades Coat Rack, West Elm
  More pipe. Lots of coat racks made out of pipe. Interesting take on the base here though.
13. Bellman Cart, Forbes Industries (Hotel Supply)
  The pretty brass birdcage ones are thousands of dollars. (“But Nicole,” you say. “Think of the Instagram opportunities.” To which I whisper “I knoooowww…”) There really isn’t enough room anyway though and they don’t hold much, so moving on.
14. Butler Stand, CB2
  Small footprint, similar to the design of #11 but a smidge more industrial. Doesn’t hold enough for my needs though and the hanging space is too short.
15. Niles Coat Rack, Ballard Designs
  Plenty of hanging space and a handy shelf beneath. Nice detail along the sides too, but I think it’s about a foot too long for my needs.
I find it helpful to go through these roundups when narrowing down my choices, but I’m not sure yet which one I’ll go for. Number 8 is my favorite for sure, but it’s hard to justify when most of the others cost so much less. Which one would be your pick?
December 14, 2015
Status: Closet, Hallway, and Electrical Work

The sheet mirror above the sink in the closet is gone. I was so nervous for it to come down!

I watched a few ‘how to’ videos before getting started. Everyone recommended taping the mirror so that if it broke, the shards wouldn’t fall everywhere, which turned out to be a very good idea. The mirror broke. The molding along the edges came off easily enough, but the wall-to-wall mirror was really wedged in there at the bottom with no wiggle room. It cracked in one big diagonal line, but safely, I guess? No injuries to report.

The wall behind had some glue to scrape off, some old patching that came right off, and the corner was pretty much missing. It’s easy enough to patch a hole in the wall — I’ve done it a million times. Corners? How much worse can they be? I mean, sure, I’ve heard that they’re tricky, but again, a few ‘how to’ videos and I was all set to try. Yeah, they’re tricky. I’m sure it will turn out fine, but here’s where I’m at right now.

There’s a lot of sanding in my future, and at least one more coat of mud. Which means that our bedroom will continue to function as our closet, since I can’t put anything back in there until the repairs are finished unless I would like a fine coating of white dust all over our clothes.

Meanwhile, the floor in the hallway currently looks like this.

Fiiinnnaaallly getting the soft spot in the floor out there fixed. Remember the 75-year-old beadboard subfloor patch job in the closet? Also present in the hall. Plus a nice section with absolutely no subfloor and a missing floor joist. Nice!

Annnnd the electricians haven’t started yet. (They’re finishing up a big job that has taken longer than they were expecting.) My sconces in the library are up though, and I put up a new pair of matching pendants! I was antsy and couldn’t wait, so I just did it myself. Sharing photos in a post next week, hurrah! (Unless you caught them on Snapchat already. Are you following ‘makingitlovely’ over there? It’s kind of fun, but I’m still getting the hang of it. I went to a couple of events yesterday that would have made for good snaps, but silly me, I was all “in the moment” and forgetting to do the whole social media thing. Pics or it didn’t happen.)

December 10, 2015
Repairing and Replacing the Closet Floor

This post is sponsored by Floor & Decor.

Our bedroom floor had some give to it, right by the door to the closet. The floor in the closet was soft too and it had been carpeted, presumably because it was a cheap and easy fix. We’re about to address a similar problem in the hallway, and we figured we ought to fix these spots at the same time.

We got the carpet out of there, and as suspected, the floor underneath was in bad shape. You can tell that someone had tried to do some temporary repairs (basically “add all the nails you can find!”). The wood floor is the same stuff that was in the hallway, probably added in the forties. Super thin, old, and brittle. Underneath? A subfloor that had been patched. With beadboard. And under the beadboard (yikes), the floor joists had been notched out to run plumbing for the very heavy cast iron radiator. No wonder the floor hadn’t held up there!

We saved the best pieces of flooring from the closet so that we could fix the portion in the bedroom at the same time. The floor in there runs through to the next room without a threshold, and to replace all of that right now isn’t something that we’re interested in doing. It isn’t in perfect shape, but the worst of it was that spot by the closet, and if we could patch it, that seemed like the best option.

I’m happy to lay new flooring (we’ve done it before), but fixing something that had already been fixed improperly? I was afraid I’d end up doing the same thing, which would lead to problems either immediately or down the line. Either way: not good. So after the wood planks were pried up, we had a pro remove the damaged sections of subfloor. The patched portion came up pretty easily with a crowbar and the back of a hammer, and he cut away a few other areas as well. Some of the floor joists were sistered and sturdy plywood was cut to fit.

Once the bedroom patch was done and the subfloor in the closet had been fixed, we had a sturdy surface that was ready for the new hardwood flooring.

A strong subfloor instead of a flimsy 75-year-old beadboard patch! How novel.

We shopped at Floor & Decor for wood to replace the old stuff in the remodeled portion of our hallway last year and had a great experience with them, so I was happy that they were looking to partner again.

They have big samples on display (this is just one small section of their wood flooring) and I really like their gray-based finishes, but I chose the same style as before: prefinished Gunstock solid oak hardwood flooring in 2-1/4″ wide planks, 3/4″ thick. It’s similar in color and width to what we have throughout the rest of the house, and since it’s solid oak, we could sand and refinish it if we ever wanted to. I also picked up the same underlayment again. It muffles noise, serves as a vapor barrier, and provides a little cushion.

Installation was pretty straightforward and took us three days (around four or five hours per day). Floor & Decor holds free classes on Saturdays teaching people about wood and laminate floors, how to install backsplashes, and all about working with tile and stone. They also have videos on their site with information on installation and choosing the right products. When you head out there, they have tons of options in stock and at really good prices, so you can choose your materials and bring everything you need home with you that day. Hooray for instant gratification! Just remember that if you’re putting in hardwood flooring like us, you need to give yourself a few days’ lead time to let the product sit and acclimate to your house.

The new flooring (on the right) makes the old floor (left) look pretty bad. You don’t realize how crummy something is until you get the nice, new stuff right up next to it! I mean, it’s a fine problem to have (boohoo, our new floor is too nice).

The closet floor needed to be replaced for practical reasons, but I’ve gotta say, it’s way more satisfying that some of the other work we’ve been doing to the house lately. Actual visual changes! Not just a vague “it’s safer” feeling, but something we can actually see! Woohoo.

The new floor makes me want to freshen up the rest of the closet now, too. It was a cool space before with it’s curved wall and window, and the little sink nook, but now it has the potential to be something pretty special.

November 30, 2015
The Next Few Days

Finishing up the wood flooring in the closet, looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner with family, and then I’ll be back to work on the closet to patch the walls in a couple of spots, clean, and put up a fresh coat of paint. Opportunity for a new color, or stick with white?

I’ll see you guys on Monday with some ‘after’ photos. Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2015
Our Closet, Before

This is what we were working with (and it has worked pretty well).

At its widest, it is 8’8″, and 9’6″ at its deepest. By those measurements, it would be a decent sized closet, but there are curves and angles to account for, two doorways, a window, a radiator, and oh yeah, that sink. The longest expanse of wall is 72″ and has an Elfa system with double hanging rods, with a rolling rack for more clothes. I created a 3D SketchUp model to give you a better idea of the space.

There was a soft spot in the floor that has been getting worse. Since we’re about to finish replacing the flooring in the adjacent hallway, we may as well address the closet now too.

I figured the carpet had been added prior to putting the house on the market because it was the easiest/cheapest/fastest fix before selling, and you can tell that there has been an attempt to fix the wood. It will be good to get the old stuff out of there, fix the subfloor, and lay new wood.

Yay, repairs!

November 12, 2015