Horrible to Adorable: Closet transformation

Hi, my name is Heidi and I am a secret stasher. Stashing is a light form of hoarding.  I don’t let the mess spill out into my house but I have a few problem areas of my house where I stash stuff never to be seen again. This closet is my problem area.  Seriously.  Look at it.  HORRIBLE!! 

 

I mean, I had an entire box of random chargers stashed in here, including a charger from a digital camera of Paul’s that literally broke the first year we were dating.  I had a problem.  Not only was this closet full of junk but it is such a strange location in my house to be used for anything practical.  So what is a girl to do?? 

 

Two words:  BOOK NOOK

 

 

 

I’ve been drooling over Pinterest, looking at closets converted to fun little reading spaces.  I got my inspiration HERE from one of my FAVORITE DIY Bloggers, the Thrifty Decor Chick.  Her projects are amazing!!

 

 

So what was my first step??  Cleaning out the junk.  Much of it was able to be organized and put back with my homeschool supplies.  The rest was donated and or tossed in the trash.  It feels so good to purge.

 

Then, of course, I had to go shopping.  I hit up my favorite home decor and craft stores.  I couldn’t find what I needed/wanted so I caved and went to Hobby Lobby.  It was my first time there and my mind was BLOWN.  Insanely adorable things and just what I was looking for. 

 

I started with the wall adjacent.  This was the easy part.  The top picture is from Hobby Lobby for $13.99.  The burlap wreath and chevron burlap I found in the closet, buried in chargers. (surprise surprise)  The bird knobs I bought this fall and was just waiting for the perfect place to hang them.  Found it!

 

Now on  to the fun part.  Lets put this nook together!!  (Fabric from Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabric that I had in my craft supplies)

 

 

First, we framed in the base.  By “we” I mean my very excellent and skilled carpenter of a mother.  She rocks.

 

(Lumber was all scrounged from her garage too.  Thanks Mom!!)

 

 

Next. “we” cut the bench.

Perfect Fit!!

 

While my mom upholstered the bench, I hunted down some paint for the front board and began sewing covers for some of the 8 billion throw pillow I have store in my linen/blanket.  (That’s my next project.  That closet is SCARY too!!)

 

I found THIS tutorial on Pinterest and it was sooo easy.  I covered 5 pillows.  I wanted to cover 2 more but three charming children awoke and began curiously exploring all my cool craft supplies so I closed up shop.

 

 

Here’s my little sewing trick I want to share with you.  When I am doing an easy/quick sewing project, I hate busting out my whole ironing board and iron.  This handy, dandy hair staightener presses fabric perfectly :)

 

 

 

NOW FOR THE FINAL PRODUCT……

 

 

ADORABLE!!!!!!

 

 

 

USA Picture was my big splurge for $60 at Hobby lobby. Throw pillows were mine just re-covered and the cool yarn poof pillows ($15) were also from Hobby Lobby. Touch lights were from Amazon and can be found HERE.  Bins were in the closet before but look so much better now in THIS closet.

 

 Can you believe it??? I can’t. 

 

I LOVE IT!!!!!

 

My favorite part???  This pallet  book shelf!! (Pallet scrounged from my mom’s yard)

 

Seriously awesome. 

 

Tutorial on that can be found HERE.

 

Here’s a look at how the nook corresponds to the rest of our house.  Right near the table where most of our living, and learning takes place. I have grand dreams of the kids curled up with books as we progress with our homeschool days.  (For now, they are climbing in and out of it, and playing with the lights.)

 

  It changes the entire look of the room.

 

 

Have I mentioned that I LOVE it???

 

 

 

 

What do you think??

 

Our Bedrooms Before and After

Ok…I finally organized enough to take some after pictures of our rooms.  I didn’t think you’d get the full idea with the moving boxes and piles of stuff everywhere in our rooms.  Anyways…Here are the before and after pictures of our rooms @ my parent’s lake house. (Where we are lucky enough to be living until we sell our house in Danube and buy a new house of of our own)

Here’s Tanner’s room BEFORE:

AND AFTER:

For Tanner’s room I used Dutch boy Refresh 0 VOC paint, stick on decals and stick on stripe from Menard’s.  The black out curtain panels, comforter and sheets I bought at Wal-Mart. The basket’s and road rug I got at IKEA kids section.  Total spent on his room= LESS THAN $150.

 

Here is our room BEFORE:

AND AFTER:

              

For our room I used: Dutch boy Refresh 0 VOC paint and Wall writing from Menards. King size Comforter/sheets and window panels from Wal-Mart.  Lamps and Paul’s night stand(left side of bed in the pic) from Ikea.  **Note:  I should have gotten two but wasn’t sure if we would like it but it is a PERFECT night stand/small dresser.**  Closet panels and throw pillows I already owned.  Total spent on our room= LESS THAN $200

Also I would like people to know that I normally wouldn’t really care if I had a TV in our room but after learning with Tanner, it is a necessity for me when I am up nursing/feeding in the middle of the night.  It’s when I catch up on all my trashy TV.  I know you are all jealous of my super modern TV.  I think I got it when I moved to my first apt in college so it is SUPER high tech :)

 

NEXT UP ON MY PROJECT LIST:  Bathroom re-decorating

Thrift Store Shelves

Over the last year we have had our house, We have been slowly making improvements and decorating when I get the chance. Paul and I are also very big into do-it-yourself projects and getting the best prices on supplies. I must have been putting out the positive karma on Saturday because I went to Menard's and priced out some shelves to finish the big wall in our living room. (I hung a picture and a piece of artwork weeks ago and needed something to fill the void between the two). Both the mantel shelves and the floating shelves I looked at were priced at $25 a pop. I couldn't quite justify spending $50 on decorative shelving, PLUS they didn't quite have the color I wanted so decided to pass on the shelves for the moment.

Here is a picture of the wall that just needed a little something extra.

Well, thanks to a string of events including my father-in-law searching for a bedpan for a gag gift and finding out from a woman in Walmart that there was a new thrift store in town we should check out- I found THESE. They weren't $25, $15, or even $5 a piece...THEY WERE $2.00 each!! What a FIND!!! They were exactly what I was pricing out at Menard's (except in white and $23 cheaper).

With a little Mocha colored satin spray paint that I had in my basement they are now the PERFECT addition to my wall. (**Note** I am not sure what decorations are going to make the final cut, I might take some of that $46 I saved to get a couple cute decorations. These were just placed there for pictures sake...empty shelves don't look NEARLY as nice.**)

This crafty mama is VERY happy with the results!!! For a mere $4, I have the the shelves to finish the space off perfectly!!