Friday, May 27, 2011

95 May Challenge: Project "Projects" {Boy's Bedroom - Part 6}

We let our little P's live out of a box for about two weeks.  Not in a box.  Out of one.  As in their clothes.  When we sold our bunk beds we lost Peyton's dresser.  And we were left with Parker's which we removed asap since it was huge and bulky in their new space, and offered little wiggle room to get around the ends of the beds... here is a reminder of what we were dealing with:


So I threw all of the kiddos clothes into a giant box in their closet and started the closet brainstorming process...  This didn't take too long.  I had a vision when we started this project, but I really wanted to be certain...  We could have just moved the dresser into the closet.  But that would leave little to zip hanging or shelving space.  We could have purchased a dresser that wasn't so bulky and could either fit in the room or closet better... but that would have broken our little itty bitty budget, so that wasn't going to happen. 

Remembering to shop my home and use what we have, I recalled I had an Expedit bookshelf from our previous lower level office space.  Bingo!


First things first, we used anchors to secure the shelf into the wall, just in case...




Then we just used simple wood dowels, again, anchored into the wall and then screwed into the Expedit, for the new clothes rods:


The thought was to give each kiddo a side of the Expedit, and have them share the shelving unit for their socks, undies and pj's.



When we picked up the dowels, I also spied some Martha Stewart canvas bins, that I figured would be the perfect solution!


Sure, could have left well enough alone, but I have no clue how to do that.  So I didn't.  The handles and label boxes just weren't doing it for me.  To quote Despicable Me, "Lightbulb!"


Let's play with the new Silhouette!  See what this baby can do!  When I received the kit, it came with some fabric transfer in white, so I knew that would be the most fun way to quickly whip up a new label system for the canvas bins!

With the Silhouette, I cut out two moon's for the pajama bins and two socks for the sock/undies bins.


I just followed the instructions and ironed the transfers straight onto the bins!


Giving them four new "drawers" in their closet to the tune of about $20!


And those bins hold a boatload!  Ton's of room to spare for their belongings!



And they can reach their drawers which is the most important thing.  And they are light and kid proof and clothes proof.  A win win combination!

And I wanted to consider what to do with their dirty clothes when they are changing at night, so I reused an old stuffed animal bin....


Tried to use some chalk to write "Laundry" on the side, cringed at my sloppy handwriting, and revisited the Silhouette one more time to make stencil out of cardstock.


I just used some double stick tape to hold the stencil in place while I used some liquid chalk to color in the letters:



All done!


Wonderful!



I just reused some small plastic hangers we already had to hang up all of their laundry.  I ran a little low so for now, the rest of the clothes are folded and popped into a basket in the cubbie until I can snag some more from the store.


And for a quick final peek at the end result of our kid's closet install!



We used two dowels at $3 each and four dowel kit's at $1.20 for a total of almost $11, plus the four bins for another $20 making the grand total of the whole closet install $31!  I would still like to add one more shelf across the top and maybe even one across each lower dowel to add even more storage, but for now, it's working out swimmingly, and much better than a cardboard box!!

Within the last couple days, custom order doors just went on sale at our local home improvement store, so we ordered new white bi-folds {since I couldn't bring myself to paint the oak ones}.  The previous oak doors will head to our local habitat store.

And my favorite part, the before and after of the project:



So what do you guys think?  Anyone else go the canvas bin route in their kiddos closet, for their itty bitty pieces?  Did you know it's a holiday weekend?  What does that mean for you... projects?  Play?  A little of both?

UPDATE:  We added a shower curtain rod cover to enhance the wooden dowels a bit:




I decided a little challenge would be fun! This month we are getting all those projects done!  Any project big or small counts!  Wanna join?  Take photos and blog about your awesomeness as you go!  I am hoping to do a giant, "We did it!" celebratory post where we can all link up our project completing success stories at the end of the month!

95 comments:

  1. Favorite part of this post? This line--which I relate to 100%: Sure, could have left well enough alone, but I have no clue how to do that.

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  2. Oh Jen, it's perfect!!! I am always so amazed at your creativity! I love that you used what you already had with the bookshelf! It looks great and I'm sure the boys just love it!

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  3. Annnnd now I want a Silhouette 100x's more! ;)

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  4. Looks beautiful. Love the complimenting blue hangers. Wanna come do mine? lol.

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  5. Looks great! What an organized, practical closet.

    I'm amazed at how fast you are doing all of this! My almost 4yo told me yesterday that my playroom makeover is taking "a very, very long time". He's right, LOL, it's not going to be done before the end of May. Sigh!

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  6. You pulled everything together very nicely! I love the colors, and the accessories. You did a fabulous job!

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  7. Oh My goodness do I love what you have done. I am telling you those expedit shelves are WONDERFUL for every use! Would love to get a siloutte one day!

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  8. You are such a genius! I have gotten so many great ideas from your blog!

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  9. I love the closet! Do you have any concerns about the boys reaching the upper hangers?

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  10. fantastic! multiple levels for hanging and cubbies with canvas bins are a MUST for a small closet space for kiddos! you did such a nice job personalizing it as well!

    i just shared about creative closets over on my new blog - yours would be a great addition to several that i featured.

    well done!

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  11. Love it...and I'm thinking that may be a great layout for a coat closet, just leave it 'long' on one side!

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  12. You are awesome, and your creativity astounds me. I mean, you took a bookshelf and used it to pretty much double the size of that closet. And separated out the boys sides! Love, love, love. Thanks for being such an inspiration!

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  13. Sooo cute. Love the stenciling you did.

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  14. Brilliant idea to use the expedit. My husband built a very similar closet system for our daughter's nursery a few months ago. If I had had an expedit I probably never even would have thought of using it for that purpose!

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  15. Goodness you are so clever. I love how you shop your house for things and find a way to incorporate them into a totally new design. I think everything looks wonderful but most importantly its kid friendly. The pictures are very useful on the bins and helps children learn to organize their own belongings. My daughter is only one but I definitely see some bins and pictures in her future. As always Jen thanks for sharing!

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  16. I HEART this project!!! Definitely gives me lots of thoughts for my 2nd & 3rd bedrooms. Thanks for always inspiring the rest of us. :)

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  17. Love it! I can't leave well enough alone either. If you find you need even more room for storage, take out the bottom rods, install some wood pieces on sides and back wall of closet, re-install the rods into the side wall pieces and add a shelf above bottom row of hanging clothes...looks like you have enough room for shoes to rest there. Add another shelf to the top for things that aren't used. This may make the closet look more "crammed". I did this to a closet I share with my 2 boys because we only have 2 closets in our home! Ours looked crammed but it was needed!

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  18. Wow! Great job! It looks so great and definitely inspiring. Question for you...are you using anything to cover the closet? I ask this question because i have sliding doors that cover my son's closet so you can only see half of the closet at a time. Just wondering if you are planning on leaving it open or covering the closet and if so, with what? Thanks so much! Love the blog!

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  19. @Michelle: There is a red chair in the room that the boys can use to reach. They are 4 1/2 and almost 7 so they do pretty good on their own, but I don't mind offering a helping hand when needed! :)

    @Mheller: Within the last couple days, custom order doors just went on sale at our local home improvement store, so we ordered new white bi-folds {since I couldn't bring myself to paint the oak ones}. The previous oak doors will head to our local habitat store.

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  20. This is amazing! I would've never come up with that idea..thank you for sharing.

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  21. I love it! We use Expedits in our kids closet too! Their closet is a bit bigger, so I put one on each end, with the double rods in between them. I will be posting before/after of organization projects I completed this spring - this one will be under Kids' Clothes & Toys.
    Also, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Silhouette iron transfers! Sounds like another idea for your "shop"? ;-)

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    1. Where did you post your before/after projects? Slibby87@yahoo.com

      *Samantha*

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  22. Ok! I am beside myself with excitement. My son's closet is large, but we have no idea where to start and I don't want to do costly closet organizers. This is genius!!! Really. I am so flippin excited. I have really been wracking my brain with a great solution. Thank you. I will also feature this on my blog at some point if that is okay with you!

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  23. Girl, you are so darn creative! So jealous! I love what you did! Call me when you are ready to work on my house! :)

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  24. So jealous of your Silhouette!!! the closet (and bedroom) look amazing. I am such a sucker for tidy clothes!

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  25. I use fabric baskets I sewed myself in my daughters closet and they are still holding up very well despite the daily abuse they receive. A quick paint job on the dowels would make those blue hangers really pop and complete the custom closet look.

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  26. Love the way you labeled the bins! I ove the cute laundry basket!

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  27. What a great job, Jen. So creative. Please tell me where you purchased the Martha Stewart bins for such a great price. Thanks! sally.lustig@yahoo.com

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  28. @Sally - I found the Martha Stewart bins at Home Depot, here is a link: http://www.homedepot.com/Storage-Organization-Storage-Totes-Baskets/h_d1/N-5yc1vZb9oj/R-202040801/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  29. "Lightbulb!" cracks me up every time!
    This is such thrifty and creative project, I love that you had the vision to create something that seems so obvious on completion. Like as if Expedit were created for this exact purpose, and housing books was just an after thought!
    And I love the laundry bin :oD

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  30. LOVE this! I need to redo my son's closet as it is one big pile of MESS! Love how you used the shelf!

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  31. So awesome! I was going to suggest a shelf above each lower rod and one at the very top, but you beat me to it. I knew you would, you little organizer. :)

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  32. This is amazing, Jen! Way to reuse the shelf! P.S. I love hangers that are all the same color :)

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  33. I would never have thought to turn the Expedit on its end! Amazing as always! My girls have fairly large closets, but seemingly no storage in them...until now! Thanks for the inspiration again Jenn!

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  34. You are amazing. Those little PJ and sock bins are possibly the CUTEST thing I have ever seen...

    That and little clothes! I love how neat and tidy it looks because all the clothes are little!

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  35. Great work! Love it. We are in the middle of a remodel job so I'm constantly looking for ideas. I have a Cricut---thanks for the idea with canvas bins!!! Just a question--- do your boys have stuff---toys, collections, etc? My 6yr old boy is a pack rat. When the baby gets older, they will share a room...how do you keep your kids organized? thanks for sharing.

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  36. That looks great! We just did a makeover on our boys closet a few months ago by adding a shelf on top for storage & one below for (4) year olds' clothing. It was a simple addition that made a big difference! We used the Martha Stewart as well! :o)

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  37. We did something similar outside the closet in a bedroom two of our daughters share. This was to free up the closet as toy/game storage since we don't have family room or playroom, just a small living room and five children. We have a tall white bookshelf that can hold 10 of the canvas bins (5 tall by 2 wide). Running between the bookshelf and the wall we have 4 foot wide wire shelving with attached hanging rods. A low level one (for the 4 YO) and a higher one for the 7 YO. Each has five plastic oval "bins" (from the $1 section at Target) in which I put their daily outfits. Their PJs, socks, undies and other non-hanging outfits go in the 10 bins I previously mentioned, and dresses are hung. The laundry basket goes under the hanging clothes. Maybe I should just send you a pic!

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  38. This looks amazing! Great job. I so want a silhouette now :)

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  39. Your blog is amazing! I'm pretty sure I just bought almost one of everything in your Etsy shop. Though I'm still getting the hang of this whole organization thing, I truly admire your dedication and style.

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  40. The closet looks fantastic! I never would have thought of putting the bookcase in there! I'll have to keep that in mind for when we move at the end of the year. I think putting a shelf for more storage at the top of the closet is a wonderful idea, but I wouldn't put one above the lower dowels. The boys are just going to get bigger, and their clothes will get bigger and longer too. It may make it look even more crowded.

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  41. My son has the smallest room in the house so I've had to be creative with his space. I turned two shelf bookcase that came with his bedroom set into a dresser. I just simply bought 4 canvas bins and placed them 2x2 on the shelves. That gives him a bin for underwear, one for pajamas, another for shirts and one for shorts/pants. Works perfectly.

    My husband and I got rid of the dressers in our room years ago and we made a similar setup to your boys' closet for our own. Undergarments in canvas bins. A few things folded on shelves. The rest we hang up. Perfect for us.

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  42. Oh my word, I am so loving this! Please do a follow-up post to let us know how they are handling their bin storage! I have never used it for my kiddo's clothes, but it's such a great idea!! God bless! (And thank for stopping by my blog! I am so honored!!)

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  43. The room looks great. I just found your blog and I love it - new follower here!

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  44. The closet looks great! It's cute and functional. That's always a good combination.

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  45. Super cute Jen! I love your labels and great use of an Expedit! Very creative.

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  46. I DO do canvas totes for the closets. They work well for all the items you mentioned, plus hair stuff and tights for my daughter (though I am going to make something better for those soon). I've never seen the MS canvas though so I will have to check them out since the price is pretty decent.

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  47. What a beautiful idea! I just wanted to let you know that I love (no, I heart) your blog! It has inspired me so much! I hope that you don't mind but I linked you in my "Blog Crushes" section of my own blog, Countdown2done. Keep up the great work, you have a wonderful thing going!

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  48. Love it! What a great idea!! I for sure may be stealing it!

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  49. Love it! I just absolutely love reading your blog - I get so many great ideas from it. :) I use an Expedit shelving unit for storage in my house and have found that the Itso large fabric bins (sold at Target) are a PERFECT fit for the openings in the shelf. I'm able to use every square inch of space using those bins! Just an FYI for future reference, or for other readers. :) On a different note, I wonder if my hubby will let me buy one of those Silhouettes...

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  50. Jen - you have done absolutely splendidly on your revamp of the boys room this month! And this closet just brings it all together! Well done on a VERY successful project - I am in Awe!!!!

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  51. LOVE this room!!!! Where on earth did you find the Chalk Ink....I just painted a chalkboard backsplash in my kitchen and have been searching for Chalk Ink EVERYWHERE!!!!

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  52. I love that instead of using words, you used pictures to put where their socks and jammies need to go! Definitely a great idea for my little ones to help things stay organized!

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  53. Oooh, I love this closet! We are getting ready to move cross-country and our new home won't have a closet at all in my son's room, so I am looking for cool ideas like this to build out a closet. Thanks for sharing! :-)

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  54. Oh my, I am SO going to make this. My little girl's closet is in need of a make-over. Thanks for sharing this, especially with all the accompanying pictures.

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  55. Your boys' closet is great! I've featured it today as part of my blog series, 31 Days to an Organized Home.
    http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/10/organizedhome-day-13-kids-closet.html

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  56. Awesome pics! I also just redid my kids Closet, it was in such need or organization!

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  57. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  58. I should do something like this in my daughter's room. She has a 6 drawer long dresser and it takes up so much space in her super small room. Maybe I can find some iron ons online already made up since I don't have that machine thingy.

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  59. How did you secure the rods to the expedit? Would love to do something like this in my son's closet (and add in a desk somehow). Such a great idea.

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  60. @Nicole,

    The plastic dowel holder came with screws and we just used those and screwed them right into the side of the bookcase. Everything has held up wonderfully thus far! :)

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  61. might be a silly question, but what did you use for the top shelf?

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    1. Thst's not silly, I was wondering the same thing :) I think I'm going to make this a weekend project in my son's room.

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    2. I just used a piece of melamine board cut perfectly to size.
      xoxo!
      Jen

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    3. Hi Jen, how did you secure the top shelf? We love this closet and are stealing your plan for our kids! Thanks for everything!

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    4. Oops, should of kept reading! I just found the answer below :)

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  62. First off, just wanted to say, I LOVE your blog, you inspire my daily with your ideas! We are planning on doing this to my dd's. Loser next weekend & I was wondering what you used to secure the shelf to the wall?

    Thanks!!!

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    1. To secure the bookshelf to the wall, we used metal brackets that came with the bookshelf. We didn't have to secure the shelf across the top, it was cut so close to size, it wasn't budging once we popped it in, but it could always be screwed in from the top down.

      xoxo,
      Jen

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  63. Love it!!!! I was looking for this we are redoing closets for our girls two in each room with this exact closet I'm stealing this idea thanks. My search is over.

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  64. I love your ideas:) We're in the middle of choosing a paint color for our sons headboard. What color was the blue you used for your boys bureau? It looks like one I've seen on Pottery Barn. Thanks, Tanya

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  65. I'm wondering where you got the book shelf and how tall is it? Thanks, this looks great!

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  66. Awesome Idea! I know what I will be measuring tomorrow when the kids aren't asleep in their rooms! Our wardrobes are tiny and useless how they are with this idea I might be on to a winner! Yay thank you!

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  67. I love your blog. I was wondering, do you find it hard to find things that fit between the expedite and the door frame. I have closet organizers in my girls' rooms and the one thing I don't like is the lack of things that I can get in the closet because they're too big- thus wasted space on the floor of their closets.

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    1. Certain things don't fit through to place on the floor, but it's OK since I try to limit floor clutter and we don't really store much there. As far as reaching the hanging items, we don't have any problems with that at all.

      xoxo!
      Jen

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  68. Hey Jen ,i happened to see your blog today ..its really cool and awesome ... cheers !!! ... i would like to see i can get some suggestion on making a cabinet for books ... :)

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  69. love the DIY closet system! I was just telling my husband that we need to re-do our little one's closet (already! and he's only 7mo!) I'm having trouble figuring out where to store the clothes he's grown out of, along with the baby items he's grown out of (swing, bouncy, etc)
    I may have to do something very similar to this though...

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  70. What an awesome idea! I was just thinking of how I could redo my sons closet and found this. You are so creative, I can't thank you enough for sharing your ideas with us!

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  71. I just love this so much - thanks for sharing. I did something similar in my son's closet but the Expedit shelf wouldn't fit with the wood shelf that was already in there so I used a smaller shelf. I still need to get the baskets together. http://peachstitches.blogspot.com/2012/09/making-house-home.html Thanks for being such an inspiration!

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  72. Love this!! where did you? get the book shelf?

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  73. I know this post was from a while ago, but I have been eyeballing it for forever and finally decided to try my hand at it. When ironing the images on the bins though (using the Silhouette and flocked heat transfer paper), I cannot get mine to stick! I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. :/ Any tips?? I left my iron on the different parts of the image from 45 second increments, a few different times, and certain parts just would not stick! Help???

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    1. Hi Alyssa!

      So sorry to hear you are having some trouble. Maybe you could use some sort of spray adhesive or a bonding tape? I recall needing to hold the iron down for longer periods of time, but also moved it around frequently and used a buffer to be sure I didn't melt the bin. It just took a lot of trial and error and patience, but we haven't had any trouble with them coming off since putting them on so long ago now.

      Best wishes!!
      xo,
      Jen

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  74. I know this post was a few months ago, but I am finally getting around to my DIY projects and was wondering what the colors you used on the walls are? Was it Behr's- Windsurf and Cityscape? I need to make a home depot run and am not sure the colors.

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  75. Hi-
    I am about to try to mount some clothes rods into the side of and expedit unit just as you did. I am a little worried about whether the weight of all the clothes will rip the pole right out. Was this a concern? I not your poles are only a couple feet each and are not fully loaded with clothes. Is there a preferred spot to drill into the sidewall of expedit?

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  76. Hi Mike!

    Unfortunately the core of the Expidit is honeycomb cardboard under the 1/8th inch outer vernier. I did use a longer screw than what came with the clothes rod mounting kit just to make sure it had more to bite into than the 3/4 inch screw that it came with. We haven't had any issues with the weight of the clothes rod feeling unstable an have had the kids pulling on laundry from the hangers and not had any issues with stability.

    Thanks!

    Bryan

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  77. This is great! Where did you find your shelving unit?

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  78. We just moved and decided to get rid of our boys' dressers to maximize space in their room. Their new closet is the same size as yours. Thanks so much for sharing. We are totally going to attempt this. :-D

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  79. love this! I see you used your silhouette but was wondering where you found the moon and sock art to print off?

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    1. Hi Megan!

      I found all of the designs through the Silhouette online store.

      xo!

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  80. I love this closet and I am wondering if I can do something similar for my room. The only issue is if I'll have enough space. Can I ask what size is your closet? I want to make sure I have room on both sides of the expedit/kallax shelving.

    Thank you so much!

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    1. Hello,
      The closet is 4'9" wide and 2' deep. xoxo!

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  81. Hi Jennifer -- this is a fabulous idea for many types of rooms, not just for the little ones! Is there any chance you can show us how the room and closet have evolved over the years, if you're still in the same home?

    Thanks,
    Martha B

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