Thursday, October 13, 2011

53 Basement Progress: My Fairytale Room Part 3

Back in July I mentioned our plans to create a nice dressing room off of our master bedroom, when we relocate our bedroom back to our lower level.  Before, we had an unused sitting area and a walk-in closet.  So we decided to maximize the space and create one giant room for getting dressed, doing hair and makeup, and even exercising.  It's going to be a very multifunctional space!

Then, August rolled around and we rolled an entire wall of stencil!


Now it's October.  And we finally saved enough pennies over the last three months to splurge on our new closets!

So for the last three nights, the hubs has been building and building and building some more!  You know how IKEA furniture goes, it can take FOREVER to create.  And it seemed as though it did....  But now they are done and we are in love.

We decided to go with the ASPELUND armoires:


I almost cried when I saw how much of my stencil they covered...

I know this option is not for everyone, I will be the first to admit it.  But we decided to go this route for a couple of reasons:
  • We have been living with hardly any closet space for the last year and have enjoyed the simplicity it has provided.  And these armoires are larger than the closet we have been using.
  • We wanted to keep our clothing concealed neatly behind doors.
  • We wanted to maximize the use of the new room and make it multi-functional vs. just a closet.
Here is a look at the storage on in the inside:


Of course I plan to work my magic over time to expand the storage that it initially provided.  And it's amazing how much shelving space there is, the cabinet is just under two feet deep.


For the hangers, we each used a 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupon to try out some super slim hangers, making each set of 50 hangers, just $24 each.


We have always just used the typical white plastic hangers and I am already excited to see the difference these new hangers make in maximizing the hanging space,  So nice and slim!

So that is how things are moving along here.  A project in the studio, maybe one in the playroom and then one in the dressing room.  I feel like we are moving in slow motion, but I know that's how renovations go.

In three months we have gone from this:


To this:


And because I know you mom's out there might appreciate a glimpse into real life at the Jones' abode, when I opened the armoire door to snap a pic for today's post... I first saw this...


You see the bottom?  These have already been a victim of hide and seek. And someone was breaking the no food out of the kitchen rule...


It's those moments that keep me giggling.  Oh to be a kid again!

Now comes the fun part!  Building a vanity and finding an old dresser to paint.  And then bringing in color.  I am so on the fence about the colors I want to bring into the room... only time will tell!

Is anyone else using only an armoire for storing away your attire?  What are your thoughts?

53 comments:

  1. It looks gorgeous Jen! Way to go...it's coming along very nicely. I wish we had space to do armoires because they seem so much functional...maybe at our next crib;)

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  2. So sad to see how much they covered the stencil! Move them to the walls adjacent and put your vanity on that wall :)

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  3. We only have 2 closets in our entire house. One in the upstairs hall, and one in the master bedroom. The one in the hall is devoted to the boyfriend and his endless supply of t-shirts from cases of beer (and workclothes, to be fair). I've decided to turn the one in the master bedroom into a cloffice, because I've really been feeling the need for my own workspace that I can keep clutter free.

    So - I'm going to be finding a wardrobe of some sort for my clothes. I was initially going to go the thrift store fix up route, but I might splurge on an Ikea something. Maybe...

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  4. We bought the same wardrobe for our son's room! We converted our old playroom into his room when we welcomed our third little boy. The space had no closet since it was not intended to be a bedroom, but this fit into a little niche in his room perfectly! I love the space it provides and its a great way to conceal his cloths. We use the shelves with baskets to store things like his socks, extra diapers, onesies, etc.

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  5. The very first thought I had was, "Oh no! They covered tons of stencil!" lol And I love the froot loops in the armoir shot. Nice touch. I'm so glad I found your blog!

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  6. I love the idea. I would want two hanging racks because I mainly wear slacks, jackets, sweaters. The shelves would be perfect for about everything I have in my dresser.

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  7. We have a small walk-in, but I love wardrobes! And, I switched the hangers on my side from plastic to the slim ones and it really does make a difference. Because hubbies things are a bit heavier (suits and such) we used wooden ones for his side.

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  8. They look great! I've been eyeing a few of the wardrobe options at IKEA for a while now. What was your thought process on getting one built with fiberboard vs. solid pine? Does it still feel sturdy enough?

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  9. bahahaha I can picture one of the boys hiding in there with his snack! too cute! =) actually... something my husband would do too... or has done =) shhh I didn't tell you that! <3

    must. go. to. ikea!!!!

    xoXOxo
    Jenn @ Peas and Crayons

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  10. Love it Jen!!! Its really coming along! Can you move the armoires to the non-stencil wall so you can see more of it??? Maybe put the makeup vanity on the stencil wall so you can gaze at it as you get all glammed up :)

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  11. I love your space. Plus you gave me a great idea for an old broken dresser mirror I have. Thanks!

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  12. So amazing!!! I'm stealing that stencil design!!

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  13. LOVE the stencil! I think as far as colors go...you can't go wrong with a soft yellow or a nice aqua blue. JoAnns actually just brought in a new collection of yellow and grey you might like.

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  14. Beautiful Jen! I love your armoires! Your stenciled walls get more beautiful each time I see them! Congratulations on your progress!

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  15. I really wish I didn't have a closet so that I could justify that wardrobe! I have no room for one though!

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  16. I love to read your blog, but I rarely comment. We live in Germany and there are no closets in our house so we have to use wardrobes. We have one in our front hallway for coats and winter gear, one in the master bedroom with my clothes, and one in another bedroom we made into a closet/dressing room. They provide a lot of storage and I love the combination of hanging and shelf storage. Your room looks great so far!

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  17. Hi Jen! As we don't usually have closets in Europe, we have to use armoires, it's the normal thing here. That's why Ikea has such a big selection. ;) In our house we have an extra room that you can reach only through our master bedroom and we have Ikea PAX armoires there. I also want one for my daughter who still has her little baby armoire, (which it is really stupid that they actually sell those, because once the children wear clothes in certain sizes there is just not enough space in those). I love Ikea's KOMPLEMENT system which makes the armoires so versatile!!!

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  18. By the way, I like your stencil wall art, but whenever I see stenciled walls I think of how much work it is and wonder whether it wouldn't have been easier to use a nice wallpaper????

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  19. @Jule - wallpaper was much more expensive and I had always wanted to try a stencil. I would probably do it again, I didn't think it was that awful and I adore the outcome!

    @Missy - we looked at a lot of other options but most were too tall for our room since it has very low ceilings. My husband was skeptical of the quality at first, but after he got them together he agreed they were a good fit for us, and seem plenty sturdy.

    Thanks friends!

    Jen

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  20. Adore it!
    These are gorg, and I love Ikea!
    The mirror in the middle makes them all the more special!
    xoxo
    kerri at HollyMuffin

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  21. Love how everything is coming together!! My new favorite color scheme is gray, brown, yellow, and a dusty pink color...I saw a room on the latest Hells Kitchen and it was gorgeous!! If that helps your color dilemma any lol...

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  22. Gorgeous Jen!!! I love these from Ikea. I wish I had the space for these instead of the closet we share. This room is going to be gorgeous when you are finished with it. Very exciting! :)

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  23. I love how this room is coming along! I've been a reader for a while now and just love your ideas. I'm determined to get started organizing around our house soon.

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  24. Oh my goodness! It looks amazing - what a transformation! You're such an inspiration!

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  25. Could you remove or cut out the back of the armoires to reveal the stencil when you open the closet? I don't know if that would compromise the integrity of the unit, but I know how hard you worked on that amazing stencil.

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  26. Love this new closet. I agree it is good if there is no built in closet. I would love have this one if I need extra space! I would love to see when you put all clothes in there!

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  27. Wow Jen! It's looking amazing! We got a box of those hangers a couple of weeks ago too. It made such a difference in husbands closet. I can't wait to get more!

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  28. Hi. First, I only recently discovered your blog & I just want to say how much I love it.

    Second--the armoires look great & I hope they turn out to be just the right solution for you.

    One comment on those slim hangers: they save tons of space, but because they're so "grabby" you can't just slip clothes on or off them. I found that it was just too annoying to have to adjust each item a couple of times when I hung it (getting them off was a bit easier). I am very glad that Aby at simplify101.com warned about this in on one of the classes I took; otherwise I think I would have bought a whole set. Instead, I bought a few to test out learned from the experiment that a closetful of those hangers would drive me crazy! Obviously, this is not true for many people--or the space savings are worth it--but I'll be curious to find out how you like yours.

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  29. Just found you blog recently and am addicted already. I wonder if I make my husband read he won't be such a hoarder!

    Anyhoo! The room is fabulous, the walls are amazing and the closets are a kids hid and go seek dream come true; but you already know that :) I wish I had them!

    Jen, I can't wait to see more since I'm an organizing wanna be!

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  30. These look great! I think they'd look nice if you built a bench, or other low storage unit between the two, to give them kind of a built in look. Then you could put a large pretty mirror above that... that'd be pretty! :)

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  31. The Lion, the Organizer and the Wardrobe, ha!

    Love it, I am glad we can relate to "real" time it takes to organize something or even buy the closets by saving up pennies #veryrelatable unlike on t.v how they get everything done in less then 30 minutes.

    I love IKEA btw, I wish they had a credit card haha

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  32. I love the armories. And, I think if you put something between, like a bench or cubby system it will look even better. And it will give you a place to sit. And, you could hang a picture above. You could display your shoes on the bottom. Oh man. I can't wait to see the rest. :)

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  33. I love the closets! They're adorable! As a side note, I ALWAYS need more slim hangers. I found them at Costco-$15.99 for 50. I've bought numerous sets there!! Thanks for all of your amazing tips!
    Cari
    www.twinkadinks.blogspot.com

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  34. The room is looking great! I especially love the stencil on the wall, I went back and read that post ;) You are giving me so many ideas, ow I just have to start saving my pennies to buy the supplies!

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  35. Wow - it's looking fabulous! The stenciling must have been time consuming, but so worth it in the end. The armoires are perfect for the space. The whole effect is very clean and fresh!

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  36. I am GOING to BBandB to GET THOSE HANGERS!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the tip! I have clothes in 4 closets so need SLIMMER hangers:):) The armoires look beautiful! XO, Pinky

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  37. I like it!!!! I am really, I mean REALLY interested in knowing about the hangers because I want to jump on that train and go the slim route.

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  38. Looks great! Love armories. Your stencil came out great too. We are trying to simplify around here too, so I admire the closet simplification you have done. Oh, and I just bought some of those slim hangers (same green color) from Home Goods and I really love them! We have a mix of those and plastic ones.

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  39. You might have already thought of this by now, but is it too much work to paint and stencil the inside back of the wardrobes to match the wall colors. I totally imagined the doors opening and seeing the same thing behind as your walls around. Just a thought from an admirer of all your hard work. :)

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  40. Oh I loooove the Aspelund series!

    In Germany we usually don't have any built-in closets, so wardrobes are our normal place to put our clothes. My husband and I have a huge customized Ikea Pax wardrobe but we have the Aspelund wardrobe and dresser in our entryway/hallway. Love it. So much space for winter coats and other things. And it has this nice Scandinavian chic.

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  41. I love those... and the more I look at them, the more I think that an armoire like that may be the solution to my bedroom storage problems. I'm so lacking for closet space, but I have a huge dresser. I think I can replace it with an armoire and reconfigure my clothes storage into the chest of drawers I have and some baskets added to the armoire shelves.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

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  42. Those armoires look lovely! I have a walk-in closet, but it's mostly used for storage and shoes. I live out of my tall, skinny armoire. There's no hanging space, which is fine, because all my jeans and t-shirts are folded anyway. I love it.

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  43. I love that stencil pattern! I used the same one to makeover a file cabinet:

    http://domesticfordummies.com/2011/10/file-away-another-makeover.html

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  44. Looks great Jen.. if you have loads of short hanging items you can always get a double your hanging space bar.. then hang from the original bar about half way down and as the name suggests it doubles your hanging space, I use them in the boys rooms so I can hang all their t-shirts and shirts no worries. look forward to seeing the finished product

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  45. That is a beautiful design on the wall. A lot still shows, even if not as much as you'd like. Love it!

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  46. Hi Jen - the room will be beautiful! Have you considered turning each 'closet' 90 degrees so they face each other? - that was more of your beautiful stenciled wall will show. Just a thought!

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  47. The little fruit loops looks so funny. The wardrobes look amazing. I noticed that you have over 6500 followers, congrats!!! I was one of your first 200 followers and thought you were great then and still do. :) Thanks for sharing your life and organizing skills with us.

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  48. Hi there. I am very tempted to buy an Aspelund wardrobe, but I'm concerned as it's made from particle board; if it gets damaged, there's not a lot you can do. Any thoughts? Does it feel fairly well made?

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  49. Thanks so much for putting photos of the inside of the wardrobes on here - I am from the UK and about to purchase these wardrobes but desperately wanted to see the internal layout - looks great!

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  50. Hey Jen,

    I know this is from like 2 years ago, buuuut... :-) Have you been happy with those slim hangers? I am thinking of buying some but a lot of people complain about the "fuzzies" they put on their clothes. What do you think after using them for a while?

    Thanks!
    Melanie

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    1. Hi Melanie!

      Still using them and loving them! No fuzz problems to report, and I really appreciate the space saving aspect!

      xo!

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