Plans for the Kids’ Closet

I’m gearing up for my next home project and it might not be the most glamorous space, but I’m very excited for adding storage in the kids’ closet!

The previous owners had created their own system with a DIY shelving unit and a couple hanging rods. The setup was okay and hopefully worked well for their needs, but wasn’t a very efficient system for our needs. It felt like there was a lot of underutilized space and with two kids using this room, we need to maximize every inch.

When we replaced the carpet last June, we discovered the shelving unit was actually bolted to the floor underneath the carpet. They had cut a notch in the old carpet to accommodate it and we didn’t want to do that with our new carpet, so we decided to dismantle the whole thing. We’ve been living without the shelves ever since, and while I wasn’t sad to see the old system go, I have definitely felt the loss of storage. Right now all the kids’ clothes are either hanging or stuffed into their dresser and I have bins with hand-me-down clothes in future sizes underneath the hanging storage (and a garbage bag full of clothes a friend passed along that I haven’t had a chance to sort through yet). It’s been working okay, but I’m ready for more efficiency!

One of the challenges in thinking about a new closet design was having to think about what we need now, when we have a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl sharing a room, and what we’ll need in the future, when we have two teenaged boys sharing this room (eventually, Ollie and Vi will switch places). There’s also a small door to an attic space that we need to keep accessible, and the longest side wall isn’t deep enough to accommodate hangars.

All those challenges had me feeling a little out of my depth. We debated coming up with our own solution using Ikea storage and some DIY hacks, but it was going to require a lot of finagling with the attic access to maximize like we wanted to. My friend recommended The Container Store and their free closet planning service so we decided to check them out before jumping into an Ikea project.

We were totally blown away by the options at The Container Store and the fact that their planning service is totally free. (I want to emphasize that this is in no way sponsored by them, we paid for everything and this was just our honest experience!) We didn’t need to make an appointment and were just able to talk with a consultant about our needs. He took all the dimensions we brought and in just a couple hours was able to create a plan using their Elfa system that perfectly fit our space and our needs. Their rendering even included a 3D view which was so helpful to visualize what it will look like!

It was the simplest planning we’ve ever done and he ordered all the necessary pieces for us – bonus for us that they were having a 25% off sale! It ended up costing a little less than double what our makeshift Ikea hack was going to cost, but with a lot less work and a LOT more storage and function so it felt worth it to us. The system arrives this week so I need to prep the closet for install now.

Before the system arrives, I need to:

– remove all the remaining shelves and hanging rods

– patch and paint all the walls

– re-install baseboards (these got ripped out when we updated the carpet and were never added back in)

I would also really like to replace the light fixture and possibly add a small mirror. I know that’s not the biggest deal in the closet, but I think it would be fun to add some of those touches.

If you want to see updates in real time, be sure to follow along this week on Instagram!