Turning A Spare Room Into A Walk-In Closet

When I moved into a place with a spare room and a lack of closet space in the bedroom, I immediately decided to turn what otherwise would have been an…

Subscribe to our podcast! Thanks, it’s Thrifted is a podcast about secondhand shopping hosted by two treasure-hunting friends, Dina & Shannon. Subscribe today.

Update: I moved! See part two to this post here

When I moved into a place with a spare room and a lack of closet space in the bedroom, I immediately decided to turn what otherwise would have been an office into a walk-in closet / dressing room. I called up my friend and soon to be certified professional organizer, Ashley for help. We came up with a game plan over coffee and after five hours of folding and hanging practically every piece of clothing I own, we had the dressing room I’ve always wanted.


This has helped me tremendously in so many ways. Having everything out on display not only keeps things extremely organized, but reminds me of what I already own. Since we’ve done this, I’ve worn things I haven’t worn in months (if not years) and I stopped buying duplicates of items (how many black pencil skirts does a girl need?) Plus, not to mention, it’s so much fun getting ready in a clean, fresh, and feminine space.

First, we assessed the space (diagrams are helpful) and laid every single piece of clothing I have on the floor by style and type and then determined the type of racks and shelving I needed to buy. I didn’t want to buy a shelving unit from Ikea or anything like that for several reasons, so I kept it cheap and simple and did a lot of thrifting.
 
After assessing the space, we decided on a color scheme. I went with romantic hues including a soft pink, white, and chocolate brown.

Organizing clothing
We separated all of my tanks and sleeveless tops on one rack, short sleeve and long sleeve tops on another rack. Dresses and skirts each had their own rack as well. I highly recommend buying velvet hangers. It makes everything look more streamlined and it saves so much room in your closet. We organized all of my flats and sandals at the bottom of the racks by color and style. I also recommend hanging everything by length, style, then by color.
{hang by style, then by color keeps everything organized}
{velvet hangers are the ultimate solution for ANY closet!
We then hung up the blazers, jeans, and pants in the closet inside the dressing room. We folded my jeans and pants over on a hanger rather than by the waist. I thrifted a table on wheels and painted it a cream color and spray painted this wood organizer for rings, perfume, and other accessories.
{thrifted table after!}
{thrifted tray and bowl for accessories. I painted this tray brown to match the color scheme of the room}
A bust form not only gives it a ’boutique’ feel but is very functional!
I hung all of my necklaces from belt hangers by style and color.
I used desk cubbies for clutches and a larger cubby to store miscellaneous items and undergarments in boxes.
I found old industrial style shelves and painted them white for shoes.
Scarves are no longer hidden in boxes!
Lastly, the best part was decorating! Sticking with the color scheme I framed vintage sheet music from this post and hung them above each rack. The girls on the cover of the music give off the perfect feminine vibe for a girly room!

RE Garment Racks from Target ($10 each)

Updated August, 2014: after a year of using the RE Garment racks from Target, I upgraded to the Double Rod Garment Rack. They are much more durable and don’t tip over. I really don’t recommend the $10 Target ones unless you’re going to use it for a few pieces of clothing.

Rug from Marc’s ($15) Shop similar jute rug

Thrifted table from Givits ($9 I painted it)

Thrifted shelving units from Givits ($5 each)

Thrifted lamp ($1)

Craigslist bust form ($35)Shop similar

Thrifted ladder from Givits ($1 I painted it)

RE desk cubbies from Target ($10 each)

Thrifted mason jars from Givits (25 cents each, I painted them)

Thrifted chair from Givits ($11, I painted it)

Thrifted belt racks for necklaces ($1-$2 each)

no slip velvet hangers from amazon

scarf velvet hanger from amazon

Thrifted wooden ring / accessory organizer from The Salvation Army ($2, I painted it)

Thrifted white cubby from Givits ($5)

You May Also Like
Read More

Easy Flower Display

So here’s the deal: I love having fresh flowers around the house but am usually too cheap to buy them because you know, they add up in cost and die…
Read More