Since seeing 19 Kids and Counting, I've wanted a 'family closet'.
This 'storage' porch was PERFECT for just such a room.
The only problem? This room was used for loose storage and had NOTHING on the walls that could hold or store clothes.
No shelves.
No bars.
Just boxes, a free standing metal 'garage like' shelf, a Sauder type cabinet, and an old cracked laundry tub.
What to do, what to do? Especially on a limited budget.
Initially, we purchased several 'free standing' clothing racks at Walmart to hold all the kids clothes.
I was ecstatic!!
We. had. a. 'family'. closet!!! It really did make laundry easier. Just wash, dry, hang! Voila.
However, time went on.
Those free standing racks? Well, they don't hold up so well to LOTS of clothes and little people pulling said clothes off of them.
Slowly..... they...... began.... to tilt, sag, and even fall apart.
Such disrepair resulted in clothes on the floor; shoes being 'lost'; mom getting grumpy.
I lamented my 'wonderful closet' more than once to Techno-genius.
I shared my lofty plans of putting up 'permanent' rods around 3 of the 4 walls in the room - 2 layers of rods to be exact. Not to mention my dream of shelves above the rods around the entire perimeter of the room.
"Imagine the storage", I mused.
Finally, those dreams have become a reality.
Techno built my dream closet.
He put up the clothing rods.
He fashioned my shelves around the room.
He. IS. My. H-E-R-O!!!
Prior to the closet re-build, we had 4 free standing racks along the side walls and back wall plus 2 in the middle of the room - a total of 6 clothing racks. That allotted us lots of hanging space, but made for a very cramped room. The last wall housed the wooden cabinet for 'kitchen storage' and hat/glove storage and the shelves with the baskets for the girls socks/tights/undies/tank tops. There was literally a small path down/between the middle racks on either side and THAT. WAS. IT!
Once you added baskets of clothes to fold and shoe buckets, it was overflowing and ALWAYS a mess.
I had planned to take before and after photos, but, alas..... those 'falling down' clothing racks combined with the 12 and 14 year olds who are responsible for putting kids' laundry away made. for. QUITE. a. mess! I was a tad too embarrassed to take, let alone, SHARE such 'before' pics. Ha.
So, the AFTER photos will have to suffice.
Here's the NEW and IMPROVED 'kids' family closet'.
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| Looking IN to the closet from the laundry room door. Don't you LOVE the shelves above? Enough hanging space for all 6 kids' clothes AND the snow pants. YAY!!! Not to mention space UNDER the clothes for each kid to have their own shoe container. |
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| Looking to the corner - this door leads outside. I plan to hang a clothes line out this door for spring/summer drying of clothes. Next to the shelf of baskets will be our extra produce fridge. Can't wait. It's currently in the garage and freezes everything in the winter. |
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| Looking at the opposite corner - ALL the kids clothes. The WONDERFUL shelves around the whole room. Just imagine all I can store there? |
I'm so pleased with the final product.
The kids are thrilled with the open space.
All in all? A HUGE SUCCESS!!!
Go Techno! You rocked another home improvement project.
THANK YOU!
Looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteWe also experienced the same traumatic event you are speaking of with the free standing racks. When we first bought our house that we live in now, our home was under major construction. My upstairs was unusable and we were living in the family room. No closet. So we bought a couple of those racks. I think they lasted about 2 years max until the literally just fell apart. Luckily, we were then moved upstairs and my husband was able to installed permanent fixtures like yours.
Thanks, Daneale. I was shocked at how easily the free standing racks 'fell apart'. We actually ended up buying new ones over the course of the year + because a couple just fell over. They lost their stability. They seemed sturdy, but once you put clothes on them, NOT SO MUCH! LOL! Glad your closets have permanent rods now too AND that you can be in the whole house.
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