How I Transformed a Spare Bedroom Into a Closet
- Abby Graf
- May 10, 2020
- 7 min read
Hi, hi, hi!
I am so excited to finally be able to write this post and share this with you. Back in mid-February, I signed a lease and moved into a four-bedroom home. There's tons of space and I've been going to work on DIY-ing some rental-friendly projects around the house the last few months.
Due to all of the space, I was able to turn a spare bedroom into a closet and I am absolutely in love with the results. Turning a bedroom into a closet is something I'd personally never done before but always wanted to do, so I took to Pinterest searches and Instagram for inspiration and tips from other bloggers. I wanted to DIY the entire room in the most affordable way possible, plus I had tons of beautiful antique furniture that was my grandmother's before she passed.
I wanted to make this room a special place for me to keep all of my belongings, work on blogging duties, shoot photos/try-on's, etc! After a few months of decorating and finally getting the rest of our furniture out of storage, I was able to fully complete the room and I absolutely adore it.
So without further ado, here is how I took a spare bedroom and made it into a fun closet space!
When we moved in, I first drew out my plan of how I wanted the room to be arranged. As you can tell, the room was the perfect canvas to create something fun and beautiful to keep all of my clothes, shoes, jewelry, beauty items, and more. It's only slightly different from what I originally envisioned, but I knew that with how much stuff I have, I needed to plan accordingly. I have so many clothes, you guys. So many in fact they don't even all fit in this room and some hang in the actual closet of my bedroom...I know, I know.
The Shelves:
My favorite part about this room was the built-in shelves. We ended up having two spare bedrooms, and I chose this one over the other because of these beautiful shelves. My plan is to re-decorate and organizes them seasonally as my fall/winter clothes and shoes will have to replace the spring/summer ones that currently call the shelves home (I keep all of my off-season clothes in a plastic bin ($5 at Target) which helps me easily swap everything out when the seasons change).
Not only did I want a space for some of my shoes and clothes on the shelves, but I also wanted my jewelry to be on them since it's easily accessible, some books for decor, my graduation cap, purses, photos, and more.
By adding items and objects that weren't just clothing or shoes to the shelves, it brought them to life and really makes them pop.
Shop items on these shelves + similars below.
The Gallery Wall:
Once I drew out my plan, I began with my gallery wall. I wanted to get that finished before I moved all the furniture in because it was time-consuming and I had to use a chair to get hang the highest frames. Sparing most of the details because you can find them in full in my How to Build a Gallery Wall blog post, I used 3m 16-lb Command Strips ($10 for a 14 pack on Amazon) and took a chance by just winging the whole thing. I didn't plan placements, draw anything out. I just stuck and hung. In total, there are 21 frames included on my gallery wall and I am so proud of it. It is the most perfect depiction of me which is why I find it so special.
To accompany the black frames on my gallery wall, my mirror is also black and sits on the opposite wall to make the room appear brighter and bigger. I'm eventually going to hang it, but for now, it sits on my vanity stool. Since all of my furniture is white, I wanted to bring in some black to contrast the look. The walls in the room are also very subtle blue which not only brings out the colors in the frames but makes the room bright.
Shop some of these exact frames + similars below.
The Hanging Rack:
When I had the idea to turn an entire room into a closet (like over two years ago), I knew I either wanted to DIY some wooden hanging installations that were rental-friendly or utilize some hanging racks. We had a few extra hanging-racks that we weren't using so I opted for a white one to match the shelves (similar is $25 at Target).
I mostly keep my nicer spring/summer clothes and jackets on it right now, and like the shelves, I'll swap the items out seasonally. As you can tell, I love a lot of prints and colors. I also keep all of my necklaces on this rack in a hanging jewelry organizer (similar is $20 at The Container Store).
My shoe rack just so happened to fit perfectly within the bottom of the hanging rack (similar is $18 at Wayfair) and because I don't have a rug yet for this room (planning to get one eventually, I'm just in no hurry right now), my I Hope You Like Taylor Swift Doormat is the perfect accent ($55 at taylorswift.com). I have so many shoes that some don't all fit on my shoe rack and need to be elsewhere. Some on the floor next to the hanging rack, some in the real closet of my closet room, some in my bedroom. It's endless, y'all.
Shop hanging racks, shoe-racks, and doormats below.
The Armoire:
This is my favorite and most special piece of furniture I own. In 2017, my grandmother unexpectedly passed away and she truly was the root of my underlying love for fashion and finding good deals. She had the most sensible, timeless style (fun fact: a majority of the jackets you see in any of my posts used to be hers). I knew I wanted to have this specific piece in this room and it's one of the perfect touches.
The armoire is a part of a full bedroom set so I kept the matching vanity in the closet here, put the dresser in my basement (another DIY reveal coming soon--I can't wait to show you) and have the nightstand in my bedroom. It's almost as if there's a little piece of her and a subtle reminder to continue to love the craft of creativeness and style from my grandma each and every day. I am eventually going to refinish the entire set and get new hardware because not only is it decades old, but a lot of the paint is chipping...it's definitely in need of a more modernized upgrade.
What I love about it is that it's not a hanging armoire like most are. I already have my hanging rack + the actual closet to hang my clothes, but I was lacking space to keep things like t-shirts, loungewear, undergarments, my makeup, products from brands, the rest of my purses, etc. What is so perfect about this armoire is that it's completely stocked with drawers and a beautiful display shelf.
I keep all of my makeup organized in the top drawer and I lined it with old Valentine's Day gift bags (lol, don't ask why). All of my makeup sits in trays ($10 at Target) that are easy to organize and move accordingly; my everyday makeup products are organized in the very front tray so I can easily pick it up and transport it to my vanity to do my makeup without any hassle or mess. It's so convenient and one of my best probably-already-known-by-most common sense moments haha. My hair straightener, curler, and brushes are also in this drawer, as well as some lipsticks, my glasses, and beauty products I use monthly.
In the bottom two drawers, I use fabric drawer organizers ($20 at Target) to keep my clothes easily sorted. I roll my tee shirts to maximize space and keep any jeans that won't fit on the shelves plus all of my belts in these drawers as well.
On the top shelf of the armoire, I have a bin the stores all of the products I receive from brands + ones that I use only monthly. I also store some extra shoes and purses here. The rest of my purses are in the very bottom drawer of the armoire and unfortunately, the other drawer is broken so I'm working on getting that fixed before I store anything in it.
To decorate the top of it, I have one of my favorite white-board calendars (that I still need to fill out for the month lol) and a cute polka dot bin (similar is $28 at Walmart) that stores blankets sitting on top of a cute decorative box (similar is $7 at Target). I eventually want to get a plant to put up there as well.
Shop some of items in the armoire + similars below.
The Vanity + Tiered Cart:
This glass-top vanity fits perfectly underneath my gallery wall. To rid of clutter, I only keep my LED Makeup Mirror (similar is $29 at Target), makeup brushes, and everyday beauty/hair products on it. My makeup brushes are organized in a clear storage holder (similar is $9 at Target) and I also keep my favorite/best lipsticks in the holder as well.
The three-tier rolling cart (exact for $30 at The Container Store) was a deal I got over two years ago and I've utilized it in so many ways. For now, it holds a picture frame, some beauty products, all of my journals, and a shadow-box full of memories from Taylor Swift concerts. I think eventually I'll do something else with it but I like how it's accessible and easy to maneuver.
Shop items on the vanity and cart + similars below.
This room is one of my favorite interior creations and I love that it's a lively space for me to have. Have you guys been into any DIY projects lately now that we've been at home?! Let me know in the comments below.
I hope you liked how I turned my spare bedroom into a closet as much as I enjoyed doing so. As always, don't forget to subscribe to the blog to be updated on when a new post goes live and follow me on socials.
And guess what?! I'm now on TikTok! Follow me for life outside of the blog + fun fashion-related adventures @abbyggraf.
Talk soon!
Xoxo,
Abby
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