DIY Nursery Closet Details

 Happy Monday everyone! Today is my official 4th of July holiday and it is always so nice to have a three day weekend. I personally think that having three day weekends every weekend would make for a much happier lifestyle, can we make this a reality? Today I wanted to share our DIY nursery closet which was finally completed this weekend. We have been working on this closet for quite some time and it finally ready to go! 

Overall, creating the structure of it was not difficult and did not cost much at all. I ended up picking a design based off of The Greenspring Home blog and although we are not great DIYers, I think the closet turned out great and wasn't necessarily super difficult if you are a beginner DIYer. 

Supplies Needed

Closetmaid Vertical Organizer 

2 Closetmaid White Laminate Mounted Shelves 

Closetmaid White Metal Shelf Bracket Support Kit (optional- we didn't end up using ours because we aren't going to be storing anything super heavy on these shelves)

Wood Closet Rod

Wood Closet Rod Pole Sockets (2 Piece)

Step by Step

First of all, disassemble any previous closet structure. We had a wire shelf with a single hanging rack installed in this closet- think builder grade materials. I actually really despise wire shelving, I think it looks super cheap and was not a fan of the single hanging rack because baby clothes are so tiny. There is so much wasted space underneath them when hanging. One afternoon I got my screwdriver out and used my muscles to pull the wire shelving out of the closet. It was anchored in and involved some serious tugging, but I only needed Tim to help me with one anchor that I just could not get out of the closet.

Once your old closet system is out of the closet you will probably need to patch holes and paint. I patched all the holes myself, sanded everything down and then painted. I didn't do a super thorough job painting since we would be installing a new system and you wouldn't be able to really see the paint job behind it anyways.

Here is the closet, patched and ready for the new system to be installed.

After you've completed this, you want to build the vertical closet organizer. What I did was build the bottom three bottom squares and then built two more separately knowing that a shelf would separate them. This left one square unused because it wouldn't fit nicely in the closet with the two shelves I wanted. 

Now before actually installing anything we did some measurements. I wanted the vertical organizer to be centered in the doorframe which meant that it was not centered in the closet. We measured both sides to figure out how long we needed the wooden dowel to be cut since we wanted four hanging sections. We also had to cut the shelves since they were a little too long for our particular closet.

Here is the closet laid out without the wooden racks installed yet. 

I also purchased some storage cube bins from Amazon. I picked the pastel pink but there are a variety of colors depending on your preference. I really wanted to lean into the light pink for our little girls closet. I filled these and then pulled them back out so Tim could install the wooden clothing racks. 

Tim took the lead on installing the dowels and then wood glued them into place. Then the following morning it was time to fill the closet!

I measured all the areas available and then headed to HomeGoods to pick up some bins for the top and bottom of the closet. I also grabbed some more hangers so I could get all of her non-pajama outfits on hangers.

All the baskets were purchased from HomeGoods so I unfortunately don't have links for them. 

I also got the adorable elephant piggy bank at HomeGoods. I thought it would be a sweet subtle decoration that will also come in handy to collect change.

I haven't finalized the organization of the closet yet, but I will share what I've done so far. The top left basket holds muslin swaddle blankets. The middle pink bin holds bottles and pacifiers that will need to be sanitized. The top right basket holds our infantino baby carrier.

The top left hanging section is for newborn and 0-3 month clothing. The top right hanging section is 3-6 month clothing.

The top two pink bins hold clothing and shoes that have been handed down to us but are in much larger sizes. We won't be using 2T items for quite some time but I haven't established a system for clothes to grow into so for now they will live in these bins.

The bottom left hanging section is 6-9 month clothing and the bottom right is 9-12 month clothing. I realize that it is a little silly to hang all of this in the closet, but I know our sweet Ellie will be growing out of clothes so fast I think it will be easiest to keep everything hung during the first year and rotate sections out as she grows. Once she is a size for more than just a few months I will section the closet off by clothing type instead of size and keep sizes that she will grow into elsewhere. 

The three pink bins hold burp cloths and bibs, wipes and size 1 diapers. These diapers are the backups to the changing station I have set up with newborn and size 1 diapers. Since we are unsure if she will wear newborn diapers from birth, I set up a section of them for her but also set up size 1 diapers in case she goes right into those. I also have several drawers in the nursery filled with extra diapers that are still in packaging, but these are diapers that were taken out of their packaging for a quick refill.

The bottom of the closet bins hold feeding supplies on the left (boon drying rack, breast milk storage bags, nipple pads, etc) and extra hangers on the right.

As I mentioned, I haven't exactly figured out my organization systems in here yet but this is a good start and I can certainly adjust as we go forward and see what we need.

Here are two quick sneak peeks of the rest of the nursery....

There is still a lot to do, but I feel so much better about the status of the nursery! My mom is throwing us a baby shower in a couple of weeks and they are throwing me one at work the following week so I know we will have more items to organize in here, so I'm trying to not go too crazy. 

Now, one last look at the gorgeous closet...

Ahh so pretty! Have a great day everyone!!

Pink Blush Maternity

I found my favorite maternity shop- Pink Blush Maternity! I thought today I would share all the items I recently picked up from them for this last trimester of pregnancy. All of the items are SO soft and comfortable I cannot say enough good things about them. So without further ado, here we go...

When I first wore this shirt Tim told me I looked like a cute pregnant lady, so I think it's a winner! I love this shirt, it's so comfy and will be great for nursing. 

This top is so comfortable and works with everything. I know I'm in for a hot summer and tank tops already are a great option in the heat we've been having. 

I think I will plan to wear this dress if/when we do maternity pictures. I love the pink and floral and it's just so soft. 

Yes, this is the exact same top I showed above in blue. This top is going to come in handy when nursing/pumping and the pink is just so pretty. 

I have only tried on this dress and plan to wear it for my baby shower. I think it's so cute! I am loving wearing all the pink lately and think this will work great for the shower since it's fairly casual but still pretty. 

This is a knotted tank top and I love the look of it. It's so nice to have tank tops that actually fit my bump!

This shirt is so comfy! I love the knotted look and it makes my bump not look huge which is always a bonus. Like all the other shirts shown, this one is so soft and comfortable which I absolutely love.

I threw this shirt in to my order to reach the threshold for my gift card and normally it isn't something I would pick, but I'm so glad I did! It's really nice to have a plain t-shirt that is maternity. Also, it's my first mama shirt and that makes me happy!

 

Spring Cleaning: Start With The Closet

One night after work last week I began to get super fed up with our mess of a closet! I always was great at managing the closet when only my stuff was inside but now with Tim's clothes in there too it's a little more difficult! 

I had bought quite a few things at the outlets in Florida so I wanted to go through my closet and see if there was anything I could donate. I found that there were actually a ton of items that I had wanted to donate for some time but had been holding onto for one reason or another.

The number one tip I can give anyone when organizing or cleaning out a closet is to take everything out first. When you take all the items out you can see what you have clearly and put everything back in a more organized fashion.

I started off with pulling out all my shoes. I took out all of Tim's shoes too and kept joking with him that the only shoes I wanted to get rid of were his :)

I ended up giving up three pairs. A pair of sneakers that I've completely worn out; they are dirty, ripped and offer no support so out they go! I also tossed a dirty pair of flip-flops and a pair of water shoes. By tossed I mean donated- I did donate all of these items!

When I put everything back in the closet it seemed much nicer immediately!

See? So nice!

Next I emptied out a bin with hats, gloves and belts. There were a ton of items in here that I wanted to toss. I'm not a big fan of wearing hats so I really didn't need a ton of free hats hanging around. I always accept free things but I really shouldn't if I'm not going to use it!

Once I removed everything I wasn't planning on wearing, it all fit much nicer!

After sorting through my scarves, bed t-shirts, and some other items the closet looked a lot nicer!

I grabbed a few shirts and other items from my hanging items as well. Including bridesmaids dresses that I had destroyed and or won't wear again. I donated a sweatshirt that has definitely gotten its use along with shirts that I had worn out. I honestly felt a million times better after filling up a bag with items I'll never wear again.

Above is my HUGE Container Store bag ready with donations. Honestly, why keep things you are never going to use? There is really no point to keeping items you have worn out or only wore once and have no plans to wear again. Keep your closet clean and you will feel so much lighter!

On that note, I'm ready to find another area to declutter!

Happy Spring Cleaning!

New Bedroom: Part 1

Happy Monday!

Another week has begun and things are busy around these parts! I had an awesome weekend and spent a ton of time with friends which was great, but now my to-do list has only grown! I also have a huge list of blog posts to write, and I want to get back into couponing since I've been majorly slacking in both areas lately.

Today I thought I would share with you a small section of my bedroom and I will continue to share sections until I've shared everything. Then we will move onto other areas of the house as they are finished. There are still so many projects going on around here and so much to share!

The first part of my room I'm sharing is my closet!

There are two sides to my closet... when you enter the right side...

I have long dresses hanging on high rod in the center of the closet. This was my dad's idea since the other rod is so low, this way I am able to hang dresses, skirts and potentially even pants so they aren't brushing along the floor.

I keep all my shirts organized by sleeve length and then color within each sleeve length. I placed them in the opposite direction of my old closet.  Tank tops, short sleeves, long sleeved, sweaters, sweatshirts and jackets.

I love looking at a nicely organized closet!

Above my shirts I have all flat shoes- water shoes, flip-flops, sandals and flats.

The shelving on the side of my closet holds my high heels, sneakers, clogs, and boots.

The bottom shelf holds all my accessories. Then underneath the shelving I have extra hangers and my suitcase.

Here's a closer look of what is inside each bin.

The first bin holds hats, gloves, umbrellas, and belts.

My favorite bin holds scarves. These are my favorite accessories =)

The next bin holds bathing suits. I really weeded these out last year- I think I might need a new one this year!

The last bin holds extra bags. I have tote bags, cross body bags, laptop cases, etc.. I also have a few bags behind this bin that wouldn't fit inside (backpacks, larger bags, etc..)

On the other side of my closet is my dresser, craft cart and all my beauty supplies. I am hoping to purchase something to hold all my beauty products in soon- which I will update you with in the future! My dresser holds (from top to bottom) underwear and bras, socks, jeans and pants, shorts, and workout clothes/pajamas.

There are few updates that I will be making in the future but I really like how I've simplified my closet. I have reduced the amount of clothing I have and it has made a huge difference!

See that little doorway on the left? That will be the next section of this series...my stockpile closet! =)

Have a great day!

Rachel's Organized Closet!

Last week I spent the whole day with my best friend Rachel (also known as my BFFL) and while I was visiting her I got to do one of my favorite activities...organize!

I stole the above picture courtesy of Rachel's instagram because I thought it was very telling of our morning =)

Rachel and her fiance Ant moved into their house back in September and had closets in their bedroom that were a disaster. There were good bones, but they needed to finish them off which has been a long and grueling process. Finally Rachel's closet has been completed and she hung a bunch of items inside but nothing was organized and I'm sure it was difficult for her to find what she needed. 

Here's a look at the before:

Now, the first thing we did was bring all of her clothes from the rest of the house to her room. We made sure we had all the laundry and every item that was hiding in other rooms of the house.

Yes, we piled it all on the floor. Sometimes that's just how things have to be done! Rachel had the task of sorting all the items, putting items on hangers and making a nice big pile for Ant to worry about when he got home. My job was to sort and hang the items that were already up in the closet and then put the new items in the closet as she put them on hangers.

I asked Rachel about her preferences when it came to hanging clothes and she told me she wasn't really concerned with the way they were hung since she has a pretty open dress code at work and a lot of items make their way into both her personal and professional wardrobe. I suggested we sort items by category and she agreed but was a little wary of being able to keep things in color order as I suggested next. I did end up placing her items by category and then within those categories color coding them. Here's what the after looked like:

The categories are; pants, sweaters/sweatshirts, long sleeved shirts, short sleeved shirts, tank tops, and dresses. I think it looks pretty good! Initially I was going to hang the dresses first near the pants since they aren't something she necessarily needs to get to each and every day, but with the dresser in the corner, it was a little difficult to get back there to them.

Rachel has a ton of great organizational pieces in her closet such as this basket I used to hold her less-worn flip flops. They are all together and she knows she'll be able to find a match within the basket. I also love the hanging organization she has where she can hold scarves and other items that she might not need all the time but are in an easy to access spot.

Behind all the hanging clothes are some bins in the back of the closet that hold different clothing items she doesn't need to access regularly as well as winter boots which hopefully won't need to be worn for a long time! =)

All the piles are put away, and the floor is clear, you can't ask for more then that...

Oh yeah, a pretty, organized closet is always nice =)

Have a great day everybody!