As you may remember, our nursery closet left a lot to be desired. Yup, this tiny nook (which can’t be expanded thanks to ductwork on the left and the back of our living room fireplace on the right) was in need of a serious upgrade. But we were determined not to spend over thirty-ish bucks to take it from terrible to sweet and organized. What? We’re cheap.
First my smart (and surprisingly design savvy) hubby suggested that we paint it the same soft aqua color as the ceiling to make it a bit more fun- especially since we removed the door because it constantly banged up against the main door to the room (check out the rest of our nursery paint job right here).
Then we put the original clothing bar and shelf back in and painted them a nice crisp semi-gloss white color. And next we hung a little homemade curtain to instantly cute things up (see how we DIYed that right here).
Then we added a few storage solutions and a second hanging bar… and now it looks like this:
Now granted we hung every single item of baby clothing that we have so far- many of which we’ll probably store folded in our newly refinished dresser (our friends and family are insanely generous). But we just couldn’t resist the urge to fill the bean’s closet up with her pint-sized clothes after we added a bunch of organizational systems – you know, just to see if they worked.
First we’ll show you how we created the little custom hanging cubbies on either side of the top clothing bar. They’re actually shoe organizers from Ikea but we got them on the house (a friend of ours was purging and sent us home with two of them- thanks Kristin!). But obviously with that newly installed second clothing bar, we didn’t have room for them to hang at full length anymore…
… so we cut them down to size…
… and now they work like a charm. They can be used to house everything from bibs and stockings to onesies and little undies and even socks and burp cloths. Again we’ll probably put a few of those things in our newly refinished dresser but it’s nice to know that our closet not only has space for hanging items but also has small cubby holes to tuck other things into.
And since we mentioned that our sweet friend Kristin actually gave us two of those shoe organizers, we placed one on each side of the top hanging bar for even more stash space (after trimming a bit of length off the second one as well). Of course that one is totally empty thus far, but we keep hearing this rumor that kids come with lots of stuff so we’re sure it won’t stay that way for long…
You’ll also see from the picture above that we stashed a little striped fabric storage box that we already had around the house on the left side of the top shelf of the closet (that’s also empty but we figure it can be used to corral everything from toys or books to extra linens or even blankets when the need arises). And on the right side of that shelf you can see from the photo below that we just folded four of the blankets that we’ve already received (I’m telling you, our friends and relatives are too kind) so they’re easy to grab at a moment’s notice.
The bottom portion of the closet consists of that added second hanging bar that we mentioned (from Home Depot by the way) and a little double tiered shoe rack from Target (which we’ll probably use for Baby P’s shoes when she gets bigger someday, but currently functions as a place to store rolled crib sheets and changing table covers along with even more blankets (the beanette will never be cold!).
You’ll also notice those two blue fabric boxes on top of the shoe rack. They’re actually things that I’ve had for years (originally from Crate & Barrel back in my NYC days). And although I used to use one to store my sewing supplies (aka: a few rarely-used spools of thread and a plethora of iron on Heat & Bond tape) and the other to store iPod cords and other electronics, it was easy to find another box for those items since their punchy turquoise color fit so perfectly with the rest of the nursery. So now they too are empty, but we love that they can easily be used for toys or crayons or legos down the line. Empty bins and boxes = room to grow. Note: we also have a third one, as seen in this post.
And speaking of room to grow, we love that there’s still a little slice of space under the shoe rack on the floor where we can tuck another set of bins and baskets or even store shoes and boots down the line. You know, when the bean’s feet actually touch the floor.
So that’s our little closet overhaul for ya. And since we vowed to do it all on a shoestring (pun semi-intended after all that shoe talk) here’s a budget breakdown for ya:
- White tiered shoe rack on floor (from Target): $12.99
- Second hanging bar (from Home Depot): $5.37
- Blue boxes: already owned
- Two hanging shoe organizers (from Ikea): free from a friend
- A plethora of baby clothes, blankets and bibs: courtesy of our sweet friends and family
- GRAND TOTAL: $18.36
Not bad right? Especially for something that started out looking so bleak. Plus even if we had to buy those hanging shoe organizers they’re just $6.99 a pop at Ikea, so with two of those we still would have come in at $32.34. Of course that doesn’t include the price of the curtain (which we factored into this curtain making post) or the paint (although that was free since it was leftover from the ceiling). It’s definitely still a sliver of a closet, but with our big double dresser and a bunch of other storage options that we’ll be adding to the room we’re pretty sure that our baby girl will have plenty of places to stash her stuff. And speaking of stuff-stashing, have you guys used anything interesting or unusual to keep your closet organized (Hat boxes? Easter baskets? Recycled cereal boxes?). Or have you adapted anything to make it work (like cutting a storage system down to size )? Spill it.
Speaking of painting, here is a post about our favorite greige wall color: Edgecomb Gray.
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making tutorial, our fun little chair search, our mirror-painting extravaganza, our DIY faux sheepskin project, and our big dresser makeover (and subsequent drawer lining project). Good times.
Amilynn says
Love the closet organization! I love that you guys are just a couple months ahead of me in your pregnancy (I can steal all your fab ideas for organizing the babies room ;)).
I also am planning on using the BG organic AIO’s on the new baby (after much research)! I also have heard great things about the new rumparooz one size all in ones (the also have a little joey newborn size if baby is small). This website/blog has helped me a TON in navigating through my new cloth diapering adventures including tips for washing etc (and all green): http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/ …just in case you want to check it out.
I also have a kind of off topic question for you… I loooove the cute bright polka dot onesies you have hanging on the top bar (blue and orange) any idea where they are from??
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amilynn,
Thanks for the cloth diaper link- we’ll have to check it out! And as for those polka dot onesies, they came in a pack of six from Carters (my sweet aunt sent them our way and we were immediately smitten). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mrs Soup says
That looks so amazing! I see prefolds too! What a great idea for the shoe organizers! Brilliant!
We use old paper boxes for all the clothes my daughter has grown out, labeled with the sizes that are in it. They are all the same size, which is wonderful. We put the size immediately on the lid with just a dash after (i.e. the current box has 9m – on it). Then, when it’s full, we just have to put the size of the biggest item and it’s ready to stack. It’s been the easiest way to keep things organized for any future children we have.
tasha roe says
who would have thought that a closet could become a super cute focal point of a nursery?!! looks terrific!!
great suggestion HannahBanana
i found these at Ikea and plan on covering them with fabric, wallpaper & wrapping paper
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50022354
TG says
There was a few empty small copypaper boxes on the floor at one of those office supply stores. They gave them to me just for asking. I painted them with left over paint I had. I ended up putting them on the shelves of my laundry room for those weird items like vacuum cleaner bags, dog grooming stuff, cleaning rags etc. Makes the laundry area look neat.
Heidi H. says
So beautiful! Y’all create the most beautiful rooms & leave me green with envy!
Random question: You wouldn’t happen to remember the brand or name or color of the curtains you got from BBB for your bedroom would you? At first I thought I’d just stick some white Viven curtains up in my room, but then I thought I liked the tan-ish khaki lookof my old pillow cases w/my new greenish/blue coverlet. Then I noticed that y’all had khaki color curtains hanging in your room & it all came together. So yesterday I found some great curtains at Tuesday Morning for a great price ($6.99 a panel) & thought that 84” would be long enough. Well, I came home all jazzed, put them up & was HORRIFIED that they hung a good foot from the floor. My heart sunk. Sunk waaay lower than my curtains hung. So, It’s back to the hunt for khaki colored curtains for me. I just thought I’d ask if you remember which you got because that would make it a sinch for me.
Thanks so much for everything, Sherry. I’m so grateful that even w/a hugely popular blog & hundreds of comments, you still find time to answer questions. That’s so great!
H
YoungHouseLove says
We don’t remember the exact name of those curtains but there was some NYC or metropolitan reference in the name (like Uptown or Urban Loft). We would just head over to Bed Bath & Beyond in person to see what they have (which is always more effective than looking at the limited online collection). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Holly says
I have the same little striped, footie jammie outfit from the Target DwellStudio line for our due-in-June little girl — that’s such a great and cheap line of stuff, given the quality and style of them! Our crib sheets are Dwell Studio for Target, too (pink and white bird ones that had a nice Charley Harper-ish feel to them, which I snapped up four of when they went on sale for $8 each, and I’m glad I did since they were sold out last time I checked!).
MG says
Love it!!! We just finished this weekend renovating our bedroom to make more storage. We found cheap closet inserts from home depot for $40 each which worked nicely. BUT my favourite storage item is vaccuum storage bags! They are great for everything, you can throw 3 queen sized blankets into one bag, seal it up, vaccuum the hole and its instantly 1/10th the size!! I store all of our out of season clothing in them underneath the bed.
Sarah B says
If you have not already disposed of the “left-over” shoes storage bins that you cut off the bottom, you can simply turn them right side up and use for a drawer organizer in your newly stained/painted dresser!
Little girls have lots of little things – tights, headbands, hair stuff, socks, etc that would fit perfect and keep the drawer neat.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a great idea! We still have them so we might just do that!
xo,
s
Sonya says
I die every time I see teeny tiny clothes hanging in a closet like that. So sweet!
Jill says
They are not cute at all, but diaper boxes make perfect storage bins for items you are getting rid of. I have one collecting things for a garage sale this summer, one for items to go to good will, and a couple for friends/family I need to return baby clothes too. I just write where each box is going with a sharpie, and throw things in when I’m dealing with them. When the box is full, it goes to its respective place and I don’t worry about getting it back. Plus, the handles are nice too.
laura says
That is the cutest baby closet I have seen :) It looks like her very own chic boutique in there.
Alison says
My kids closets never look that organized. They usually use them as hiding places or caves so the clothes and shoes get tornadoed all over the place. Look at all those adorable baby onsies!! Are you getting so excited???? Washing the clothes made it so much more real for me.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah we’re beyond excited. Counting down the seconds!
xo,
s
Wendy says
Love the way it turned out. We have a fairly big closet in our son’s room, but it ends up filled with toys and clothes he has grown out of, so it’s probably better to have a smaller closet that forces you to purge more often. You’re probably going to cover this, but finding a place for toys has always been our biggest challenge (not so much at first, but they start to pile up fast).
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we definitely plan to cover all of our toy storage ideas and systems. Stay tuned…
xo,
s
Jennelle says
I’ve been watching your nursery come together on your blog, and now that it’s taken shape, I LOVE it. It looks like springtime! Which is really neat since I think you said you’re due in May, right? Yes, your nursery reminds me of May!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, our little girl is due May 19th- which definitely has us itching for spring!
xo,
s
Dana says
All those little brightly colored clothes!! So cute!
LyndseyG says
Wow! That looks fantastic! I’m so frustrated with my girls’ closets because they are not very user-friendly. The are long, but not walk-in, so the things at the ends are hard to see and reach because it is a single-door closet. Eventually, I’d like to look into widening the opening and then doing a curtain and some organizational stuff.
Does that second rod remove for when she is older and has long skirts and dresses that need to be hung?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, the second rod can be moved or removed whenever our needs change!
xo,
s
Brandi U. says
Aw what a super cute idea! Your nursery keeps getting better and better. Can’t wait to see the whole room!
RedMamaof2 says
I love the closet! Looks like you have enough room for everything that comes with a baby! Something that may not be storage related, but is baby related… I buy those photo storage boxes (think decorative shoe box) from Michael’s. When each of my sons were born, I took a newspaper from that day, and other random things (hospital braclets, cards from friends and family, baby announcement, etc) and put it in those boxes. I then did one for each subsequent birthday – so their 1st birthday houses little tidbits from the past year (tickets to first baseball game, birthday cards, and a few select decorations left from their birthdays. Just a cute idea – and they enjoy taking them down and looking through them from time to time. I only did their first 3 years – didn’t want a bundle of boxes :)
Katrina says
The closet looks darling, great job –
erica says
omg! it looks great! seeing all the little outfits just add to the absolute cuteness of the closet! very excited for you two!
Jennifer S. says
I’ve used a large round wooden cheese box to store stuff in before. It’s huge (15″ diameter, 7″ deep) and it’s made the rounds in my house storing different stuff through the years. On another note, those plastic boxes that wipes come in are handy for storing all sorts of things around the house or garage.
Lisa @ lists in my pocket says
What a cute closet! I love seeing all the tiny baby clothes. :) I am beyond excited to see pictures of Baby P!
Stacy says
Very cute! I’m waiting for your toy storage ideas – that’s my biggest issue with my now-three-year-old son and we have twins on the way in September. The toys just seem to pile up and I never know what to do with them all.
Tracy says
Sweet! You two always have such wonderful solutions for making storage attractive.
Funny thing, not even an hour after reading your post this morning I saw your blue and green nursery fabric covering a very nice (and expensive) settee at an outdoor furniture store. It’s even prettier in person!
Ashley @ Mutschler Family, Dallas Edition says
I love the closet! I was wondering what your plans are once the baby starts outgrowing clothes. Where will you store them? I only ask because my one year old daughter’s closets are just packed with rubbermaid bins with old clothes.
Jessica says
Baby P is so lucky! :)
lindsey b. says
love all the blue and green for a girl! gorgeous!
Kayt says
I love the shoe organizer dealie! We have one that has larger sweater holes, then three pairs of the smaller shoe cubbies. We bought ours for $2 on clearance after Target’s back to college run, and we use ours for blankets and crib sheets. The blankets, folded in thirds, work beautifully in one of the larger sweater holes. We also use the Dwell Studio recieving blankets for changing pad covers, and those are in the other sweater sized cubby. Then, we roll crib sheets and pop them in the shoe sized holes. It’s really nice because we know at a glance how low we’re running on any given necessity, and it actually gave us room to stick an extra dresser in our son’s closet (his closet is the standard double slidy door suburban sort of size.) We use those mdf wooden cube thingies, you seem them at Target in the organizer section, to keep diapers. It’s also easy to know how low we’re getting, and gives us room to store bigger sized diapers so we never have to do a midnight diaper run.
ally says
We took a shelf out of a wardrobe and replaced it with a tension bar for our little one’s “closet”.
Stephenie says
Not certain how practical this would be for a little one, but for older kids or adults, I’ve used the plain terracotta flowerpots to hold scarves and belts. Easily painted in whatever color you like, and the bottom part can be used as a lid by affixing a knob of some sort on it.
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
I hung up a LOT of our baby’s clothes in his closet, and people who saw it poked fun at me for being “so organized” (??), but I found it easier to just throw things on hangers, instead of trying to fold little WEE clothing; especially while very sleep deprived. It was really just easier for storage!
I second the idea of having a box or something to put outgrown clothing into, right in the closet or really nearby.
erica says
i love how you always have very cute storage boxes…do you ever use those plain ol’ rubbermaid plastic bins?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we’re no strangers to plastic bins. Check our our basement makeover, we have two armoires stuffed with them!
https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/12/tackling-the-basement-done/
xo,
s
Sonya says
Copying the earring sellers at the farmer’s market, I made myself a swank earring holder using a nice picture frame (wait for a half-off sale at Hobby Lobby) and wire screen. Simply staple the screen to the back of the frame, hang the frame on the closet wall, and voila: an elegant way to store dangling hook earrings. It’s pretty, the earrings are visible for choosing, and it’s super easy to take earrings off or put them back. I also bent some paper clips and hung them in the wire screen to make hooks for hanging necklaces and bracelets.
Rosie says
The closet looks terrific! A
You have a year or so to think about it, but when my babies started climbing out of their cribs during naps/night time (that awkward “too little for a toddler/real bed, alllmost too big for a crib” phase) they pretty much went on search and destroy missions in their rooms. Naturally we’d baby-proofed, but the closet was their go-to point. We had to install a baby gate across it because they would liberate anything they could reach.
The room looks terrific!!!!
Katherine M. says
The room and the closet look fantastic!
I still use 2 small white plastic bins (I think for ice storage?? I got them at Target) about 4in wide, 7 long and 4-5 inches deep) in my daughter’s drawer for her socks–it keeps them from getting lost in the huge drawer. And being very plain and white they’re aesthetically non-offensive….
Mariel says
So cute! All those tiny little clothes made me smile.
On a side note (not sure if you will read this or if somebody else has already made this suggestion to you) but if you leave one of the hangers that show the month size in between the clothes to separate the different age sizes (like you see in the store) it will be easier to organize the closet. Once the baby outgrows the newborn stage you can storage the small things away and move new clothes inside the closet, – most importantly though you will be actually using all of those cute dresses! The worst part is to leave something in a drawer and forget that you have it to later realize that the baby has already outgrown a cute outfit.
trish says
ok, that’s about the sweetest little nursery closet I ever laid eyes on… love the subtle contrast of the blue/green. You guys continue to amaze me with your neverending improvements. keep it up!
Durga says
I love the cute little outfits. As your little one starts to crawl and explore I can see this closet becoming ‘Toy Central’ in less than 12 months. It’s good that the space has room to evolve. x
Ellen says
In our daughters room we actually have the opposite problem, lots of closet and not much room (especially wall space). So we actually put the dresser in the closet, we still have plenty of hanging space and shelf space, but it freed up the room to have space to move and not feel overwhelmed by the other furniture.
Kitty says
Very pretty. I remember setting up all the cool cubbies in my son’s nursery….even that diaper thingy that matched the bedding. Problem #1–It didn’t hold an entire box of diapers. Problem #2–Babies use a LOT of diapers and refilling that sucker was a pain. Solution: The Huggies box became part of our decor and my son learned the word “baby” by pointing to his Huggie Brother on the box!
emily says
I love the colors, the closet, and well, just everything! Great job!
Karen P. says
I just ran across the perfect quote for DIYers –
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” Louis L’Amour
Jacci M says
Awwwwww – nothing makes a baby’s room happier than those sweet little baby clothes. Well, and the BABY, of course! :) How many weeks now until Bean is due to make her appearance?
Linda says
Wow, I can’t wait to have kids just so I can use some of your brilliant ideas! LOL :)
anna see says
So darn sweet! This nursery is coming together so beautifully. How exciting to think of your little munchkin arriving before too long.
Jacci says
oops – May 19th – got it! :)
Michelle says
hey guys! I have a quick question about a curtain rod makeover i’m doing. I just spray painted some curtain rods black and noticed that the paint comes off when things scratch against it, which will be a bummer with the rings when sliding the curtains back and forth. Is there anything you guys recommend that I do to keep the paint from scratching off at every curtain slide? Like painting on some sort of sealer? thanks alot! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh good question. You could check out your local home improvement store for any sort of spray lacquer or sealer and then just apply that for some added protection. So sorry that it’s scratching off- how annoying! Perhaps next time you could use spray primer beforehand to create a stronger scratch-free bond. Good luck!
xo,
s
lea says
A darling closet-so much use out of a small space! But a word to those who are using pre-used cardboard boxes and recovering them. Those boxes stored other items that were stacked in warehouses, and are where bugs, roaches lay their eggs. Same thing with paper grocery bags. Once you bring them into your home to stay, you will have bugs. In addition, my pest man told me cardboard boxes attract other bugs because the bugs like to eat the tiny amounts of glue in the boxes. So, use regular container, and don’t reuse carboard boxes.
Laura says
The nursery looks terrific, great job! This may sound crazy but I have a two month old baby girl and trust me, you will love that Dwell onesie to death. You will not regret buying another one. Great quality for the price (Target is amazing), good luck and congrats again.
Theresa says
Super cute! I love how you cut the hanging organizer to make two! GREAT idea :) I also love the light/chandelier thingy!