So younghouselove has a post up about closet doors. Yeah... I got a tough one for you. The closet at the top of the stairs.
Let me give you the layout. You come up the stairs, this closet is at the top, tucked neatly under the eves... so it is deep and slanting. A rod in the front and shelves in the back. To the left is the kid bedroom. To the right is our bedroom.
Do you think I could just invite them over to fix this for me? It is SO ugly and, well, wood-toned. Granted... the entire upstairs is frighteningly wood-toned... but we are working up the courage to paint it all white ala this beautiful inspiration at The Lettered Cottage. But back to the task at hand.
Options considered:
1. Removing the horrible peach carpet. Check. It is slated for removal after the downstairs bedroom floor is finished. Hardwood exists underneath. But that would just be.... more wood.
2. Removing the doors completely. It would be lovely opened up as a little reading cubby for the kids... stash books in the back and put the bean bag chairs in there. BUT.... this is a pretty important closet for storage. I'm working towards making it empty but I'm not there yet. It houses the vacuum, the little carpet cleaner, some photo albums, my long dresses (our bedroom closets are short and stuffed under the eves) gift-wrap supplies, the boot dryer, various sheet sets, all the table linens, my ski boots, yoga gear and the "days of search and rescue" first aid kit and pack. It wouldn't be impossible to empty... but a challenge. Love a challenge.
3. Paint the doors. White maybe? Paint the trim. Paint something.
4. Hang a curtain over it. If ever in doubt... hang a white curtain. But this is a narrow space... just a doorway wide at the top of a staircase. Not sure.
5. Change door styles. Can't do a regular door. Can't do a pocket door. Don't think a sliding door or a cabinet-style door would work. Need something polished and gorgeous.... but that doesn't shove you down the stairs when you open it.
Ugh. I seriously think my best option is to clear it out and open it up. I'll keep the door thingy in the garage in case we decide we can't live without the closet but my new goal will be to find homes for all the stuff in there.... where the HELL am I going to store my vacuum and carpet cleaner?? Sigh. If I were a strong woman I would only have 10 outfits of personal clothing and I could use the extra space in my closet.
5 comments:
I vote to go ahead and take the doors off, then store as much as you can in underbed boxes (with lids & rolling wheels). I had a whole linen closet for tablecloths & sheets, etc., and ended up always re-ironing the tablecloths, placemats, and napkins anyway.
How about getting rid of the carpet cleaner (since you're taking out the carpet?) and move the vacumn downstairs. Do you have any under stair storage? Can you shift any of this to that?
Or if you put in shelves for kid cubby, could you put some high storage shelves in and slide the photo albums, and little cleaner up over head?
I say axe the closet all together. Re-home or re-purpose the entire contents. Nix the closet and put french doors on the kids room and yours.
You have table linens? What the hell for. If your table linens are stored in the back of an upstairs closet, you aren't using them, and therefore don't need them. Donate.
What kind and how many extra sheets? We have one king bed and one set of sheets to go with. We have one queen airmattress and one set of sheets that goes with. I have five twin beds and seven fitted twin sheets. No flat, because we don't use them anyway. I gave them to the school. They use them to cover the document cameras. Can you make some cuts??
Long dresses? Why? If you haven't worn them in the last six months, donate.
Want me to come help??
Unfortunately, we have no under bed space.
And we won't be getting rid of all of the carpet so, for now anyway, the carpet cleaner stays... but someday....
No space under the stairs... they are open and, well, actually, right now the COUCH is in that space. And no other closets anywhere but I'm still thinking on it.... there has to be a solution.
The back of the closet already has shelves at the bottom... it is under the slope of the roof so there is no room for shelves at the top or space above.
Today I hate tiny houses.
Yes. I want you to come help.
French doors? You recall these are narrower-than-standard doors to start with, right? Do they make skinny-minny french doors? I think I know what you are thinking but this closet is shoved under the eaves... it slopes down pretty sharply from the front to the back so there isn't room for a wider door if it is gone.... it will just make a little-slopey roofed space.
Table linens... for the picnic table and my ugly dining room table and that table that is outside... you know the one. Yes you do. They are hanging on the hangers. I did thin them out significantly but they still exist. And runners... I love runners.. although I think they are all running on things and none are in the closet right now.
Sheets. We have a queen bed with two sets of sheets: flannel for winter and cotton for summer (so one stored). I'm not a sheet folder so I just wash and put back on the bed. We have two twin beds.... 6 sets of sheets... cotton, flannel & fleece for each (4 stored). Full-sized guest bed has two sets of sheets... cotton and flannel. And 2 crib sheets (one stored). And right now the extra couch blankets (for winter) are in there. And I swear I thought the extra winter feather duvet was in there but I must put it in the shed because it is GONE. It's those fraggin fleece sheets that take up all the space... they are huge.
Dresses. Um. Yes. I have that pesky job. That requires moderatly nice clothing sometimes. There aren't many.... but I do have a couple. I used to have more because I wore them almost every day for work but pumping is hell on dresses. They are cute... the ones I kept.
This might not be an option you want to try, but one of my friends used to store the extra set of sheets folded up between the mattress and box springs of the bed they go to in the pillowcases.
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