Bedroom Storage

So the other day I posted about a new storage project that Trent's been working on. I know you're dying to know what it is, right? So I'm going to tell you a little more about it today and why we decided to build it. Drum roll please.....

It's a bedroom shelving unit! And it's currently in progress, as you can tell by this photo:

The idea behind building this stemmed from the fact that Trent has virtually no real place to store his clothes. The closet has kind of been, well, taken over by my clothes. Ha. So until we can redo the closet space to make it work for both of us, we needed to come up with a storage solution.

To explain a little more about our clothes storage problem...here's our closet, as I posted about here, and as you can see, there's only room for my clothes right now:

And back in August of last year, since I was already thinking about getting some storage in here, I snapped these unedited photos in the bedroom to show just how badly we need clothes storage. Here are Trent's clothes on his side of the bedroom. This is how it normally looks with no cleaning or straightening going on:

Totally unedited, people. They are literally in piles on the floor. I used to think it was because Trent was so messy....but then I realized it was because he had no storage for his clothes.

This is how my side normally looks with no cleaning:

A lot better, right? And that's why having clothing storage helps!

We have been looking for a while for a storage unit that would work, but at the end of the day, Trent thought it would be best to just build a unit that will work best for what he needs. We figure it will probably be cheaper in the long run, and better-built than the store bought versions anyway.

The unit that he is building is going to have "cubes" that are fairly square, with cloth bins to store clothes. It is obviously being customized to how he wants it, but to give you an example - it's going to be kind of similar to this one or this one from Target, but may have a larger space for a small hamper as well.

He ordered nine of these storage bins to put inside:

Here's the above picture again so you can see where the bins will fit into the square-ish spaces:

It will be sanded and stained a dark brown or cherry finish to match the rest of the bedroom furniture, when the carpentry work is all done. He's using dowels and wood glue to fasten the boards together, hence the clamps and ties holding the pieces in place while the glue dries.

I'll be sure to share more in-progress pics and of course the final product when it's all finished and in its place in the bedroom! Trent's really excited about this little project. Today is a gorgeous spring day, and would be the perfect for working on the shelves, except Trent has to work all day and pretty much all weekend....so I'm home cleaning and working on things around the house! Oh well. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Inside My Closet: The Before

Today, I invite you to go where no other has gone before (besides myself of course)....my bedroom closet! It is um, for a lack of better words...not finished!

But someday, my friends...it WILL be amazing. I have dreams, people. Anyway, Pinterest dreams aside, these are the BEFORE Renovation pictures. The current closet, which is technically our master bedroom closet, but is only being used for my clothing right now (Sorry, Trent!), has had nothing done to it since I moved in. We just cleared out some space for an old dresser and my clothes and shoes, and I moved those in. Trent's clothing is currently in piles in our bedroom and we're in serious need of more storage solutions. Those that we do have are only temporary!

So, without further ado, here is a little tour of my closet as it currently looks:


I have my everyday tops and dresses hanging along one wall, with shoe storage underneath. My shoe storage is kind of over-flowing at the moment...

We have a walk-in closet, so there is space for multiple storage units, like dressers, etc. But right now we just have this one old dresser that was given to us by Trent's sister. The drawers stick and it's not in the best shape. I did line it with wrapping paper. I kind of want to redo it, but I've never redone a dresser before, so it's a little intimidating to me at the moment...It's still in the back of my mind, though! 

On the wall is my DIY earring holder, which is getting more and more full all the time! I might have to make another one soon! My nail polish storage is also on my dresser. Check out this post for a closer look at it.

Next to my dresser (well, in front of it I suppose) are extra frames I'm not using at the moment, or frame-related projects I haven't gotten to yet.

And check out that beautiful carpet. That will be the first thing to go once we clear this space and begin renovating it!

So, that is the little space that I currently use. Could be worse, right? OH - But you haven't seen the rest of the closet yet:

Yep, this is what we're dealing with here. And this is why we have no storage space. Not only is this the only closet space in the house, it is connected to the bedroom on one side, then wraps around to the kitchen on the other side. We are currently using an old bookcase to divide the two spaces. And never mind that giant, long baseboard that is still sitting in here since the living room renovation in 2010. No big deal! After we renovate this space, one side will become the bedroom closet, and one side will be the pantry. And maybe things will start coming together storage-wise.

THAT is our crazy master bedroom closet/ pantry, people. One day our life will make sense in this house!!