From Coat Closet to Cloffice

Spring is officially here which has lead to fruit basket turnover at our old house. We have done away with the wonderful sewing closet that Mr. T built last summer. I'll post more about that later. There are two other closets we have, both of which were terribly packed and full of...stuff! We took some time, sorted and condensed, and were able to move what we needed into one closet. The rest of the stuff was packed and put into our newly organized attic while some things were packed and sent to Goodwill. It was a super easy decision on what to do with our empty extra closet...turn it into a cloffice!

I wanted a space for my sewing and other crafty supplies. Brainy Smurf and Smurfette wanted a homework area. Mr T wanted a spot for the family computer so we would leave his office alone. Ummmmmm...that's a lot of stuff crammed into a 4 foot x 2 1/2 foot space...watch out! We had to dig deep for this project and we were on a serious budget. I started shaking paint cans, trying to find the one with the most in it. We settled on Restoration Hardware Silver Sage. It's the same color we have in the Master Bedroom, but we didn't have to buy paint! I also had left over chalkboard paint from this project. We recycled the the wood from the former sewing closet and I managed to find a few old cans of stain and polyurethane in the shed. We were set!

 

before

 

 

We started by taping out the chalkboard area and cutting in with the wall paint. Mr. T put in side boards for the desk to lay on. He measured and cut the old desk, then I sanded and stained. We wanted to leave the old shelf in the top of the closet along with the old iron clothing rod. When we were ready to put it all together, the desk went in first, then the shelf, and the cubbies up top. I went through all of the items in the previous sewing area and had to get rid of a lot of fabric. No worries though! I saved what I needed and got rid of the fluff! The cubbies and top shelf are devoted to my sewing machine and supplies, fabric, and craft paint. The desk is just for the kiddos. I mounted a bulletin board with their practice schedules on it along with some fun family photos. There is a hanging organizer on the opposite wall with plenty of notebook paper and rulers. I keep a pencil jar stocked with sharpened pencils for homework. Under the desk I have a large drawer set on wheels filled with scrapbooking materials. In the center is a woven basket with wrapping paper, tissue, and gift bags. On the right side is a 3 drawer organizer with more sewing supplies. All of this is super organized, but hidden with a skirt I made for the desk. Our new area is family friendly, super organized, and we love it!

top of the shelf...all of my sewing stuff

Mission accomplished!!! Sewing closet + homework desk + family computer = one very efficient space = one happy family!

Rachel :)