Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Girls' Bedroom: DIY Closet System

As the countdown continues for the arrival of our newest addition, we decided to tackle a closet system for the girls' bedroom....probably a little crazy I know!  It has been something that we needed in there for a long time, especially since they share the closet.  It was definitely getting out of hand to the point where I didn't really know what each girl had in their proper sizes and on a few occasions bought extra.  We even had old toys in their closet that are more suited for babies - like a jumperoo!  So without further ado, let's take a peek at what the state of their closet was in a few weeks ago.  Let me warn you though it is definitely not a pretty picture and makes me cringe when I see it.




You might spy the plain Ikea Rast dressers shoved in their closet...like it needed more stuff crammed in there.  At the time we purchased the dressers for the nursery closet, we also purchased two dressers for each girl.  Our original plan was to stack the dressers on the back wall, but we had a slight problem.  There was an immovable box on the back wall that of course was not in the center so slight change of plans!

Before we could move forward, it was time to purge some items and clear out the rest and find a temporary place for the items we were keeping...aka the playroom and nursery have become the holding tank for it all :(  Needless to say I am anxious to get this closet re-do completed.  Anywho, once the closet was cleared out and the existing shelves and closet rods were removed it was time to get down to business.  We followed the same steps as we did for the nursery closet, except this time we used Zinsser Shellac-Based Primer to prime everything first.  We applied two coats of primer and then used our new HomeRight Finish Max Fine Sprayer to spray two coats of Behr Hazelnut Cream on the dressers.

After getting two dressers painted and ready to install it was time to do the other two dressers...except well we couldn't find the suction tube for the new sprayer.  I am not saying two precious little girls misplaced it, but I am not ruling it out either.  Either way, I had to call HomeRight to have them ship a new suction tube since that part isn't sold in stores.  They were super nice, but the bummer was that it would take 1 - 2 weeks to arrive.  So we opted to not lose too much time and painted the remaining dressers the old fashioned way with a roller.    

Just like before, the back of the dressers needed some support to allow us to secure the dressers into the wall.  We were fortunate to have one stud, but it was straight down the middle so our previous method wouldn't work.  Jeremy put three boards across the back that would allow him to secure each dresser into the stud.


Each dresser was stacked and the back secured to the wall.  These babies are not moving!!  Similar to the nursery closet, I painted the knobs on each girls' dresser in the color that they picked out from Sherwin Williams.


You might notice there is a slight gap on each side of the wall - this was done to allow for space to pull out the dresser drawers so it wouldn't hit the door trim.  We used a 1"x2" board to fill the gap that was simply nailed to the wall through the dresser.


Once both dressers were secured to the walls, it was time to add the pine topper.  There was a slight gap between the dresser top and the new pine topper, so Jeremy glued down thin pieces of poplar board.



Once the poplar boards were glued in place, Jeremy nailed the pine topper in place.  Later it will be caulked and painted once everything is installed.

Next step was to Kreg Jig the vertical walls for the three shelves above the dresser.


The Kreg Jig holes were left unfilled since we are planning to put an adjustable shelf system right next to it...so you will never see the holes!!

Similar to the nursery closet, we put a masonite board on the back of the shelves in the same color as each girl's knobs.  Then, Jeremy added the shelf cleats and shelves using a nail gun.



A piece of 1x2 will be nailed to the face of each shelf to give it the finished look later, but the next step was to add a shelf to the very top.  This shelf is attached to the verticals using the Kreg Jig and will actually go all the way around the closet to maximize storage.


So this is where I leave, sorry for an unfinished product, but we are working hard to get everything completed for a big reveal soon!!!  In addition to working on the girls' closet, we have been making some updates to the nursery, which I hope to share with you BEFORE her sweet arrival!!

With much love,

Kristin


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