While it is fun in some ways to live in a house where we can stretch out a little more and the kids and the dog can run around more freely, I’m learning a bigger house sort of just means there’s more to clean! :) I use a cleaning schedule that really helps, but I was feeling like I needed a central command station.
So over the holidays, I joined forces with seven other bloggers also anxious to get their homes organized in 2014. I decided to have a little fun with the closet under the stairs, formerly known as the Harry Potter closet/closet of no return/most embarrassing place for guests to mistake as a coat closet.
Christmas decor. Amazon boxes. A wadded up air mattress? Random cleaning supplies. Lists. Receipts. Leftover flooring nails. Home Depot bags that may or may not actually have useful things inside. This is my life, people. Help!
The first step was a good clean-out. Then I headed right over to my fabric stash and pulled out what I had left of this pretty Quadrille fabric. I found it at a fabric warehouse a few years ago and had used it for a custom shower curtain (it’s an acetate fabric).
The colors are so pretty! Orange and turquoise and olive with just a bit of plum.
I wanted a bright blue paint color for the walls and went with Sky Watch from The Home Decorators Collection line at Home Depot.
I also picked up just a few (!!!) extra things for the project while I was there.
I painted the walls in a flat enamel.
Then I added flat trim to the shelf fronts, to make them look thicker. I also added baseboards to the closet. It’s amazing how much more finished the room looked after adding baseboards!
Then I painted the shelves the same color as the walls, but in a high gloss.
I left the back wall white though. No need to waste paint there.
Using the same technique I used to upholster a wall in our old loft here, I roughly cut the Quadrille fabric to size and then I stapled and stretched it, and stapled it again on the back wall.
After all the staples were in, I trimmed off the excess fabric.
I tried to be mindful of the pattern the whole time, so that everything would line up in the right way.
Then I covered the staples using cotton twill tape from Joanns and some copper upholstery nails.
To dress up the fronts of the now-thicker shelves, and to help keep things organized, I picked up a package of these metal label holders in the scrapbooking section of my local craft store. I spray painted them gold to get a brass look.
I used black carpet tacks to hang the label-holders on the shelves.
It’s really easy to keep everything where it should be with the labels on the shelves.
There used to be some plastic hooks on the wall to the left here, but I took those down in favor of this mop-and-broom-clamp-holder-thing (that’s the official name).
I keep our broom and dustpan here and my new Swiffer SteamBoost mop, which I love for our bathroom and kitchen floors especially. I seriously use it every day. We put in winter grass this year, and it’s been nothing but mud all over my floors for months. I love Linus like a son, but man, that dog tracks mud in all day long. It’s a good thing he’s so cute and sweet. :)
I also bought one of these screw-in plastic-dipped hooks from Home Depot and I installed it right into my shelving to help keep my vacuum’s hose up off the floor. Works like a charm!
It is so fun to have a pretty little space to keep all my cleaning and paper products now.
Now when people accidentally open this door to hang up their coats, I’m like, oh that? That’s just my cleaning closet. NBD. #boombaby #organized4lyf
For more organizing and spring cleaning tips head on over to FinditatHomeDepot.com, where seven fab bloggers are sharing their great cleaning and organizing projects.
This post was brought to you by The Home Depot and P&G. Start Clean in ’14!
Haha! It's really not all that much cleaning! I do it this way so it feels like I'm not spending the entire weekend cleaning. Truly though, I'm human and I'm off the bandwagon more than on, it seems like. :) It's just like working out though – the first week or two is miserable, but once you're in a routine and the machine is working for you not against you, the program works and you'll have a sparkling house. I bet most days I'll spend less than 30 minutes when all's said and done. It goes fast. xo
Rachel – The buckets are for my girls. They pitch in with the chores too. I have a little DIY coming up on that later this week, but in the meantime, a shortened tutorial is on the website I linked to at the bottom of the post! xo
It almost doesn't seem fair that you have a whole closet dedicated to cleaning when most of us are stuck with dingy and dark under-sink storage! Maybe I'll upgrade that myself…
So so wonderful! I'm inspired!
Gorgeous.
Having a closet like that would almost make it a pleasure to clean! I agree, the bigger the house, the bigger the mess. I sometimes miss my old condo living for that reason. I could never stick to your schedule without taking all day to do it. I hope your kids help sometimes as they get older. I so remember taking out the trash and helping with the dishes. CTD
Please tell us about those fun buckets! Is that neon duct tape?
That blue is so serene and the quadrille fabic is the perfect amount of sass to make cleaning cute! Bravo Jenny! I'm moving to AZ from cali and all the frustration of moving often gets me down, but your house is inspiring me so much! I need to start stashing away more cute remnant fabric to make closets and shelves pretty in my new casa:) Glad to hear you are feeling better!
Seriously how the hell do you have time to renovate your closet when you're doing that much cleaning?!!
Do you ever sleep?
This is seriously AWESOME! Wow.. quite inspiring. Thank you for this tutorial :) I love tags, order and revamping!!!
http://theitalianbunnyreport.wordpress.com/
I've never seen such a pretty cleaning closet! Love it :)
Michelle
http://www.ahealthymrs.com
Haha! It's really not all that much cleaning! I do it this way so it feels like I'm not spending the entire weekend cleaning. Truly though, I'm human and I'm off the bandwagon more than on, it seems like. :) It's just like working out though – the first week or two is miserable, but once you're in a routine and the machine is working for you not against you, the program works and you'll have a sparkling house. I bet most days I'll spend less than 30 minutes when all's said and done. It goes fast. xo
That closet is gorgeous!! Maybe if I could open my doors to see that, I would attempt following your very organized cleaning schedule!!
Mackenzie
http://www.heybirdfriend.com
Rachel – The buckets are for my girls. They pitch in with the chores too. I have a little DIY coming up on that later this week, but in the meantime, a shortened tutorial is on the website I linked to at the bottom of the post! xo
Oh, my! You are too good…this is so inspiring! Thank you-thank you!
What a fantastic overhaul! I'd gladly stumble into that cleaning closet. I see that you have a miele vacuum, and I recall you saying how much you liked it (this was a post from several years ago before you moved to NYC). I'm curious to know if you still like it and if you would recommend it.
i spy Folex–that stuff is magic on carpet & upholstery! my son got a brother-elbow-to-the-face and bled on my white couch. there was not even a shadow left after using it! love it.
great job on the closet jenny!
I'm SO impressed/jealous! All our many other home to-do lists feel much more urgent than closets, so I never take the time to fix those spaces up. But it really does make such a great impression, and it's so much more manageable than all the larger-scale stuff I "should" be focusing on. You may have just inspired me to embrace a closet revamp!
Your voice in this post is particularly entertaining and witty, and I love the closet! Unfortunately, that closet looks to be the size of about 50% of the closet space of my entire apartment, so… I dream of the day when I can dedicate a closet that big to cleaning (and not just way, way too many clothes and shoes!).
Oh HELLO girl!!!! I'm guessing that managing the deadline for this post was the WORST but having this gorgeous space that is organized and glorious is the BEST! NICE WORK! Also, maybe for Valentine's Day you can treat yourself to the promise of regular cleaning help. I know it feels like you can do it yourself, but, getting help with the deep clean for the bathroom, kitchen, and floors, is really divine.
I just love that you prettied up this space so well! You are making me re-think my black hole cleaning spaces. As part of my goal to declutter and organise this year I wanted to make my everyday tasks just a bit 'prettier', whatever that means. Well, tomorrow it is going to mean painting the broom cupboard and putting some decent hooks up in there! Instead of a couple of whacked in nails… That should make cleaning happen more often, shouldn't it? :))
I love you even more that you said boom baby! your projects always amaze…but you already know i'm a huge fan!
Your closet looks better than my living room! )))
Wow! Amazing…you are so inspiring!
What a beautiful closet! The upholstered wall looks amazing. Also, I love the width and plainness of the baseboard. We have been looking for something similar. Where did you get your baseboard?
SO beautiful!! It's a wonderful place for all those things. I have a very embarrassing awkward closet/storage/pantry that I'm now very inspired to give it an update! Cannot believe how much difference baseboard makes!! Also, you must have the patience of Job to put in that many upholstery tacks! Ack!
How gorgeous! It would make me want to clean – I'll have to see about re-doing my small little under sink cabinet!
This is the absolutely most fabulous cleaning closet I have ever seen. Wow!
Creative and fun…I would have installed a lock on the door and called it "done" ;)
I never thought I would be so envious of a cleaning closet! Maybe I would be inspired to clean more if the closet wasn't so depressing????? Great way to use extra fabric, too! Thanks for sharing, Jenny!
I'm in the Deep South, Land of Not Prepared for Ice & Snow, and somewhat stranded–at "work" for 24 hours plus now and really miss My Home. A dose of yours' helped–although I'm not sure that I like you have a closet that looks better that some of my rooms :-)Love that fabric!
Wow!
That is the prettiest closet for cleaning supplies that I have ever seen. The fabric and that blue paint, I would leave the door open just so I could admire it all day. Gorgeous!
I see a product called "lemon ammonia." I've never seen that before. How do you use it?
Just when I thought this makeover couldn't get cuter, you go and add brass name tags! Brilliant and gorgeous, just like you :) Love this so much!
Those buckets! Love them!
The closet looks amazing, but where you can really tell the Jenny difference is going the extra mile to line up the fabric and trim it out. That, right there, is what puts you at the Martha Stewart level.
Mad respect. You got skillz lady.
Jenny!! this is gorgeous. and I bet it makes you smile. It would totally motivate me to clean my house (& heaven knows it needs it more) I think it is inspired to make the necessary areas of home life beautiful too. I'm going to walk around my house with new eyes. PS- very happy to see you back. :-)
Stunning!! And inspiring. I am going to get on this and make my cleaning closet pretty…thanks for lighting the fire under my booty! Have a good day dear.
This is amazing!
Looks clean + organized – yay! and cute!
Wow, this space looks amazing! You make everything look so organized and beautiful all the time. Love your blog!
http://www.shirababylove.com
Love it!
Hey, I saw on Instagram that you have a Miele vacuum cleaner. I have the same one. Do you know there's a little notch on the back side (or underside) that the floor attachments/hose slide into so you can stand the whole thing up? No droopy hose.
Jenny, I'm so glad you're feeling better, we missed you! I am really inspired by your closet…my husband and I moved from 1,600 square feet to 5,100 about a year ago (bought his grandmother's house!) so I have felt very overwhelmed with cleaning…four large dogs, a farmer husband, and a full time job…I HATE spending my day off cleaning all day! I know that having a plan and a pretty closet will help! Thank you for the inspiration!!! xoxo
TOTALLY AMAZING! I love everything!!
This is lovely, Jenny. Getting organized with my cleaning routine is my New year's resolution, so this is a particularly inspiring post! On a side note, I would urge you to look into the dangers of some of the ingredients contained in the cleaning products I see on your shelves. There's a wealth of compelling evidence against their use. But there are also many wonderful effective, safe, green, options out there. :-)
OMG!!! I love that little space, it looks like somewhere you want to hang out. You are a true inspiration.
you've got the magic in you, every time you touch a room it turns into gold… i wish I had your talent. My house would be amaaaaaazzziiiing. just like yours
I'd be wanting people to accidentally go in there! It looks so good!! I really want all my cleaning stuff corralled into one (organized) area like this. You've inspired me to try to find a way to make it happen!