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A Little Love for Coral and Closet Clutter Busting

Last week I gave you a little sneak peek into a recent addition we made to our dressing room closet area.  We DIY'd some dividers for a few new drawers that were added to the space.


Today, I am back to give more details of the bigger closet project picture.

As I have mentioned in the past, we have always loved that the dressing room is so grand {the size of a bedroom}!  However, to install a wall-to-wall closet system would have been extremely costly in such a large space.   Not to mention, we try to keep our clothing and accessories somewhat limited for both ease of storage and overall simplicity.

We have been living out of two separate wardrobes for approximately two years, and overall we have been really pleased with the setup.  We also have a small dresser which holds undergarments, paint clothes, pajamas, etc....

However, the girl in me has always been a little frustrated with what the setup lacked; accessory storage, boot storage and handbag storage.


Not the worst problem to have, however, after two years of struggling to keep the area between the dresser and armoire tidy {no system = easy toss and pile creating}, I was overly ready to finally deal with things.  Hubby had been struggling with storing the same types of items as well, everything from baseball caps to belts and ties.

After some measuring, research and price shopping, we landed on two Closetmaid storage towers on each side of the dresser.  The storage unit allowed us to customize shelving adjustments and drawers and fit the wall perfectly.


The area is far from complete, however, we started to make some tweaks to make it more "us".  The top of each cabinet actually came to a blunt finish initially, so we capped it with some decorative moulding to give it a finished look.


A little measuring, air nailing and caulking later and the top of each unit was looking a little less out-of-the-box.

We could have taken things even further and customized the shelves to be more "built-in", but for now, I like that they are actually still mobile and the arrangement of the entire closet can be reconfigured down the line should our storage needs change yet again.

Once the storage units were flanking the dresser, it was clear to me that the space in-between would need to be addressed l.  My previous jewelry setup was starting to become cluttered and would not fill the space well.  However, I have really loved the concept of the cork board within the frame paired with pushpins for jewelry storage, so I just needed let it grow.  I removed the inserts from the previous two frames and matched them back up with their mats and glass to be used once again as actual photo frames.  During a recent shopping trip at Target, I stumbled upon a much larger cork board, and decided that would fit the space much better.  I loved that the cork was thicker and more sturdy than my previous setup.  I couldn't wait to start using it!


I don't know what it is, but spring has really gotten me in the mood to inject some coral into a space.  The master bedroom and dressing area were the perfect candidates, as they already have a fairly neutral gray/blue color palette along with small pops of navy.  Knowing I have a few small stools to recover, I picked up a flat sheet in a solid coral color.  The sheet was plenty big enough for the stools, so along with the stools, I decided to cover the cork board in coral as well.  I started with some spray adhesive and smoothed the sheet over the top of the cork board.

After looking at it, I decided that it needed a little extra something.... some sort of pattern!  A few years ago I had purchased a stencil for a rug project I never did, then I planned on using it for curtains and never did, so I dashed for it and used it here.  I still have more plans for the stencil down the line because I love it that much, but this was a good spot to play with it and use what I already had on hand.


When I stencil, I typically spray the back of the stencil with spray adhesive to get a nice flat surface and to prevent paint seepage.  However, I didn't want the front of the jewelry board to be sticky, so I decided to just go with painters tape this time around.

Using a plush microfiber roller paired with some bright white paint, I held my breath and started rolling.


The paint also contained pre-mixed primer, and the roller allowed it to really cover well.  I was doing all I could to avoid having to do two coats of paint.  Lucky there was minimal seepage and the paint covered really well!


Sorry for the photo quality above, this was one of the many "after the kids were in bed" projects so I had bad overhead lighting.  The sheet is actually much more berry coral than orange coral. 

There was a single area where paint from the stencil marked the coral area of the corkboard.  I quickly grabbed some rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip and the paint lifted right out {the paint was still slightly wet so that may have also helped}.


Things were looking good, but I still needed to address the edge of the cork board.  The hubby dug through scrap wood in the garage and found a piece of white trim to finish things off.


Ignore the second cork board below - we actually purchased two because I have another project for the second one.  He was using that one in the garage for cutting measurements.

Bryan just nailed directly into the frame of the corkboard with his brad nailer, making sure to use small enough nails that they wouldn't go all the way through the back.  We followed up with more white caulk fix any gaps and nail holes.

And there she is!  Tucked nicely between the new storage towers.


We also swapped out the hardware on all of the drawers to give them a consistent finish and try to unify things a bit.  I haven't decided if I will paint the Overlays on the front of the dresser as well; I am really not sure if the yellow is working now so maybe I will update them with white or light gray? 


The coral is a fun summery touch!  And this project was simple enough should I tire of the color down the road, I can just swap out the fabric to achieve a whole new look!


The rest of the storage towers were filled with my handbags and baskets to hold our hats.  I was also able to use the bottom shelves for storing those taller boots that didn't fit in the nearby armoire.  I love that everything finally has a place up off of the floor!  So good!


I snagged a few accessories from around the home to display more of my girly things.  A cloche jar was a fun touch over my bracelet holding hand.


While a cake stand gave my nail polish collection a little boost.


We couldn't be more smitten with the changes so far and all of the added storage that we were able to gain out of a few extra shelves and drawers!  And now I am even more excited to get those little benches recovered to really finish off the rest of the space.


What color does spring have you wanting to play with lately?