DIY //When the complete and utter gutting of a space is an absolute necessity for your sanity but custom built-ins aren’t an option, you get creative. I suppose saying that built-ins aren’t an option is a slight exaggeration. I mean, this is a DIY blog after all, creative solutions is what we do best here and while we do indeed build things, I have to say the idea of spending hours upon end crafting a custom closet seems entirely unappealing with a 2 year old ruling the roost here at Casa de TDC. At some point along my journey as a mom, I think I began to sacrifice those things I need to feed my soul (I think I’m not alone here), and I’m pretty sure that beautiful and well organized spaces are one of those things that makes my world go round. Also color coded things, but that is a story for another day, eh? When last we left off I had gutted all of the wire shelving on my side of the closet, and made some sleek hanging rods, but not before I updated the lighting from boring recessed cans to fab pendant lights. Now, shoe storage that actually looks good and isn’t a custom built-in, seems a bit more tricky. I suppose if you have shoes you like to look at, then putting them on display with some super simple shelving should be a snap!
To view all projects in this closet case series, in order, check out the articles below to see how far we have come!
Out of the Darkness and Into the Light // Easy Lighting Update
DIY // From Wiry Slobs to Sleek Hanging Rods
Just Add Shelves // Easy DIY Shelving for Stylish Shoe Storage
A while back I purchased a crap ton of the IKEA Ekby Shelves and never actually used them. When I started this cute project, I thought that my procrastination may have actually worked out for the better since they would be perfect for shoes, were affordable in multiples and just happened to work with this grand idea I had in my head. But then, like the Design Schizophrenic that I am, I saw these stunning brackets at Home Depot and thought they would be even more amazing with the white shelves. They come in several sizes and colorways, so if black isn’t your jam, then you have options… And they were like $1.70 each so there is that lovely fact. Of course I used my white and glossy shelves for the surface portion of this, but you could absolutely use any specie of 1×12 board from the lumber section and craft your own warm wood toned modular shelving. It would be so fab! Be sure to use drywall screws (coarse threading) and wall anchors (crazy little plastic things that your screws go into) if you will be mounting anything heavy. To secure the shelves to the top portion of the bracket, you can use some shorter screws or some double sided mounting stickies for a slightly less permanent solution.
I didn’t do a heck of a lot of complicated thinking for this installation and simply lined up two of my shelves side by side to see if they would fit in width, then eyeballed where I thought they looked best in comparison to the hanging rods. Then I simply used the baseboard as my guide and fastened the brackets directly on top of them.
The second shelf is a bit more complicated of course since there is no baseboard to use as a guide. So…. I used my tallest pair of boots to gauge height (very technical), then used the level app on my phone to be sure I wasn’t screwing things up. It seemed to work pretty well so all is right in the world now that I have a place to color code my shoes!
Honestly I feel like a fashion blogger every single time I walk into this space now. Of course I would probably need an entirely new wardrobe to be such a thing, but I think we are well on our way down the road toward happy success here. Since happiness for me is gauged by how happy a space makes me feel when I walk into it, and if I suddenly want to spend more time in said space, and so far so good! Yahoo
IMAGES // Rayan Turner for The Design Confidential
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