Hi friends! It’s that time of the year again, the nights are getting cooler, the sun is setting a little earlier, and the kids here up North are getting prepped to head back to school! Which means lots of organizing and prepping to be sure that we are all feeling good and ready to go back.
Our oldest son, Jyren, is heading into his junior year at college. Unfortunately, Covid struck right in the middle of his freshmen year while he was away at school, and once he came home for Spring Break, like many other college students, he was forced to move out of his dorm and do distance learning for the rest of the semester. This put a major damper on his college experience as he was really getting used to being out on his own and having his independence.
Creating this garage bedroom was an ideal solution, this way he’s still at home, but he also has some privacy and can get away when he feels the need. So over the past several months we’ve been slowly finishing off areas of the small garage. And one of the main priorities before going back to school was having his clothes (and shoes) in order.
I recently shared how I gave my his garage bedroom a refresh, but when we realized we were going to go through with the siding renovation, we took advantage of the opportunity to close off the garage door and give him a private entrance (rather than having to go through the main garage to get to his room.) Now having the garage door gone, we were able to free up so much space and give him something that he so desperately needed in this space—a closet, an open concept closet, that is!
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As you all may know, I’m a *huge* fan of an open concept closet, especially for those of us who have smaller wardrobes. Our oldest son, however, does not fit that category. He has been a sneakerhead for as far back as I can remember, so his sneaker collection is quite large, and for the longest time, he kept them in plastic storage drawers, which, if you can imagine can take up quite a bit of space AND . . . they’re not very attractive to be honest.
Other than his wide collection of sneakers, he has quite a large wardrobe—so all I could envision when planning this space, was a big old wall O’ closet, and I’m so glad I was able to make it happen with some great items from Better Homes & Gardens.
The first problem I needed to tackle were the sneakers. I ordered 2 Better Homes & Gardens Cube Organizers. 1-16 cube and 1-8 cube to stack on top, these would serve as the centerpiece for the open concept closet.
Seeing these cubes stacked and set center stage on that wall made him so happy—because it looks so much less like sneaker storage and more like a sneaker museum, or a sneaker exhibit, if you will, lol.
He takes really great care of his collection, so why not showcase them! (Insert shoulder shrug emoji)
To be safe–I secured the cubbies with a metal bracket on the back and then attached them to the wall, using the enclosed safety tether.
I then decided to order 4-Quad Shelf inserts to try out as well because I figured the more space we could add, the better. The inserts work perfectly for his running shoes.
Once the cube organizers were stacked, we realized we had a decent amount of space on top to store his speakers, some baseball caps, and some baskets on shelves to store miscellaneous things. We love these metal baskets because they’re sturdy and store a good amount of stuff. We also love that the liner is removable.
I then picked up some wood dowels and brackets from the hardware store for clothes hanging.
Speaking of clothes hanging, I got what I feel was the steal of a lifetime with this 60-pack of wooden hangers for only $40! I’m a stickler for matching hangers, and good quality ones too, so I was ecstatic to find this deal.
Inside the “closet,” I made use of the wall and installed these modern “J” hooks for additional storage. Did I mention that my son is a hip-hop artist? Above the hooks, I framed the lyrics to one of his songs. Easy-peasy, meaningful wall décor.
On the wall to the right of the closet, we left the shingles exposed and gave them a fresh coat of paint. We hung his bike on that wall for now, but I’ll eventually build him a custom desk for this area for school work and for him to produce his music in a neat and organized space.
Above the bike there’s a shelf that already existed in this space, so I layered some framed photos. The photo shown above was taken recently at the beach and I just love it so much! Do you frame photos anymore? I realized how infrequently I do this, so I think I’m going to make an effort to do this more often. I framed it in this beautiful matted wood frame, which would be perfect for gallery walls– I just love how it pops against the black wall.
As much as I know my son would love to just sit and admire his collection all the time, I decided it might be a good idea to close off his closet section using this Better Homes & Gardens Room curtain rod along with these curtain rings. I’m so overjoyed with how this looks, and also the quality of these items.
Looking at this view just makes my heart so happy! Next up in this room: study/music space, stay tuned! 🙂
The closet is fabulous! Excellent use of space!
ooooooh, I NEED this room dividing curtain rod for my basement bedroom “nook” before the in-laws arrive this fall. Ordering! Closet looks great!