Kid Closet Makeover (Elfa Installation & Final Reveal)

Back to the grind my friends!  Monday mornings are never my favorite and always require a dose of caffeine to get me going, but it’s time to get going on lots of projects in the works over here!  If you’ve been following along, you know I was inspired to makeover my son’s bedroom closet and met with a Container Store design consultant to create a custom closet that would function much better than what he currently had.  When we moved James from his colorful big boy room into the guest room, he lost the shelving that was in his former closet, so we was left with just hanging space for clothes.  Now, we have a closet that’s much more functional and stylish!

CLOSET BEFORE
This is what his closet looked like before we got started on the makeover.  You can see we only had two options for hanging clothes, but a complete waste of space in the middle.  And, I’d taken advantage of some of the space to store decor items we’re not currently using like lamps, mirrors and frames!  Where is that stuff supposed to go?!?!  It’s now in my office closet.   

Of course, the first step is always to remove everything completely so that you can start with a blank, clean slate.  Then, I measured the space, and took iPhone photos so I could easily reference the closet when meeting with the Container Store consultant.

The closet is tall, with lots of unused wall/floor space in the middle.  After our design consult, we decided to use that back wall as a place to mount an Elfa system with mesh drawers, shoe storage and additional shelving that would take advantage of the height of the closet.  The Elfa sale is still going on, so you can get 25% off + 25% off installation, which we took advantage of. 
INSTALL 
Even though installation isn’t said to be too terribly difficult, I opted for professional install and item delivery.  It was so worth it!  Since I had already tested my husband’s patience with installing 24 drawer pulls earlier this month, I decided to give him a break and leave the installation to the professionals.  
Our installer, Russell, was awesome and very easy to work with.  He showed up on time for his appointment and worked quickly.  
When he was finished, we had this beauty!  

These white mesh drawers with birch face fronts come in various sizes to meet your needs.  We have an extra large one on the bottom, three medium sized drawers in the middle and a shallow drawer on top.  They drawers slide out like butter! 

I absolutely love it!  My only concern was that the wall unit wouldn’t leave enough room for the hanging clothes.  I thought it was going to be 10 inches clearance on either side of the unit, but it’s only 5 inches each.  It fits just perfectly my son’s small hangers, but when we transition to an adult closet, we’ll have to move the hanging bar over a little to accommodate an adult size hanger.  
The nice thing about an Elfa system is that it’s adjustable and you can rearrange things as you see fit. If we really wanted to, we could remove the shoe shelving and recenter the drawers and top shelves to the center of the wall.  
KID CLOSET AFTER 
How much better the closet can function now that we have the Elfa shelving and drawers in place! And of course, now that my decorations have been removed! 
Elfa shelving kid closet organization

 The drawers are perfect for holding James’ karate belts up top, his school uniform shorts in the middle and then this backpacks and extra blankets on the bottom.  We even have an empty drawer right now!

Although we chose birch face fronts, you can also get white or dark wood. 

The extra shelving at the top makes room for the white woven storage bins and the blue and green gingham storage bins. Things like seasonal clothing can go in there. 
The perforated shelves come with a translucent ventilated shelf liner so that things don’t fall through the cracks and to keep the shelving clean. 
Elfa shelving kid closet organization

At either end of the first long shelf, we included a hook rack for things like hats and belts.


 

I love the thin, blue huggable felt hangers!  They keep things from slipping off and create more room on each rod.

Big kudos to my little painter, who painted those shelves blue! 
Elfa shelving kid closet organization
What do you think of the Elfa shelving?  This is the first one we’ve used and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed! 

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

14 Comments

  1. Yaaayy! It looks amazing! I love it! As you know from your previous post, I am a fan of Elfa! I am so happy it worked out for you guys!

    Eboni || buildingournvhome.blogspot.com

  2. Hi, Megan! Love your blog! Quick question: Can you tell us roughly how much this closet redesign cost from start to finish, including any savings from The Container Store and/or blogging discounts? I'm seriously considering overhauling our master closet, but I want to get a good sense of ballpark costs before I even go down there and get my hopes up. Thanks!

  3. Looks fantastic. I too was wondering if the hangers would fit next to the drawers. We have a similar space on one side of our Master closet and ended up not going with the drawer units for that reason. You could always use that space for shoes later, and the shelves for folded items.

    1. We may have to do some rearranging later, but looks like the piece we hang the clothes on can be moved a little and then it would fit an adult hanger better.

  4. Having a closet that's adorable and organized makes putting away clothes more fun (if not easier) instead of dreaded. I'm rethinking our son's closet. He's had Elfa since he was 2yr old (now a tall teenager). Adding drawers will be great for him. Thanks Megan for the inspiration!

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