We built our house 3 years ago. We were moving to a new city because of my husband’s job change. The house (without the finished basement) is about 3135 sq ft. (or 4100 with the basement). We lucked out and got a cool builder who would let us change anything in the floor plan for free (by a deadline and as long as we didn’t move any stairs). So of course I gave myself a huge closet 🙂
What woman wouldn’t, if she had a penchant for handbags and luggage and had the option to do so?
So I made my closet the size of a small bedroom. It’s irregular, but basically 12ft x 10ft.
Here are some photos from before/ during. I had already emptied some out by the time I remembered to take pictures.


The improvement process took 8 months. I wasn’t in a hurry. It was basically this:
- Got four quotes (that took 2 months)
- Worked and re-worked the design and material selections
- Visited the showroom to see materials in person (DO THIS!)
- Packed everything into bins and removed them
- Removed all furniture
- Removed the wire shelving from the walls, removed all the brackets and screws
- Patched and filled all the holes
- Removed all the baseboards
- Pulled out the carpet and related nails, staples, and under pad
- Re-painted all the walls (I used Benjamin Moore Boothbay)
- Flooring installer came for 1/2 day to install hardwood floors
- Installer (from Closets by Design) came and installed closet units for 3 days
And here is the (almost) finished closet. It’s still missing baseboards. I have some minor issues with the built-ins, but in general I love it. No more wire shelving, no more Ikea shelves, and a space for everything. #closetgoals
Part of the design I love are the glass door inserts on the upper cabinet doors. In my dream house, all the hanging will be covered with full-length glass doors as I’ve seen on Bonkers Closets. The drawers are pricey but totally worth it. I also started out with oval hanging rods but I hated them and re-ordered them round, which I far prefer. Other upgrades include upgraded handles, adding backing, adding crown, adding base molding, adding 3 pull-out belt hooks. I use one for belts, one for bras, and one for scarves and umbrellas. The total cost was in the area of about $17,500 CAD for the built-ins.
The bench was a lucky score from Marshall’s. I was there looking for shoes for my daughter and she saw this in the front entry of the store. It was exactly what I had been looking for online and hadn’t found yet.
The white flowers are Floressa from Urban Barn ($32-49 CAD)
The rug is from Wayfair. It’s a 5 x 8 Dodgson Hand-Tufted Grey/Ivory Area Rug (about $330 CAD).