Chaotic Closet No More
Closet Before
Closet After
Imagine living in a home with no closets. Most of us are so accustomed to having closets we may not be aware that homeowners haven’t always been able to count on having them. The vast majority of modern homes now have not only closets in every bedroom (many of them walk-ins), but also a coat closet, linen closet, bathroom closets, and sometimes a general storage closet as well.
Closets have a fascinating history. According to this article (https://bit.ly/35HELyz), the first mention of a devoted space for storing excess clothing that eventually led to the creation of closets was an invention called an armorium, which Roman soldiers used to carry armor and weapons. In the medieval period, the armorium eventually became the cedar clothes chest, which eventually transformed into the armoire, a tall piece of furniture with doors, drawers, and shelves. It wasn’t until the 1870’s that rods for hanging clothing in the armoire or wardrobe became commonplace. Soon afterward, luxury apartments in New York began featuring reach-in closets for clothing.
It’s unclear exactly when walk-in closets first appeared. But it wasn’t until the 1950’s that closets became commonplace in middle and lower class homes. Fast forwarding to today, closets have spawned an entire industry. Companies that design, build, and renovate closets abound. With a quick YouTube search, you can watch the transformation of a celebrity closet larger than most of our bedrooms, filled with countless custom features and more clothing, shoes, purses, and jewelry than most people will ever own.
In Kingsport, we’re fortunate to have an excellent closet company called A Place for Everything Closets. Locally owned and founded in 1996, they design, build, and install custom closet and storage solutions. In July of 2021, Shipshape Solutions announced a partnership contest with A Place for Everything Closets. We wanted to find someone whose closet needed a transformation and for whom a renovated and organized closet would make a huge difference in their life. I’m happy to be able to showcase the winning person’s story and their closet’s before and after photos.
The contest winner, a family with two school-aged children, wanted help with their primary bedroom closet. The closet serves not only as a storage place for clothing and accessories, but also as general storage.
Our first step was to determine what renovations were needed. Holly Buchanan from Everything Closets and I met at the client’s home to look at the closet, take photos, and discuss options. We all agreed that with the amount of clothing as compared to other items, they would greatly benefit from additional shelving and drawers. Holly’s expertise in designing the closet to make the best use of space was critical to the project. The new design would be perfectly suited to their needs.
After choosing a design, Everything Closets set a date for installation. Since the closet components are manufactured at their facility and their production schedule generally stays quite busy, installation was scheduled for early November. I scheduled a date a few days before that to help them pull out all of the closet contents and sort through them, removing unneeded items (decluttering) and categorizing items that would remain into containers. Everything Closets loaned two large rolling clothing racks to be used while awaiting the installation. The contest winners pulled out all of the old rods and shelves and painted the closet. The space was empty and ready for a new look.
They were so excited about their new closet! High quality products custom designed for them and professionally installed made a huge difference as we reloaded their belongings back in a few days later. The resulting transformation was jaw-dropping.
My client’s description of the whole experience is better than anything I could write!
“The master closet in our house was literally stuffed to the max without a single bit of thought or organization. We used an old bookshelf, mismatched shoe shelves and several Tupperware® containers on the floor to help contain things that couldn't be hung up. Other than builder-grade wire shelving along each wall, we had nothing in our closet. Years and years of unworn clothes cluttered every inch of hanging space and old shoes could be found along the floors on either side. The shelves were a haphazard collection of everything you can imagine—books, old Christmas ornaments, a sewing box, journals, CDs, trinkets, etc. It was all so overwhelming that my husband and I ignored it.
Angie's services and help were instrumental! She helped me think through what type of space we needed, and we went through each and every thing in our closet—keep piles, donate piles, trash piles were scattered along the floor of our bedroom. She helped me box up our things based on categories (office supplies, books, bags, shoes, etc) and move them until we were able to get our new closet installed.
Once A Place for Everything Closets installed our amazing new closet, Angie was able to assist me in putting our closet back together with new purpose and organization.
It was so helpful to have Angie work alongside me throughout the process. It was such an overwhelming task/project that I felt paralyzed every time I thought about it, but with Angie's kindness and expertise, I was able to move step-by-step to declutter and eventually transform our master closet into the most beautiful and functional space in our house.
My husband and I are amazed every single day by the closet. It's become a "show and tell" when friends and family come over. We have been able to maintain the beauty and functionality because everything in the closet has its own place. We are proud of the space, which in turn means we respect it and keep it clean.”
Transformations that result in not only vastly improved looks of a space but more importantly, a difference in a client’s daily life is my highest aim as a professional organizer. It brings me such joy to know that I played a part in this story. I’m grateful for the wonderful partnership I have with A Place for Everything Closets. We regularly refer clients to each other since our businesses are so complimentary. I’m always confident that when I refer a client to them, they will have an excellent result. In fact, they renovated many of the closets in my husband and I’s downtown Kingsport loft, and we had a top-notch experience from beginning to end.
Do you need help with a closet or other space? Your transformation is just a call away!