A Quick and Easy Coat Closet Refresh
It’s worth mentioning, that I’m constantly looking for new ways to organize small spaces in our home.
Case in point, we have a coat closet in our front entry that wasn’t living up to it’s full potential.
It started out as a 36” builder basic closet with a single wire shelf and just enough space for two baskets above to hold hats and scarves.
This is the small coat closet before…
before
The closet functioned ok, but it wasn’t living up to it’s full potential for our little family of four.
My wishlist included:
- more hanging space for coats
- accessible hanging space for kids coats
- extra bins for everyone in the family
- a darker colour so any mess wouldn’t stand out
**Note: We already started removing items when this photo was taken. Imagine the closet overflowing with coats and shoes!
Despite it’s small size, it functioned perfectly fine. But it was in need of a fresh coat of paint, giving me just the push I needed to research alternative storage solutions.
I really wanted the jackets to disappear against the walls, so I chose to paint the entire closet a dark colour – Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron.
After a little research… we came up with a simple and inexpensive plan
Closetmaid organizer | Benjamin Moore Paint | Black Storage Containers
Why did we paint the closet so dark?
We recently replaced our basement door with a sliding barn door that covers either the basement entry OR coat closet at any given time, so dark closet walls really blend with the coats inside …helping the closet look tidy whether the door is open or closed.
I love the result. After 2 coats of paint, I added a store-bought storage unit with 2 hanging rods (minus a third hanging rods due to our space limitations). I added inexpensive baskets from amazon to complete the look.
The result?
It turned out even better than I had hoped. I feel like the closet can breathe even when it’s filled with outerwear and 6 baskets for extra shoes and other seasonal items.
after
The closet can hold twice the amount of items without feeling stuffed.
- The double rod provides twice the amount of hanging storage
- 3x more baskets gives us extra room for accessories and shoes
- lower baskets are easier for kids to reach
- the dark colour makes the closet recede into the background (a plus when the door is left open)
