Ikea Billy Closet Hack

My closet has been a work in progress for almost two years. When we first moved in we started out with this very silly classic old house closet problem:

The two feet of space wasn't cutting it (and the closet kept going behind the wall so I was forever losing clothes) so when we moved the wall to expand the kitchen we also opened up the closet.

Eventually everything got trimmed out and painted,

but for the longest time the inside looked like this:

Don't get me wrong, I loved my cork jewelry holder and shelf space, but it really wasn't the best use of the area. I knew I wanted to have less shelving and more hanging space so I went to Ikea and did a little research. I already owned the fully sized Billy bookshelf, and I knew they made a smaller version, but I wasn't about to shell out another $50 for a slightly smaller version of something I already had. Herein lies the hack.

What I love about hacks is that you get to customize. No more money spent and now I have more hanging space and plenty of shelving. It was about as easy as you can get. I took the things apart, hacked the three stabilizing bits (bottom, middle and top) down to 18 1/2 inches (exactly 2 baskets wide) and then put it back together. On the side I cut we just used some nails and glue to re-attach things.

We added one more feature to the closet too:

Interior lights! I gussied the whole thing up with a new paint job (something off of the oops shelf of Home Depot) and some trim to hide the seam between the shelving and the long top shelf.

I also took a little Pinspiration from this California Closet image and hung one dowel width-wise across the back corner.

I don't own many long dresses so it is the perfect solution. Now Daniel's clothes have their own space below and nothing gets in the way. I still need to pick up a few shelves from Ikea to finish add more shelving to the bookcase and the doors need paint but two years in we are getting close. Sometimes you just have to live with something to really know what you need.

How do you keep your closets organized? Clothes are easy, I just sort by color but I'm still looking for a better solution for purses and shoes.

Cheers!

VITTSJÖ Hack

Daniel and I have what I think of as an unorthodox way of decorating. We tend to sit on ideas for a long time only to radically change plans and then go on a shopping spree. It sounds crazy but it actually works for us.

This is the story of my ever evolving living room.

It started out like a normal weekend. We made a list of things we wanted to work on and settled in to our plans only to find ourselves taking an impromptu Ikea trip and spending the day making this.

This hack was quite literally that.  We started out with this shelving unit (x3) and took some measurements.

See too tall. So we got out the trusty hacksaw and got to work (though the hacksaw was later abandoned for the multi-max for the sake of our arms).

Many many hours later we had successfully modified and built our shelves. We decided to cut down from the top (leaving that little half shelf) because it required the least changes to the overall structure of the unit.

Then I got to move all my books up from the office and style (probably my favorite part). The giraffe helped.

I love this little vignette. My thrift store Asian art and wooden bird cage (i'll show you how I put that together later), the cute little pig from my childhood and my favorite pictures of my parents.

Here's the view from a bit further back. I don't know how I want the seating arranged so that will probably change.

The living room has been my biggest design dilemma because it is so long and narrow with the front door dumping in to one side and the dining room cut out of the other. It is rarely used and so has until now been sparsely furnished. Now I actually like sitting in there! There is still much more to be done but we are making little tweaks at a time. I've already tackled the nook by the fireplace and have some ideas for seating so there is more to come!

Cheers!