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$100 Room Challenge… Office Closet Transformation

This is my first time doing the $100 room challenge, started by Erin at Lemons, Lavender, and Laundry. I’m excited to make over a very small space in our home from which a lot is required…. our office closet. Here’s a before picture of the jumbled mess in all it’s glory:

Our home was built in 1949, and has a small kitchen, small closets–basically, small everything! This was the trend for homes built just after World War II. I like the idea of having less “stuff,” and living in a smaller home forces you to do just that. (Though we do have a few boxes in the basement….).

The problem

The thing is, even if you cut down on “stuff,” you do need some things to function, especially if you cook most of your meals at home, which we do. My pantry is a tiny closet, and I have 3 narrow drawers in my kitchen, little counter space, and no island, so there is not a lot of space to store things like my grandmother’s silverware or my instant pot. I would love to store more of these things in this closet, but as you see, it is mostly set up to hang clothes. These are all clothes I’m actually in the process of selling online, so that rack is not needed long-term.

The solution

Our office is my husband’s workplace, but since most of his job takes place in cyberspace, he doesn’t need a lot of storage for work. It is also our guest room (rooms in small homes do such double-duty, don’t they?!), but we don’t have guests that often, and because we have some hooks on the back of the doors, the guests shouldn’t need to use the whole closet. The office is just a few steps away from the kitchen, so it makes sense that we store kitchen overflow, among other things, there.

The transformation begins

Today, we begin the project. I love lists, so here are our steps:

  • First, I will relocate the clothes to a rack in the basement and find temporary places for the other items.
  • Mr. Muse will stain the shelves he bought at Home Depot. His secret? The shelves are actually stair treads, which he chose because they were less expensive and thicker than standard boards.
  • Next, Mr. Muse will paint the closet and install shelf supports– he’ll cut 1″ x 2″ boards to size and attach them to the sides of the closet.
  • We may paint the door.
  • We may also add an interior light.

That’s it!! I love this challenge because it helps light a fire under Mr. Muse and me to improve our home in a season when all we really feel like doing in our spare time is cozying up with a book or movie. (Nothing wrong with that, but we’ve got a house to fix up!)

Check back with me next week to see the progress, and thank you Erin at Lemons, Lavender, and Laundry!

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