A Ridiculously Dramatic Master Closet Remodel

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Add unexpected bling to your dramatic master closet remodel with a crystal chandelier…

*Mistake #1: Friendly competition/egging on is one way to get fired up about a new remodel.**

Mistake #2: Said friend and I started looking at some pictures online. Inspiring yourself has the opposite effect of preventing a project.***

Mistake #3: My workplace closes down between Christmas and New Year’s…and I wasn’t traveling for once.

It was a bad combination that made for the perfect time to do a terribly unnecessary project: a dramatic master closet remodel.

What’s a girl to do but start ripping out the full length shelf and start reworking the storage system?

The original paint job. The wooden replacement supports in place when I purchased the house were a nice touch. It wasn’t that bad with clothes hiding them.

Previously, the closet contained shelves for shoes/baskets/stacks of clothes on one wall and full length clothing on the remaining three walls. Not the most efficient use of space, unless 80% of your wardrobe consists of ballroom gowns.

I took the shorter two walls down, raising one up. I was able to reuse the portions I took out on the other wall to move under the railing I had moved up.

Sneak preview to give you an idea of what I meant by a double row–notice the second hanging bar below the now higher top hanging bar.

Next, I started priming with Kilz. It was pretty snazzy with everything white, but I remembered how amazing some of those pictures looked and dove in with the dark grey.

This is when it started getting real…

This was after the first layer of field paint.

Of course, I couldn’t stop with the dark grey paint. I also “needed” fancy storage boxes to store the assortment of items up on the shelves. I went to some of the fabric stores and got a few different kinds of fabrics I thought would go well with the grey, white and bling theme. Since sewing is not my thing I stapled the fabric around the boxes and kept the seams on the back sides.

Adding in some extra spark with personal items already I already had (purses and a riding helmet) creates some extra visual interest.

The finishing touch was the chandelier. It was every bit as blingy, bright and dramatic as I had hoped with the light off the crystals juxtaposed against the black string shade. This Warehouse of Tiffany chandelier is especially stunning since it creates a radiant light pattern on the ceiling.

Sadly, this chandelier is no longer produced. However, you can easily spend a good hour drooling on Amazon for chandeliers similar to it, like this one!

Lessons learned while completing a dramatic master closet remodel:

Don’t be afraid of dark colors.

It’s nerve wracking to intentionally touch a light colored wall with an inky dark color. It feels wrong–like pulling out a Sharpie and marking on the wall–your own version of graffiti. You hope you like it or there will be a lot of Kilz in your future.

Nerves aside, dark colors create drama. A dark color also creates a more intimate vibe than a lighter space. You can always offset the absence of light with bright white trim, furnishings and light.

A dark color in an unexpected place with the right setup is a pleasant surprise.

There is a time and place though and a dark color does not belong everywhere. I’m not sure I would suggest a dark color in a sliding door closet. Likewise, I would have created a cave if I painted my master closet this dark color and kept the original globe light fixture and put junk on the shelves without the fancy boxes. Not attractive.

Don’t be afraid of bling.

Extra shine from a light fixture and accessories creates more drama. If you are a single guy, know that a potential lady friend will love it!

Don’t be afraid of making the space work for you!

Three walls of long hanging clothes–not so useful. Two racks on top of each other doubles the amount of clothes on one wall. The new setup is much more efficient and frees up space for another wall of clothes, display for shoes, dresser…or just enough extra floor space for a bed.

Modern chandeliers are so much better in person than in pictures!

Light figures totally change the feel of a room. Modern chandeliers scream drama. There are so many to choose from you can’t go wrong.

Take ceiling height into account if you go for a chandelier.

You don’t want to hit your head on those beautiful crystals before you fully wake up in the morning. With a standard eight foot ceiling, a flush mount chandelier seemed the safe way to go.

You can totally make noncommittal shelving.

Tired of making holes in the walls? Not sure if you want to change your space again later?

These painted pieces of wood are just stacked together.

This setup is easy to change. There will be no spackling and repainting holes later. If you get a taller pair of shoes you would have to make higher risers, but that’s it!

Likewise, you can make fancy boxes without sewing.

Local fabric stores may sell the end of fabric roles at a discounted price. Then, scissors, staples, tape and glue are your friend.

There is nothing like a good paint job.

A paint job with a good base of primer and two coats of high quality paint stays fresh. Seven years of shoes moving off and on to the shelf had some dirt and grime build up. However, all it takes is a damp cloth and a little elbow grease and it is good as new!

Last thoughts

Closet space does not just have to be functional. Make it more dramatic with paint, art, furniture or other personal touches. Just last year my husband and I chose a couple of the more dramatic photographs from our wedding with the intent to hang them as metal prints in the closet. I still have to design and build a full length mirror and an ottoman, but they will happen. Some year.

The other metal print. A one off picture of my husband bustling my dress mid-photo session seemed perfect for the place where you have a wardrobe change at home.

I still question my sanity on this project. I mean, really, who really needs a crystal chandelier, metal prints and fancy boxes in a closet? Apparently, I do. It is admittedly over the top for this average neighborhood, but it is a nice mini retreat when a normal event like getting a pair of socks becomes an experience.

Some of you may have some serious doubts as to the use of the word “dramatic.” There are thousands of beautifully outfitted closets on Pintrest in Instagram…in houses worth at least twice as much as mine (maybe even add a 0 behind that number!). That doesn’t mean you can’t improve what you have. That’s the point of this post.

Maybe you even have the carpentry skills to build your own custom cabinets like the same inspirational friends (who did the mock up backsplash in a recent post) did in their garage. You can easily imagine this custom cabinetry in a master closet remodel:

In any case, here is a photo lifted from the MLS of the same exact floorplan (and a much better picture of where I started).

I would almost put money that 90% of the neighborhood looks exactly the same as it did when it was built in the mid 1980’s. As in, not even a color change. It’s a closet for crying out loud. It’s not even a bedroom you just sleep in and walk out of first thing.

Why do something to it? Because you can!

*Do you ever read a blog post where you have to read through some massive backstory to get to the main idea of the post…yeah me too. Kinda annoying when we haven’t met yet. But the following two points are the real reason to back up the statement, “It was a bad combination that made for the perfect time to do a terribly unnecessary project.” It is a slippery slope that makes you want to pick up a hammer and get started…

**My friend repainted her laundry room with some amazing bold black and white stripes about 12” thick.

While I had already fixed and repainted my laundry room to its former glory after the rainstorm roof disaster (and in no way was I going to redo it again), it inspired me to rethink my master closet. I had just finished a major overhaul on the master bathroom. To walk from a dramatic bathroom to a ho-hum closet was…well…OK enough, right? Buuuuuuut what if I kept the dark and light/masculine and feminine/grey and glam theme going right on into the walk-in closet?

***I already wanted to redo some of the hanging racks to maximize one wall with pants and shirts and to remove another wall of full length clothing to accommodate a full length mirror. Optimization turned into “Oh, I have some points from work which could buy that blinged out modern chandelier.” Merry Christmas to me!