Budget Closet Remodel {tackling the boys' closet}.

Our family is not an organized one by nature.  In order for a space to stay orderly, it has to be easy to do so.  Really, really easy.  If it's not, it ends up a big fat disaster.  The boys' closet was the perfect example of such a disaster.  

The boys have a great wardrobe, thanks to my wonderful relatives.  And their closet is more than big enough to accommodate clothing for 3 little boys.  But the way the closet was set up wasn't at all conducive to keeping it neat.

There was just one wire shelf set at a standard-ish height, leaving lots of wasted space both above and below it.  We also put the dresser in here to leave a little more floor space in their room for wrestling.  While I'm not a giant fan of wire shelving and would have loved to have taken it out completely, I also needed this makeover to cost very little money.  So reusing the shelving needed to happen!

Step one was to clean out the whole closet and start from scratch.  All of the clothes came out, and the shelving.  After patching the holes and repainting the closet, I started by re-installing the old shelving about a foot below the ceiling.  

I put the dresser on the other wall and installed the wire shelf that I had leftover from the coat closet remodel in it's place.  After adding 3 more shelves below the wire shelf, it was time to start adding clothes back in.

The dresser houses pajamas, t-shirts, and shorts - little boys' stuff on the left side of the drawers and Brennan's stuff on the right side.  There is room for a laundry basket to be tucked under the Brothers' shirts that are hanging next to the shelves.

Brennan's clothes are hanging on the back wall and the Brothers' on the left wall.  Polos, button-down shirts, and colored jeans and pants are all hung.  

Sweatshirts are in baskets on top of the dresser, because of course in Michigan it can be sweatshirt weather at the drop of a hat.  

Underwear, socks, and bathing suits are all in baskets on the very easy-to-reach shelves.  Jeans, sweatpants, and long sleeve t-shirts are all tucked into baskets that are a little easier for adults to reach.

Labels make it easy for the boys to find their clothes ... and for Daddy to find where to put clean laundry away.  Teehee.

This system is worlds easier to maintain.  The boys can reach the clothes that they most frequently need to dress themselves, and the clothes that they don't wear as often as still easy for Brian and I to get to.  There's even room for storage at the very top.  

And it was all very cheap!  We already had the paint, baskets, and wire shelving.  All we bought were the shelves and shelf brackets.  The project took roughly 2 days to complete, but honestly could have been completed in a day.  But you know, I have these little people running around my house who require a little bit of attention throughout the day.  It was well worth it for a closet that actually works!

Project list:
Wire shelves & accessories - already had
Paint - already had

6 ft laminate shelf - 12.98 (cut in half)

3 ft laminate shelf - 7.48

6 shelf brackets - 1.88 each

Total spent - $31.74