A Closet Makeover

I love how my new years resolution was to be a better blogger... and that didn't turn out too well. It's been crazy in the Schulman household with lots of fun and new exciting changes! Sometimes I feel like I can't keep up with everything, and on top of it, I'm on a computer for at least 8 hours a day... The last thing I want to do is come home and use it for another hour or two... so it turns out I'm a much better blog reader than I am a blog poster :)

But it's funny how a new MacBook Pro can change things! I had no idea pictures can load so quick and blogging could be so much faster! It's taken some getting use to having never owned a Mac, but I know I haven't even come close to unleashing what this thing can really do...

Even though there hasn't been a post for quite a while, that's not to say I haven't been crafting away!

Thankfully, I finished the closet makeover a couple of months ago. This one took a lot of energy out of me and made me never want to paint again! I don't know what made me want to make a closet cute, but was determined to do something about the drab white walls. I also spend a lot more time in here than most would probably think. I start work at 5:15 in the morning, which means I get up pretty early. So I don't wake up Mr. Schulman, I go in to the closet and pretty much get ready in there.

Here is my small cute closet.... well... almost cute :)

It's a pretty small closet, but it's all mine :) Mr. Schulman has his own closet in the room as well, so it works for now!

...and I just wanted to say a quick hi to blog friends!!

I was pretty scared to start painting, mostly because I chose a dark chocolate. I wanted to paint pink stripes, but also didn't want the closet to look like it belonged to a 5 year old :)

I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I was also worried that the darker colors were going to make my already small closet look even smaller, but because we have such high ceilings, the stripes actually helped the room look even bigger.

In my previous post, I mentioned I was pretty excited about finding a certain something. Well... it was Martha Stewart's new line of Mineral Paint. It literally was just put on Home Depot's shelves the day I bought it, and they said I was the first one to try it! I felt honored...lol.

It's a bit expensive, but it's pretty awesome!

I chose a light pink to put on the ceiling... You can't tell in pictures that the ceiling has a "shimmer" to it, but it looks so pretty in person!

The last thing I did was decide I wanted Crown molding, and this is where I had a heart attack. It took me a while to figure out how to cut the crown molding, and was so disappointed when I started putting up the molding only to find out that wall's do no have 90 degree angles. Walls have 92 , 95 ish angles!!!!! I cried, and yelled, and threw things, and said words a lady shouldn't say... At this point I was so over the project that I went to home depot to find the "cheater" corners.... AND I'M PROUD OF IT!!

And here she is :)

You can't tell in the pictures, but I also switched all the plastic hangers with the nice velvet hangers and it makes a world of difference! It saves so much room, and just looks super nice.

I learned two things from this project. One was just a good reminder, but things don't always go as planned, and you have adjust and sometimes improvise. The second, is that it's okay to pay for some things.... and next time, for me anyways, we WILL pay for someone to come out and install the molding for us.

Even with all of the frustration, I am IN LOVE with how the closet turned out. I'm still on the search for cute little nick knacks but now it's at least easier to get up in the mornings!!

Linking to Thrifty Decor Chic's before and after party!

Spring Cleaning

First off, Mr. Husband is sitting next to my while I'm writing this post, and he said that I can't call this Spring Cleaning because it's not Spring yet.

so...

I've asked him kindly to go make me some breakfast :)

All I can say is that it feels like Spring in Arizona, so I'm leaving it as is :) Anyways, when we came home from Georgia (for Christmas), I was definitely in the mood to do lots of cleaning. Particularly when it came to one closet, often referred to the "Wedding Closet". We moved in to our house a couple of weeks before the wedding and everything that had to do with the wedding was thrown in to this closet. Then, after the wedding, everything got thrown in to this closet. Over the months even more has gotten thrown in to this closet (spices, baking stuff, books, crafts, bags, household cleaning stuff, shoes, etc.). I finally decided it was time to tackle the closet, but that I was going to have some fun doing it :)

Don't you love the spice rack that's getting ready to fall?!?

I'm embarrassed even showing these pictures....

So... remember this post with our pantry (which by the way I had no idea people were still responding to... I have a lot of questions to answer!!!). I decided I was going to do the same with this closet. This time however, in stead of mod podging fabric on to contact paper, I was going to try spray adhesive. I've been wanting to compare the two methods....

Knowing how messy and sticky it is, I laid down plastic so it wouldn't get all over the garage floor. The process was the same really... I had precut the fabric to the height and width I needed and worked in sections. I sprayed about 12 inches worth, laid down the fabric, then sprayed, then laid down the fabric, etc.... you get the idea :)

I wanted to try the spray adhesive because you don't need to wait (if at all) to hang it, unlike the Mod Podge way, where I let it sit overnight.

Then you simply peel of the backing, and voila, you have a insta-cute closet :)

Then after buying a few jars, labeling, and putting everything in just the right spot, this is how it turned out :)

Here's a closer look.... Unfortunately you can't see the brown stripes in the pictures too well...

I had so many cupcake liners cookie cutters, and just baking stuff in general, so one shelf was dedicated to baking :)

I couldn't believe I had so much chocolate hiding in the closet (This isn't even half of it...lol) I am also a sprinkle junkie so of course I wanted those displayed as well!

Here is another shot of the brown stripes... I'm obsessed with it!... so much so I'm starting another project with them in another part of the house...

Here's another shot, with the magazine holders from last weeks post.

and the Recipe Binders as well....

I picked up these baskets from Michael's for 50% off. They were still a bit more than what I would have liked to have paid, but we just really needed them :( . One holds Decor items, one holds Cleaning items, and the other holds Linens (napkins, place mats, runners, tablecloth, etc.)

Here is one more before...

and after!

And now to compare the two methods:

Overall, I like the Mod Podge method better. The Spray Adhesive method is definitely faster, but I thought the Mod Podge produced much better results. The Fabric wouldn't always stick with the spray adhesive, and the corners especially wouldn't stick as well. The fabric in our pantry (which used Mod Podge) is still holding up so well, with no corners peeling off. But regardless, both methods work so now you can try either one :)

Now I'm off to paint brown stripes in my closet... and I'm scared to death!!! But I found a freakin awesome paint at Home Depot that I'm dying to share. It just came out on their shelves and I can't wait to use it... I'll be back soon!