Our DIY Custom Dressing Room is (almost) Done!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  What's the game plan today?  Awesome brunch, followed by high tea, followed by a gourmet dinner paired with champagne?  That all sounds very lovely!  For me, I won't mind just spending my morning, afternoon, and night here...  My Mother's Day present from the Mr. - our ALMOST complete dressing room/ walk-in closet.

Disclaimer:  I'm sorry if my tripod sneaked in the photos.  I'm sure a professional photographer would know the trick with mirrors, but I'm not one!

We left off the previous dressing room update with the closet doors built and dry-fitted.

This is the current view coming into our master suite.

After the Mr. painted the closet doors, I suggested that a rope trim be added to the inner frame of the door.  The little architectural detail adds depth and dimension, while tying in with the trim that separates the bottom drawers and the upper hanging units.  Not to mention, it adds a touch of elegance to the otherwise plain shaker style closet doors.

I'm so glad the Mr. agreed to this little addition, though he warned that it would be the last wifey request for the closet.  :-P

The "must have" for any built-in unit is, of course, the crown mouldings.  For our closet design, the icing on the cake was the LED tape lights that the Mr. installed at the crown.

He toyed with the idea of LED lighting even before we moved in, and had our electrician install the rough-in for the LED lighting.  The Mr. decided to beef-up the simple crown design by adding a low profile chair rail just below it to create the illusion of a thick crown. 

The LED lights are then taped on the top of the chair rail to highlight the crown and light up the perimeter of the dressing room.

While he worked on the trim, we ordered mirrors to go on the doors.  For safety concerns, we opted to go with acrylic mirror instead of glass mirrors. Although all of the closet doors have soft closing hinges, we don't want to risk the danger of shattering fragile mirrors, especially when we have a silly little one in the house.  So for the look of mirrors and brightness, acrylic mirrors work out for us. 

The con of using acrylic mirrors is that they can scratch very easily and they need to be cleaned with a special cloth/ material.  Installation can also be tricky, requiring the thinnest of double-sided tape to avoid any warping of the mirror.  

We understood all of these, even the unavoidable minimal warping, before we placed the order.  In the end, we still love the acrylic mirrors, how it brightens up the dark indented closet space, especially when the sunshine pours in from the ensuite windows across the closet.

Drawers, as you can see, are a huge part of this closet.  They can store a ton of stuff with the KonMari folding method!  Having them on full extension self-closing glides are little indulgences that hit the sweet spot for our particular selves - when we don't hear the returning "bang" upon closing the drawers.  

Nothing beats customized storage.  Even though we don't have excessive articles of clothing, it's important that we have a spot for everything to keep clothing clutter under control. 

The vanity drawers are also on full extension glides.  Sorry I can't share the more intimates with you.  But I'm totally envious of the Mr.'s collection of colorful socks!

The Mr. still needs to patch up the trims at the mirrors and install the chandelier.  I wouldn't even have minded if the mirrors aren't installed by Mother's Day.  But I've to admit, seeing it to pretty much completed is like my closet dreams come true.  

This closet has definitely come a long way from our previous DIY dressing room from hacking IKEA PAX wardrobes.  I can't name one favorite part of this closet - the built-in vanity, pull-out racks, numerous drawers, or the mirror doors.  All aspects of this closet are pretty AND functional.   

I'm quite proud of the Mr.'s amazing build, and so is he!  He asked if I were surprised by his ability to build this closet from scratch, or does he just meet expectation.  One thing I know is, I never doubted he would be able to build this from scratch (he built our office built-in at our previous home).  Yet, he still exceeded my expectations; I think the closet has turned out even more beautiful than I had envisioned it to be.  I hope he's happy with this report card =)

Just as he wrapped up the other night, I told him the closet reminds me of a wedding gown boutique's dressing room.  It could be all the mirror doors' reflections on each other, the lighting, or the sparkly hardware, that had me reminisce about being at the wedding boutique.  I know I'm a lucky girl, and this closet was definitely built with love.  Thanks Honey!!

Here are the previous updates of our DIY custom walk-in closet/ dressing room:

Update #1

Update #2

Update #3

Giving a Builder's Kitchen a Personal Touch - Cabinet Hardware

SEE OUR MOST RECENT KITCHEN UPDATE!

Funny how Old Man Winter always stalls around when Spring is finally here.  In this STILL chilly weather, it's best to stay home to finish up some small home projects.  

We finally got all of the backordered glass knobs and installed them for the kitchen's upper cabinets this past weekend.  Here's a "before" photo with the builder's pewter knobs on the upper and base cabinet fronts (we've installed the bronze pulls for the freezer and fridge drawers on the right):   

And this was taken after the Mr. replaced the pewter knobs to glass knobs for the uppers and bronze pulls for the bases:

The kitchen doesn't look as dull as with the builder's pewter knobs.  I love how the shiny glass knobs glam up the kitchen!

Those 2 pewter knobs on the left in the above photo will stay until the Mr. has time to build the 3 pots and pans drawers to replace those doors.  Yes, they're on the to-do list ;-)

A grey and white kitchen can seem rather cool.  The touches of bronze and gold, found in the cabinet pulls, faucet, and knives block, warm up the monochromatic kitchen.

The back wall looks very empty now; we'll eventually install the backsplash.  We're not looking to do anything fancy-schmancy there, just a simple mirror backsplash to give the illusion of a larger kitchen.

And here's the view of our seating area, directly opposite to the kitchen.  We placed the couch so that the sink faces the middle of it.  This setup has proven to be an efficient social hub when we have family gatherings, so that our guests can be comfortable while we chat with them from the kitchen.

Changing out the kitchen hardware is the lowest cost upgrade you can install for a builder's kitchen, yet the results can often create a huge impact on a kitchen.  It'll leave you wondering what took so long to make such a simple change.

So we can now cross out another baby step on our mile-long kitchen's to do list:

• Change out cabinet knobs and pulls - DONE!

• Replace solid doors with glass doors at uppers above the fridge - DONE! (see kitchen trends post)

• Install mirror backsplash

• Build more drawers in lower cabinets

• Install mirror backs + glass shelves for those upper cabinets

• Install LED rope lighting for under the upper cabinet

• Install valence

• etc., etc., etc.... I'm sure there's always room for improvement, a simple task here and there sneaked onto the honey-do list :-)

To see how this kitchen design came about, check out our previous posts:

• NEW HOUSE - RANGE HOOD AND MINIMALIST KITCHEN DESIGN

• OUR MARBLE ALTERNATIVE KITCHEN COUNTEROP REVEALED!

• NEW KITCHEN UPDATE - INTEGRATED HOOD + UPPER CABINETS

Update #3 - DIY Custom Dressing Room + Video Tutorial

Well, the Mr. was at it again this past week...  No, not another hiatus!  The positive feedback on Instagram of our previous update was the fuel he needed to keep going.  We thank you for that!  He turned on his turbo DIY engine and completed the remaining 6 doors and installed them.

This is the view as you come into our master suite.  This is the hallway that separates the closet/ dressing nook to the right, and the master ensuite to the left.  Our sleeping quarter is at the end where the chandelier is.  

If we hadn't made this change to the original floor plan to replace the his and her closets, then this hallway would look very enclosed.  Deleting that separation and widening the entrance of the closet gave the bedroom a much larger impression.

And these are the 6 doors that the Mr. worked on this past week.  I'm so glad I can now hide my mess behind them!!

Instead of posting just another regular update, the Mr. had another idea.  While he was researching on how to install cabinet doors, it was hard to find a video that demonstrated the process from start to finish.  He had to piece together different videos together to grasp the concept.  

To ease the research process of other DIYer's, we've put together a short easy guide to install cabinet doors.  It goes from start to finish; from drilling of the cup hinges, to installing the door on the cabinet frame, to adjusting the door to fit against each other.

Without further ado, here's our video tutorial!  So grab a coffee and take a look!  It's only 5 minutes!

This is our very first video tutorial, and we would be grateful to receive any constructive feedback and comments.  Please feel free to do so in the comment section below.

Next step is, you know it, to sand and paint the doors...  but only the door frames, as we're installing mirrors on them.  Then comes the finishing touches of installing crown moulding and lighting.  I threw in another last minute wifey request on the doors (oops I did it again?).  It'll just make the doors nicer, and I'm glad the Mr. agrees.  =)

Stay tuned for more updates!  I have a feeling the dressing room/ walk-in closet will be completed VERY soon!!  

In the meantime, you can connect with us on our Instagram account to get the latest updates around our house!

Here are the previous updates of our DIY custom walk-in closet/ dressing room:

Update #1

Update #2