DIY Custom Dressing Room - Progress Update
/Time flies when you're having fun! I just realized the other day that we've moved in for just over 4 months! It's so nice to be in our own house again, and be able to just play house.
The Mr. has been building our closet with the little spare time that he has in a day, some nights right after dinner or playing floor hockey with the little man. Though I never rushed him (never did!), I'm sure he just wants to put this behind him. It's a huge undertaking, and I don't blame him one bit.
During this time while he was building the closet, I had my clothes at the seating area of our bedroom, while his were at the playroom's closet. All of a sudden our seating area looks so spacious =)
That's because the Mr. has completed our closet to a point where we can move in our clothes. Woo hoo!!
Excuse the building material in the pic, they're just more handy for the Mr. while he was working in the closet. The Mr. was afraid that I won't have enough hanging space for my side of the closet. But after I've "KonMari"'d my clothes, I've purged bags of clothes and folded whatever I can KonMari-style. All those bottom drawers sure came in handy with the folded pieces of clothing. The vanity drawers are like our mini dresser for our intimates. Last but not least are my dream-come-true pull-out racks! The Mr. would use his side for ties and belts, and mine would be for scarves and belts. It's great to have a spot for everything.
The Mr. has primed and painted the exterior frames and the closet interiors. My colour inspiration was from this photo:
Natty by Design
I love this bluish grey, not too dark nor too light. Our dressing room doesn't get much natural light, so a dark colour would make the area a dark hole. This shade will highlight the cabinet's detailing just right. A close match to this greyish blue is Benjamin Moore's Sidewalk Gray, which we chose in a glossy finish and tinted down to 50%.
Benjamin Moore Sidewalk Gray
This colour is a gentle backdrop for the gold hardware we chose for the closet. I stuck with one out of my choices of gold hardware mentioned here - a crystal knob for the vanity drawers that we'll also be using for our kitchen cabinets.
This time around, we opted to have doors for our closet, so that our clothes aren't collecting dust while they're just sitting around. (See the dressing room at our old house with open hanging space). While I was shopping for gold-toned handles for the doors, I noticed the Bar Series handles from Lew's Hardware are a very popular choice amongst decorators:
They would've been an easy choice, but I think that something dressier and less contemporary would be more appropriate for the dressing nook. The boxy bar seems to make everything else boxy in this boxy closet. So I continued to search for something more rounded. Rounded, I did not find, but looking around paid off... I found this gem:
The beveled hexagon ends really give this glass handle a gem-like resemblance. It has a good weight and it sparkles elegantly in person!
With this splurge for the glass handles, I sure was glad when we found plate handles at just $3 a piece at Ginger's clearance section! They would go on the bottom drawers, giving a balanced contrast to the sparkling hardware above them.
The 3 cabinet hardware look lovely together:
Here is a hardware map for our dressing nook:
The Mr. is now working on the cosmetic fronts for the closet - trims, moldings, drawer fronts, and doors. Over the weekend, he has put in the first trim around the top of the drawers. I wanted a "lip" that extends just beyond the drawers to give the unit some details. Similar to my original closet inspiration from Carrie's closet in Sex and the City 2:
CARRIE'S CLOSET IN SEX AND THE CITY 2, IMAGE VIA MARKS & FRANTZ
I thought the hardest part of building this closet was framing the structure and building the drawers, but he said the trim work and doors are just as much. I guess my point was, if he could build this closet from scratch, the trimwork and doors must be easy peasy to him.
And that's our little update on the Mr.'s DIY custom dressing room/ dressing nook/ closet. No matter what we call it, it's truly one of a kind. The Mr. is no carpenter; he's been learning as he went along, and I continue to be amazed by his skills... and dedication to the project.
Just as the Mr. thought that he's safe to move along and close up the closet with trims and moldings, I added a special request for the closet. Yup, the wifey requests never stop ;-) Can you guess what it is?
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