EMERALD GREEN HALL CLOSET MAKEOVER

How I gave my dark, drab and cramped hall linen closet an emerald green makeover organized with colorful, pretty storage.

Hello friends!   I seem to be on a closet kick lately.  I’ve done my coat closet, and I’ve done a guest bedroom closet.   I’ve even covered my own master bedroom closet doors with fabric!  This time I’m tackling my hall linen closet.  It was in pretty rough shape (see the ‘before’ picture below).  I don’t know what got into me or if I got into my kitty’s cat nip, but I went all out on the color.  I went green, EMERALD GREEN!  And it’s pretty awesome.

First things first, I had to clean it out.  Wow, I had a ton of crap in there.  I threw out so much stuff!  Then I did a quick survey of where I needed the most organization.  I have realized I don’t like lids.  I want to be able to pull a drawer/basket/bin out with one hand, reach in and out with the other hand, and close it with that same first hand I’m done.  Easy-peezy.

I headed over to Ace Hardware because they sell Benjamin Moore paint.  I love BM because they don’t test on animals.  I picked out Emerald Isle for my color in a semi-gloss finish.  Then I went to Target and had fun picking out baskets.  None of them were over $9.  Two of the items I got for $3 each form the “dollar bins”.

Here is how it has been for 12 and 1/2 years!  So embarrassing…

Here is what the closet looked like after I cleaned it out and took out the shelves.  Sooo much worse than I thought it was.  I think back and realize I just started putting stuff in there when I moved in, but never stood back and really looked at it.

Back to my beautiful paint!  So I barely (and I mean barely!) painted it all with a quart.  Because the walls weren’t properly painted before, the walls literally just sucked up the paint.  The same goes for the five shelves.  They were bare bones, so paint was absorbed quickly.  I didn’t even get a second coat on the inside wall where you can’t see, or the underside of the shelves.  This closet is small.  12 inches deep, 36 inches wide.  So if I were to do a closet again, I would get a gallon.

I couldn’t wait to get it all put back together!  In case you’re curious how I organized my stuff.  I put the most frequently used items at eye height – i.e., mini packs of kleenex and sticky rollers for pet hair.  The larger mint green basket is full of liquid products, so it’s heavier.  I put that bin at elbow height so I could comfortably pull it out and put it back.  The items I use the least are at the bottom.

I put cleaning/DIY rags in the rope basket below the mint basket.  I use them a lot, so they needed to be accessible if I had a spill, etc.

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Shop some of the baskets and and bins I used

That black and white basket at the bottom is full of hair stuff – old curling irons, flat irons, etc.  The big basket at the top is full of small cosmetic travel bags.  There is one shallow white plastic tray that is just for hand soap.  When I see cruelty-free brands of soap on sale, I always buy 3-4 bottles.  The black and white basket in the middle is full of clear sheet and pillow case zipper bags that I divided medications by ailment, first aid, cold and flu, etc.  I even bought some bins for nail polishes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and my TEMS system for my back.

So there you have it, my mini closet makeover!  I plan to clean out more closets soon.  Are you cleaning out spaces in your home, too?