The Way To A Woman’s Heart Is Through Her Closet

I am sure you have heard that saying about how the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? Thank goodness that is not how it works in our relationship or I would have been dumped the minute I asked my husband how to boil water. What about the way to a woman’s heart? Is it flowers? Is it candy? How about diamonds? I think every woman has their own idea of the ultimate romantic display but for me it is a thoughtfully designed closet. I’m with Carrie, offer up a walk-in closet and I’m all yours.

And it’s not just about size (I’m talking about closets people! Get your mind out of the gutter!), it’s about design. It has to be equal parts aesthetic and ergonomically correct. Basically I need it to look pretty and be functional. You can have the world’s largest closet but if it doesn’t make sense to you and how you get dressed it’s useless. Likewise it can be as orderly as boot camp cadet’s locker but that doesn’t mean it’s pretty.

Enter my hubby. If I didn’t love him so much I would find him incredibly annoying because he is one of those people who can pretty much do anything, and do it really well. If he doesn’t know how to do something he will learn and inevitably be successful.  I am so not one of those people. But lucky for me house projects are his form of unwinding, he actually needs to create and build things or he gets very restless. When we moved into our new (old) home one of the concerns from all of those who care about me was regarding closet space. I was not concerned because my prayers had been answered. This house comes with an honest to goodness (I swear you can check the description on the original blue prints) dressing room that is attached to the master bedroom. Neither rooms are terribly large but basically our bed is in one room and the other room is for our clothes…and shoes…and accessories!!!! Heaven on Earth!

I was more than happy to give up the charming (that means small) closets in the dressing room to my husband if I could have the rest of the room, sounds fair right? He very sweetly agreed and even offered to make the space as functional and beautiful as possible. I already had several metal garment racks on wheels that made for great hanging storage but the shoes were becoming an issue. We needed to go vertical before someone broke their ankle tripping over a stiletto. Chris’s solution involved some old planks of wood he found in the attic of the detached garage. To keep the room from becoming too girly he paired the wood with galvanized pipe for a rustic and industrial feel. The result was sturdy and chic. It’s true love!

We are still working on the rest of the room but we it is coming together really well. I have places for some of my favorite personal mementos and artwork, and the place feels feminine without alienating my husband all together. And for functionality I still have my large dresser from our previous home to house t-shirts, pajamas and of course belts!

*Insider Tip – Don’t wait for perfection.

Most people will wait to do a project until they know they can do it perfectly can completely. This usually makes sense when you consider both money and time. But when it comes to your closet there are ways to get around any type of permanent solutions. Metal garment racks are perfect for this because they can come on wheels so you can move them when needed and can be taken apart or collapsed for easy storage. At under a $100 a rack they are the perfect way to try out a closet system and get a feel for how much clothing you really have and how you would like it displayed. In order for me to fit the shoe rack along the back wall I had to edit out some of my clothes so that I could get the room down to 2 clothing racks. I admit I totally freaked when he had to attached the shelf to the plaster walls and screamed “Honey what about resale???” He looked at me like I was nuts and told me we are never ever moving again and we will both be buried in the back yard. I guess that is the good thing about finding your forever home. But I am still on the fence about putting up a permanent wall solution for the clothing racks so these metal ones on wheels are a perfect solution.  I haven’t even been able to commit to placing the chair in the same place. In the meantime I am putting together a job offer proposal to my husband to bring him on as construction consultant for all my clients who have unique closet storage challenges. I’m just not sure it is going to be enough to lure him away from his day job. But maybe if I learn to cook him a really good meal….