A Bedroom with No Closets!

5 years ago, when we moved from a one-bedroom apartment into our two-bedroom railroad-style apartment, we were blown away by the increase in square footage and number of rooms. However, we were shocked by the sheer lack of closet space. The largest bedroom in the apartment had NO closets.

For a few years, we used the room as our master bedroom. We filled it with hand-me-down furniture and smaller storage pieces from IKEA in order to make up for the lack of closet space. After having two kids, we decided to switch bedrooms (see The Great Bedroom Flip) to give them the larger space.

BEFORE Photos

Here’s a little tour of their room, after we initially moved them into the larger bedroom:

We set up one wall with Mabel’s toddler bed and Matilda’s crib (it is a “mini crib”, which was perfect for apartment living: Dream On Me, Mini Crib in Espresso). An IKEA wardrobe separated the beds, to provide a bit of visual and auditory buffer between them. Um, that didn’t exactly work.

We set up an old wooden dresser between the 2 windows to hold Matilda’s folded clothes. The heavy wooden drawers needed to be carefully pulled on by both drawer knobs at the same time in order to open smoothly… not at all possible for toddlers to open independently.

The other side of the room held 2 large bookcases and a little reading couch. Mabel’s folded clothes were stored in the 3 drawers at the bottom of one bookshelf, and Matilda’s extra diapers and other baby items were stored in the cabinet at the bottom of the other bookshelf. And yes, that’s a LEGO Architecture NYC Skyline Model on the top shelf!

What Wasn’t Working 

We were able to fill all the random furniture with their clothing and other necessities, but quickly realized it wasn’t going to work long-term. Have you ever realized the furniture or storage solutions in one of your rooms just isn’t working for you?

We made a list of ways in which the current furniture wasn’t working so that we would know what we were looking for in new storage pieces. Here were the biggest issues:

• Mabel’s and Matilda’s clothing was split into multiple locations
  • Mabel’s folded clothes were in the drawers of a bookcase
  • Matilda’s folded clothes were in the solid wood dresser that she couldn’t open independently
  • Mabel and Matilda’s hanging clothes were in the wardrobe on a high rod they couldn’t reach
• There was not much extra space to store hand-me-down clothes being passed from Mabel to Matilda
• The limited shelves in the wardrobe were placed very far apart, so we had to stack boxes on top of one another

Wish List

We decided to create a custom wardrobe system using IKEA’s Pax design. The wardrobe system is fully customizable so we were able to write a wish list of what we needed from a storage piece and then incorporated that into our design. Here’s our wish list!

• All clothing for each child in one specific location
• Low handing rods they could reach independently
• Drawers they could easily open and close
• Shelves to store out-of-season clothing and “next size” clothing

This wardrobe system was a BEAST to put together. Mabel was eager to help me with the assembly, and I was happy to have the help! I slowly worked away on assembling the wardrobe system for a few hours each night for an entire week. The directions were easy to follow, but there were SO many pieces. The wardrobe frames went up quickly, but then we had to install each drawer, hanging rod, and customize the shelves to meet our needs. Then it was time to hang each door and drill holes for the custom handle bars. And then…TADA!…

AFTER Photos

…an entire wall of new wardrobes! Our old wardrobe was only 79 inches tall and 51 inches wide, but this new wardrobe system is 93 inches tall and 118 inches wide! It gives us so much extra storage space!

Both girls have 4 low drawers and a low hanging rod, so they can independently access their clothes. There are lots of shelves with room to hold jewelry boxes, diapers/pull-ups, wipes, boxes of out-of-season clothes and “next size” clothes. We even had room to store our keyboard and some photo albums!

We had room on the wall for 3 wardrobes, so the third one stores their jackets, coats, snow suits, baskets of winter accessories, and other storage boxes for outgrown clothes. It has transformed our storage strategies, it has made putting away clean laundry much easier, and it has increased Mabel and Matilda’s independence with choosing and accessing their own clothes in the mornings.

In the process of assembling the new wardrobe system, we also sold our smaller wardrobe, the wooden dresser, and one of the bookcases. We also switched out the toddler bed and crib for a bunk bed!

Here’s a little tour of the rest of their room now:

This wall now has their bunk beds and their remaining bookshelf, which still needs a fresh coat of paint. They love the new sleeping arrangement (although most nights they end up sharing the top bunk)!

We got the IKEA Kura loft bed used, and then purchased 2 of these great 5-inch gel memory foam twin mattresses, which work perfectly with the height of the upper bunk bed rail. Next we added a zippered mattress protector to each mattress. We also bought slats for the lower bed so that the mattress wouldn’t be directly on the floor.

The girls have still been sleeping with their favorite small blankets, but the next step will be to choose fun sheets and bedding with them! On the wall next to each bed we installed a small box to hold little books, and a reading lamp. We also still plan to add some other personal touches with frames, decorations, and art.

We moved the reading couch to the small area between the windows. The girls love to sit here together, or read books together as a family before bed. Our nuLOOM brand 8-foot round rug is one of our favorite parts of the room! We love the bright pop of whimsy and joy it brings to their space. The four pillows on the couch were made with love by friends and family. We love the sentimental and personal touch they bring to the room!

We love the updates we’ve made to the room so far, and are excited to add some more finishing touches! Let us know if you’re inspired to rethink the storage options in your own space!

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