Small Space Organization {Master Closet}

When Trent & I purchased our home almost 5 years ago, we were both more than excited. I came across a book advertised in a magazine I was reading called Our House Journal. Basically, it's a scrapbook for the homeowner with pages set up with prompts, pockets to hold ideas, and a few sketch sheets. This book has been great for keeping up with the little details around our house from paint and fabric colors to ideas on how we'll remodel a space. One of those spaces is our Master Closet.

The Master Closet is 7'-0" wide by 3'-6" deep. Not overly large. When we bought the house, the closet had metal wire shelving - a single shelf on each side high enough to hang dresses and two 3'-0" wide shelves in the middle spaced to hold shirts or slacks. Sadly, I never took a photo of this setup. But, trust me when I say it barely held my clothes which meant Trent's were in the guest room closet.

Reworking the Master Closet layout was our first big project inside the house. In January 2004, we went to Lowes with the intention of purchasing additional wire shelving pieces to improve the space. As we were looking at the options, I realized none would work. They wouldn't fit within the size and current arrangement. Being the professional designer I am ;) - I dug in my purse for some scrap paper & a pencil and begin sketching a new option. Below is the much nicer sketch I created later for our journal which illustrates the before and after:

We ended up buying multiple wood veneer closet pieces by ClosetMaid. It took about 2 days because we had to remove the old shelving and patch & paint the walls. Then construct and install the new pieces. We did reuse the 2 wire shelves that were originally on the side walls. They are both on the right side wall now and stacked so Trent & I can both hang shirts & slacks.

I have a few photos on the pages below of our progress. Of course, the cats were both very curious and kept an eye on things - note Cali yawning and Chester found the shelves to make a great napping spot. ;)
We spent about $300 on the wood veneer pieces. For a more functional space, it was worth it. We've easily shared the closet for the last 4 years and still have enough room. :)

2ps blog challenge:
What are your scrapping plans for the weekend?
I would like to work on my Disney album a bit more. Also need to finish uploading photos to be ordered. Those 2 are top on my list.