Boston Inspired Master Closet Make Over!

Boston.  Such an amazing city.  Tonight, the world's attention is on this American treasure because of the awfulness that occurred at the Boston Marathon earlier today.  My heart is indeed heavy and I am sad, angry, frustrated and even a little bit scared.  I visited Boston for only my second time in November 2012 for the Notre Dame vs. Boston College football game and I fell in love with this historical city all over again.

While exploring Newbury Street, one of my most favorite shopping streets in the world, I was introduced to the world of Jack Wills.  It is a store imported from Great Britain and its signature colors are navy blue and pink stripes.  The store is amazing and I became an instant fan.  I chose to use that Jack Wills inspired color scheme in my master closet makeover.

There aren't a lot of great things about being single, but it is definitely a perk that I don't have share a remote control or a closet.  And even though I hold out hope for meeting and marrying the man of my dreams, for now I will seek solace in enjoying MY new closet which is mine... all mine.  LOL

I don't believe I am going to post these BEFORE pictures.  Yikes - this closet held a LOT of stuff.  Everything from clothes to Christmas decorations, lamps and even a big Santa Claus.  Do you have holiday decorations in your closet?  I don't have the luxury of a basement but I still don't know why we do this.  :-)

These lamps were here only temporary so they wouldn't get broken but then there are some Easter baskets and an Eddie Bauer Home Store (now defunct) teddy bear which was a gift from my Mom.

So here we have an empty closet and a hardwood underlayment from tearing up the carpeting.

I started with some basic white stripes and only used paint which I had in the house.  I then moved to a navy paint which I decided against for the dining room.  I knew I had a quart of "oops" paint which I picked up for a $1 last summer to have on hand in case I came up with an idea for it.  :-)

My favorite color combo - navy and white!  I was thrilled with the stripes!  

I then primed and painted the floor white an really liked the open feeling of the empty closet.  I decided not to put the back shelf and rod back the way it was.  I had this overcrowded bookcase in the laundry room downstairs and decided to use that in the closet for room for sweaters and folded shirts.

I washed it and covered the shelves in this adorable pink shelf liner from MacBeth.  I found three packs on clearance at Marshall's.  It was the perfect color!

I put the book case in place and placed the large shelf on top which worked out perfectly.  I then cut up the long pole into smaller sections and attached them to the wall and the bookcase.  I covered them as well in the pink shelf liner for a more polished look.  I then had extra wood shelves from the dining room hutch I broke apart and used a circular saw to make shelves which fit between the bookcase and the wall.  This created little cubbies which are perfect for shoes or smaller items.

This is probably my favorite part of the closet.  I hung this bar low to the ground so as not to waste space but to create a place just for my tennis skirts.  It worked out perfectly.

When it came to the floor, I wanted something a little kicky.  So I decided to do a monogram and an anchor just for fun.  I found the initial decals on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1.  Sweet.

I started to move in some pieces to see how it is all going to work out.  I wish I didn't have a ton of stuff to fit in this space although, rest assured, Santa Claus is not coming back in.  :-)  Cheers!