ashes, ashes, it all falls down…

Several months ago we resigned our status as renters to be….((angels sing)) homeowners!

“Looks”, and inspections, are deceiving because it’s easy to disguise ((apparently)) a home that hasn’t been maintained well but “prettied up” for market.

Oh there is good “bone” structure and all that. A good “canvas” to work with. Which is a good thing because once we were living here and discovered the clipped electrical lines, mold, drain clogs, etc. we could console ourselves and think about juicy tax refunds. Right? Riiiiiight?

For several years, my closet consisted of boxes, crates, a portable clothing rack on wheels and some suitcases. NOW I have a walk-in. With a window.

And then before the holidays, it fell down.

Here’s what we did:

* We discovered that the racks were not put into the drywall but mounted unto pieces of wood that were akin to 2×4’s so any type of anchoring hardware would not sit flush with the wall.  This made it difficult to rehang the racks/bars and shelving.

* We cut pieces of thick dowl wood (like a cane), and shoved them under the shelving corners (running vertically from the carpet-like stilts!) to bolster underneath the shelving -in case it starts leaning downwards again.

* Then we put spacers on all the hooks holding the re-hung bars/racks because the racks never did sit to the bottom of the hooks-because of the wall mounting issue abovementioned.

* We went to the Container Store and told them the dimensions and what we needed for the side wall. I wanted shelving for my purses and I wanted it to sit as flush as possible (b/c of those big stupid pieces of horizontal wood…). I told them how high I wanted the space/height on each shelf and then they told me how many shelves we can make from floor (using the carpet floor as the first shelf-no need to buy another one just to sit untop of the carpet) to ceiling using the measurement I gave for the wall’s height. PERFECT. & CUSTOM. The order included all the shelving, all the screws & hardware plus the vertical runners (x2) (with slots for shelf arms) for one price, as well.

* Hanging items…THIS is still an on-going project. I started with the ‘huggable’ type. Then I freaked out!

TO BE CONTINUED.

ps- ashes? right after we moved in there was a forest fire over the hill…

Tags: closet makeover, closet organization, closet re-do, fashion over 30, fashion over 40, fit chick, house, house tips, new house