A Closet Evolution

For the first post, I thought it was only appropriate to show just how much my closet has actually evolved over the last few years. When looking for fabulous steals, the most important thing is having a place to store them so it all starts with the closet! I don't always succeed in this department because my eyes are normally bigger than the space I have. I started out cramming my lovely belongings (that had taken so much time to acquire) into just about every nook and cranny in each apartment I lived. The first was in Charlotte, North Carolina in an old, tons-of-character and lot's of charm apartment (below).

dining room for days

This apartment was great for someone like myself because there were many small closets, tons of shelves and tiny spaces for me to take over when storing my clothes including keeping my jeans with the sheets and shoes with the vacuum. You get the point...

On a whim, we up-and-moved to Baltimore in 2010, which is where I grew up and where my family still lives. My husband and I said goodbye to our apartment, packed a U-Haul and headed North. It felt like a real homecoming and we immediately picked Fells Point to live for the cobblestone streets, old brick buildings, lovely city charm and close proximity to just about everything. Below is the first row home we lived in. It had two floors, one bedroom and one very small (second) room. I've included a picture because saying this house was "small" really just doesn't do the size justice.

Chapel Street, the Notting Hill House

With no tiny spaces meant for shoes and little storage room, we turned the second bedroom into a working closet using an Ikea-built system. My husband spent countless hours erecting this great area and I LOVED it.

the fashionista herself getting comfortable in my clothes

When we decided that Baltimore was where we wanted to be long-term, we made the exciting decision to buy a house in the same neighborhood where we were already living. The row home needed a lot of work but the minute we saw it, we knew it was our house. It had such great character and fabulous bones with exposed brick, huge wood beams, molding throughout, a roof deck and multiple working fireplaces. It was right around the corner from the Notting Hill House, MUCH larger and had so much more potential (below).

South Washington Street

A new house meant a new closet but my approach was to get back to the basics. I am now only using one (primary) closet and really liking it. I cleaned out anything I hadn't worn in over a year, which was no small feat but the payoff is that everything I now need is in one place so I don't have to scramble to get dressed on the third floor, pick out shoes on the first floor and then race to the second for a necklace. The only issue is that this new closet is ugly, really very ugly. Although I was reluctant, I've included a picture of it (below). Keep in mind that while it looks like this currently:

My ultimate goal is to have it to look like this:

More to come on the beautiful mirrored french doors I have in mind as I find a thrifty way to locate them, negotiate my purchase price and get everything installed!