Neglected Corner Turned Boutique-Style Closet + Super Easy DIY Jewelry Hanger

We’re so thrilled today to welcome Tera to our contributor team! Today she’s sharing a gorgeous closet and a super easy DIY jewelry hanger, and you’ll just LOVE her style! Be sure to go check out her site and follow her there!

Hi, I’m Tera of Tera Janelle Design.  I’m so excited to be joining the Remodelaholic team!   I’m a designer, photographer, and list-loving woman who adores sweet potato pancakes and a good country song.  I have the incredible honor to partner with clients of all budgets, walks of life, and design styles to create homes they love!

And today I’m checking in to reveal the new walk-in closet of two extra special clients.   After 30 years in Wisconsin, we moved to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  These two were my first Virginia design clients!  During our first design rendezvous we tackled their living room and dining room and an awesome $85 refresh of their kitchen.  When they told me they were expecting their first child and were anxious to remodel their master bedroom before baby arrived, I couldn’t wait!

They are world-traveling, spunky, high school sweethearts.  Audrey loves interesting coffee mugs, bunnies, and the sound of the rain.  Dave loves craft beer, driving with the windows rolled down, and a really good cup of coffee. On the regular, Audrey works as a production manager for a leather bag line and Dave as a local police officer.  They are a funny, sentimental and endearingly relaxed couple.  And they make me baked goods and celebrate with homemade pizza and champagne = the perfect clients.  I was so excited to create a comfortable, functional, vintage-inspired master getaway for these soon-to-be parents!

The Design Plan

• Create storage
• Overhaul a neglected end of the room to create a walk-in closet
• Blend the colorful, shabby-chic design style of Audrey with the more neutral, casual style of Dave
• Bring in additional light
• Keep the beautiful patina of the painted wood floors
• Build-in additional character
• Display mementos throughout

The bedroom was big!  Not mansion big, but for a little cape cod, the bedroom was sporting some serious square footage.  But for all that square footage, there was a teeny tiny closet – we’re talking 2′ wide by 4′ deep teeny.   They had made-do by relying on the closet in the spare bedroom, which wasn’t much larger in size. But with baby on the way, that closet was soon to be claimed by baby clothes and baby stuff galore.  It was time these soon-to-be-parents had their own closet!

So we added a wall to this neglected end of the room to create a spacious walk-in-closet. We added pocket door hardware during the framing, and Audrey and I visited an architectural salvage shop to source this antique door.  It reflects the sense of character Audrey loves and the door’s simple paneling reflects Dave’s casual style.  The door’s glass allows the light from the window to carry throughout the room, but the pocket door provides a sense of separation from the rest of the bedroom.  (Door color: Benjamin Moore “Charlotte Slate”)

The door was without hardware when we bought it, so we found an antique doorknob and plate at the same salvage shop.  There were a whole variety of ornate, carved knobs to choose from, but as with the door, we kept the door knob and plate simple to play to Dave’s style.  The door knob and plate have gained patina with time, and there’s evidence of stray paint from the years.  But that sense of age and story is exactly what Audrey loves, so rather than stripping it back, we left the hardware exactly as is.  It’s the perfect blend of Dave + Audrey.

Dave and Audrey already had the full-length mirror on hand, so we simply hung it on the wall.  I found the baskets and storage boxes at local home decor stores.  The baskets and wooden hangers add warmth and contrast to the otherwise white space, as does the DIY jewelry hanger.  (See instructions at the end of the post!) And the vintage license plate adds character and keeps the space from feeling overly pretty.  After all, Dave has to use this closet too.  I love the juxtaposition of pretty jewelry beside the worn and rustic license plate.

Dave and Audrey were inspired by the layout and shelving in our own Cape Cod Project master closet renovation, so we followed a very similar hanging-to-shelving layout and ratio in their closet.  The layout provides space for full height hanging, shelves for folded clothes, and most exciting of all — a space for shoes, which had been previously stored in a heap on their tiny closet’s floor.

The white shelving, brackets, and rods were all available at a local big box store.  By painting the walls white the functional but not particularly pretty brackets disappear.  Instead the storage boxes and baskets, the clothes, and the pretty accessories take center stage in beautiful, boutique style.  (Wall and trim color: Sherwin Williams “Snowbound”)

The slanted ceilings, indicative of a cape cod, created the perfect nook to add floating shelves and a spot for the laundry hamper.  The nook is extra deep (over 4′), so it offers great square footage for storing suitcases, out-of-season tubs of clothes, purses, and gym bags.  And the addition of a 4″ angled, recessed light adds light to this otherwise dark nook and highlights the front of the shelves as beautiful display space.  And with a career in leather manufacturing, Audrey has beautiful bags to display!

The closet has two light switches.  We ran the ceiling fixture and the 4″ recessed light to separate switches for a very practical reason.  As a police offer, Dave is often coming home or getting ready at all hours of the night. By flipping the light switch for the 4″ can light, he has light bright enough to get ready by but not so bright it wakes Audrey.

I’ll be back soon with the transformation of their bedroom.  I can’t wait to show you what became of that old, teeny tiny closet!

SOURCE LIST

Paint, Walls and Trim — Sherwin Williams “Snowbound”
Paint, Pocket Door — Benjamin Moore “Charlotte Slate”
Door and Hardware  —  Local antique and salvage shop
Ceiling Light — Allen Roth Semi-flush Chrome
Rug (similar) — Dash & Albert
Wood Hangers — Target, Maple 24-pack
Fabric Storage Bins (similar)  — Bed Bath and Beyond
Storage Boxes, Patterned (similar)— The Container Store
Baskets (similar) — The Container Store
12″ x 6′ White shelf board  — Home Depot
12″ x 48″ White shelf board — Home Depot
96″ White metal closet rod —  Home Depot
72″ Wire Shelves —  Home Depot
White Shelf and Rod Support Brackets  — Home Depot
Wood Shelf Track Brackets  —  Home Depot
Wire Shelf Track Brackets  —  Lowes
Adjustable Shelving Wall Mount Hardware  —  Home Depot

DIY Jewelry Hanger STEP-BY-STEP

Looking to give your own space some practical function and boutique style?  This closet jewelry hanger was a simple DIY project!  Once all the clothes and shoes fill this space, it will serve as both a practical and pretty focal point.  And even a closet needs a focal point.

I wanted to be conscious of keeping the closet design from feeling overly “pretty.”  After all, this is Dave’s closet too.  So I hung the vintage Vermont license plate (the homeowners’ home state) above the jewelry hanger to provide a bit of vintage, rustic balance to the pretty, delicate jewelry.  And by keeping the jewelry hanger’s design simple, Audrey’s jewelry — rather than the hanger — gets to take center stage.

Materials Needed:

• Poplar Board: 1/2x2x4 (cut to desired width.  Ours was 14″ wide)
• Brass Cup Hooks 7/8in (brass fit this space, but white, black, and silver are also available)
• Pencil
• Drill
• 5/64 Drill bit
• Pliers
• (2) Command picture hanging strips, size medium

Steps to Build the Jewelry Hanger:

1. Starting 1″ from the end, mark every 1/2″ inch.  Stop 1″ from the other end.
2. Using a power drill and the 5/64 bit, pre-drill holes approximately 7/8″ deep for the cup hooks.
3. Screw the cup hooks into the pre-drilled holes.  Use the pliers, if needed, to help turn the hooks.
4. Ensure all the cup hooks line up.
5. Pull the backing off of one side of the command strips.  Press the sticky side to the back of your poplar board, one command strip on each end.
6. Remove the second backing from the command strips once they are attached to your board.  Press to wall in desired spot.

That’s it!  Now the fun part, displaying your jewelry!

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Looking for more great closet ideas?

IKEA Closet Organizer: Built-In PAX Wardrobe in a Shared Girls’ Room

Amazing master closet makeover with built-in storage and bench

His and hers master closet makeover

Easy tricks to create more space in your closet

Creative closet solutions to add space and maximize what you have

Tera Janelle

Website | + posts

Tera Janelle is a designer, photographer, and list-loving woman who adores sweet potato pancakes and a good country song. She is a Wisconsin farm girl who grew up and fell in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where she presently masquerades as a Southern gal. She adores nearly every type of cheese, sunny days, classic interiors, and the perfect shade of gray.

Tera has spent the past 10 years working in staging, renovations, construction, and design. She has had the great honor to design all varieties of spaces, from boutique commercial projects to charming, historic homes.
She prides herself on affordable, classic, and comfortable design—offering a variety of design services to suit every budget.

Find more of her love for renovation, bright interiors, and marble anything on https://www.instagram.com/terajanelledesign/, or from time to time on her blog.

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