Small Spaces
We bought a project house and we love it - for the most part! I've been going through each room sprucing things up mostly with paint. This week's focus was on the upstairs hallway. I patched, primed and painted some spots and then decided to tackle the closet.
Our hallway closet houses our cleaning supplies. It was dark and dingy but with the door closed you're able to forget that! Now we could keep the door open and I wouldn't be embarrassed.
Here's the before:
Pretty basic right? You can't see in this picture but at the bottom there's some gapping between the wall and floor and a couple of larger holes. Makes it look even worse!
My plan was to paint the side walls bright white and paint the back wall a fun color. Here's a shot of the completed painting:
I used Sherwin Williams Silver Dust for the bright white. This paint was actually left by the previous owners so ZERO cost to us!
The back wall is a mix of colors. I had a sample of Sherwin Williams Interesting Aqua that I was initially going to use, but the first coat was too baby blue for me. So I added Sherwin Privilege Green and Tricorn Black to make it deeper and less blue. Fancy right? I totally have a custom paint color in the hallway closet because we're fancy like that! Ha Ha!
Again - These are paint colors that I just had on hand. and even when I did purchase them, the aqua and tricorn black were samples that I bought when Lowes had one of their 99 cent sample sales (LOVE those!) and the privilege green I bought on clearance for $2! Keep your eyes open when you go to home stores. They sometimes have mis-tints or overstock that is clearanced out which means BIG savings for you!
The bag holder on the wall is THIS one from IKEA. It used to be white but some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint takes it to another level!
Now with everything back in the closet:
Top Shelf: Our fun humidifier and distilled water. As well as my fave Bath & Body Works candles that I scored during the Holidays! I'm saving the empty candle jars to make Christmas presents!
Second Shelf: Cleaning sprays and ingredients for cleaning sprays. Hand soaps are also on this shelf.
Third Shelf: Lysol and Wet Ones wipes. Iron and starch spray. Sponges, Mr Clean Magic Erasers, and Dollar Tree Sweeping Cloths. I purchased the sponges and magic eraser at Costco when they had extra savings on them. Costco is doing extra savings on both these items starting February 8th thru March 7th.
Fourth Shelf: Oreck vacuum with attachments stored in an IKEA organizer. I was looking at different storage boxes at the dollar store when I remembered that we already had some not being used at home. ALWAYS use what you have first rather than buying something new!
Bottom Shelf: Vacuum bags for our upright vacuum and canister vacuum. We buy these bags through Amazon's Subscribe and Save program. Simple green purchased 3 or 4 years ago at Home Depot when they had a super daily deal on them. Vinegar purchased from Costco. Vinegar is so versatile! It's one of the main cleaning ingredients I use and it can be used for cooking. Love the two for one! There's also Rejuvenate wood floor refinisher on this shelf that I purchased at a tent sale from a local surplus store, Smith & Edwards. I haven't worked up the nerve to use it yet, but when I do I'm sure to write a post about it!
Floor: Oreck upright vacuum. Tide Powder detergent mixed with my homemade detergent. Brooms, dustpans, and our cleaning bucket. We load the cleaning bucket with whatever supplies we need to clean bathrooms, messes, etc.
Even though the hallway closet is a small space - refinishing it makes it shine and stand out. I wouldn't want the dark and dingy to be there while the rest of my home looks nice.
We still need to trim out the bottom and secure the swamp cooler line, waiting on Mr. Fix-it to do those. I'm also thinking a door activated light would be wonderful in here! Overall, it's definitely an improvement over how the closet looked just 5 days ago!
Do you have small areas in your home that could use a makeover? Have you done a small space re-do? We'd love for you to share!
