Closetmania (My 2 bedroom is now a 3 bedroom)

Living in a house built in 1948 does not afford you the luxury of great electrical or an abundance of storage.  I have existed for 7 years without closets at the front and back door (although I have rigged up hooks at the back door for obvious reasons) and the closets in the two bedrooms consist of 8' x 34", and I have a closet at the bottom of the basement stairs that has an overpriced organization system in it and that is IT!

I've tried to stick with the rule when one new piece of clothing comes in two have to leave and while that doesn't always happen, Spring and Fall are times I have devoted to "letting go" of some of those items that I may wear again one day!

I've also learned that even though I have this "rule" I need more cabinet storage especially downstairs where I had previously been storing linens next to the work bench - now that I've organized that and moved most of the bed linens into the closet at the bottom of the basement stairs, everything I had in the bottom of THAT closet had to find a home - cabinets incoming!

I have a small third bedroom (if you want to call it that - it's the place I send anyone who wants to rent a bedroom for short periods of time or weekend guests) that could use some cabinetry. I chose simple white IKEA cabinets in a configuration that still allowed me to have the double bed underneath and still have a small bedside table (bedding and bedside table to be blogged in the future).

Here's the Before

You can see half way down the wall is not painted - that's because there used to be a 12" book shelf that spanned from one end of the room to the other.  There was also an opening for a pot bellied stove at one time (likely when the home was originally built) and there was a stack on the roof that was removed a year ago when the roof was repaired.

When I was planning the cabinets from IKEA I was very gently told that the overheads (because they are typically used over fridges) needed to be supported on all three sides - because I was putting two of them together I knew from simple physics that if they were supported by the BEAM between the first and second floors that wouldn't be a problem and the handyman agreed.  He also gave me some really good tips for measuring and drilling the holes for the handles so here are some pictures of what he suggested. 

Gently start by putting the drill bit up against the door and going about 1/4 of the way through door; then take a piece of wood and put it flat behind the door panel;

Open the door, place the piece of scrap wood behind the door and drill all the way through until you hit the scrap piece of wood on the other side. This will ensure a nice clean hole on the opposite side of the cabinet door (you know how you always get schlumpiness and cracks etc. - well that doesn't happen if you use the piece of wood).

I love the handles on the horizontal, I think it looks a bit more updated than just simple knobs or vertical pulls and it matches placement of the handles on the office cabinets upstairs.

Here's the After!

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT $1,029.00 (includes installation)
TOTAL TIME:  2 Days (plus three trips to IKEA to get it right)

Stay tuned for maybe a wallpapered wall and sconce lighting (the plug in kind - remember electrical is limited) . . .  I'm on the hunt!  I'd love to hear your ideas of what you would do!