DIY

Jourdan Fairchild and her husband hadn’t planned to tackle their daughter’s closet so soon after moving into their home, but the temporary wire shelf falling down one morning before school caused a change of plans. They decided to go ahead with the project for the fall ‘22 ORC, and ended up creating a strong contender for the world’s dreamiest, most enviable closet competition.

Jourdan and her husband Andrew had created multiple other built-in projects before this one, so it was easy for them to get right to planning.

To start off, they tracked down a dresser in the correct dimensions to act as the base of the main built-in.

They framed the dresser out to make it a true built-in, and turned the space on the left into cubbies for shoes.

Also, the existing drawers sat on the outside of the dresser body, so to make the drawers look inset, they attached thin plywood to the face of each drawer that would sit flush with the wood framing the dresser. The extra wood was attached with glue and screws, and then wood-filled to conceal any gaps.

Next, they added an upper set of cubbies directly above the lower cubbies, and framed out a big open space above the dresser for a mirror and a bulletin board. The space at the very top is for off-season storage.

Next came the pièce de résistance of their closet built-in: the arch framing the mirror area.

The final part of the frame was the upper shelf along the left wall, where the hanging clothes would eventually go.

Once was the frame was built, it was time for the universally dreaded stage of filling screw holes, caulking seams, mudding over the plywood grain, and the never ending sanding.

Jourdan highly recommends covering doorways with plastic during this stage to keep all the dust contained.

Finally it was time to start painting everything that gorgeous blue-green.

Also, note what a huge difference the addition of the crown molding makes.

Last but certainly not least, the finishing touches included the light fixture, the drawer hardware, the rug, and the mirror.

The finished closet is absolutely incredible. Building that frame seems like it was quite an undertaking, but wow did it pay off. Now, Jourdan’s daughter has a closet with plenty of storage that looks downright heavenly.

The ORC editors recently put together a guide of their favorite DIY products. You can check out all their recommendations here.

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