The Walk-In Closet Project
Our Walk-In Closet project took about a year’s worth of nights and weekends to create, but the end result is even better than I could have imagined.
The Walk-In Closet project began by trying to make use of an old ‘sleeper porch’ connected to one of our bedrooms. A sleeper porch is a screened in or uninsulated outdoor area used by homeowners during D.C.’s sweltering summer nights before air conditioning was a thing. President Taft even constructed one on the top of the White House in 1913 which remained in place until 1927, because DC summers are no joke.
Our house was built in 1931 and when we bought it in 2015 it had already been updated to include a central air system, so the sleeper porch was past its prime and ready for an update. I love the character of our old house, but the closet space has always been an issue. As any girl knows, you can never have enough closets, and this porch was well-placed to become the walk-in closet of my dreams.
When we pulled off the siding and paneled ceiling, there was this amazing rustic wood underneath. We white-washed it all to give the whole space a nice clean feel and a rustic-chic vibe. We closed up the single-pane windows to create a closet space on one side and dressing area on the other. Two double pane windows that we picked up for a total of $15 from our local salvage non-profit, Community Forklift, helped us add some light back into the space. We went with copper pipe to build the closet bars and shelves and hung a few pendant lights from World Market that I got on clearance.
When creating the vanity area we realized I would need a few additional outlets, so we used surface mounted electrical boxes and painted the conduit gold to match the fixtures on my Target Project 62 vanity table. Above the vanity there was an oddly placed window that led into the bathroom which we closed up with a piece mirror that we got custom cut at Ace Hardware. We used a simple frame to put it in place and added some World Market sconces, and now it’s now the perfect place for me to get ready.
To round out the storage space we added two Ikea dressers that we customized with furniture feet and leather handles. For more on how we accomplished the look, stay tuned for an upcoming post about The Dresser Project.