One of my big goals in 2017 is to get hyper-organized in all areas of my life, from client processes to the way I store my makeup to the tidiness of my closet.

The beauty of getting organized is that as you’re sorting, it becomes crystal clear what items no longer have a place in your life. If there isn’t room or it no longer serves a purpose, throw it out! There’s a sense of satisfaction in letting go and donating all that clutter.

I didn’t always have a walk-in closet. In fact, until a year ago, my clothing and accessories were confined to two side-by-side IKEA wardrobes because there wasn’t enough built-in closet space in my 1920s home to hold much of anything.

My IKEA wardrobes made it easy to stay organized with add-in drawers and shoe racks and Joey took over the small closet in our room. This worked well….but there was an even better solution lurking in a drafty, bare raftered attic space tucked behind a door off to the side of our room. Most of the time, I forgot it was even there.

A few years earlier, Joey had spent a month remodeling it to use as an art studio, cutting odd-shaped drywall pieces to align with the peaked roof and angled beams. When that was done, he painted it out and added flooring. It was cozy but even in the center, the space wasn’t quite 6 feet tall so he had to duck inside and always sit on the floor to work. It wasn’t ideal for him but it was perfect for me since I’m 5 foot 3.

The Tour

After Joey built out a new, roomier studio space in the basement, I took over the former attic area. In went more shelving, Cole and Sons woods wallpaper left over from our dining room, a fresh coat of white paint and rope lights, which snaked along the floor seams.

This once unused, dark space I always avoided slowly came to life and was now the perfect hangout for playing with new looks and getting dressed up!

Once the space was cleaned up, we moved onto a solution for holding all my clothing. A lot of you ladies who have had clothing racks know that the cheaper store-bought ones tend to bow in the middle or come crashing down from too much weight (been there, done that!)

On the other hand, metal pipes can handle all those dresses! Joey built 3 clothing racks in total from supplies he found at the hardware store. They line up with the pitch of the ceiling. The center is taller and holds dresses, some of which are quite long while the left side holds skirts and coats and the right holds tops and sweaters.

Right by the entrance to the left, there are shallow built-in shelves which are perfect for holding clutches, sunglasses and shoes. The wallpaper behind them adds a nice pop of pattern.

Below those shallow shelves are the things I need to grab most often, tucked away in white wicker baskets from Target including underwear, bras and pajamas.

A nail was added to the side so I could hang up a few smaller bags.

Behind that are beam supports that once left an open area of wasted space so Joey added a piece of wood as a base and then angled slats which make it possible to display more shoes. (In case you’re wondering: in a past life, I sold shoes for 5 years and the obsession rages on.)

Along one side of the space is a very long, windowless area that’s much too narrow for furniture. This was by far the hardest part to figure out a solution for because we couldn’t have anything bulky along the walls.

It has a steep incline so we installed a long piece of wood from Home Depot along the entire length which makes it an ideal spot for more sunglasses, purses and jewelry.

Below the shelving is a row of identical IKEA white banker’s boxes which are used for storing purses, keepsakes and everything I want to keep but isn’t used regularly enough to have sitting out.

On the right, we installed four round IKEA mirrors which create visual interest and reflect light.

Along the very back of this narrow area, Joey built in additional shelves which I use to hold the basics that don’t need to be hung up. I use them to store a stack of leggings (top), jeans (middle) and hats (bottom). On the floor, I have storage boxes for more bulky stuff (shoeboxes for designer items I want to keep) and on those rest clear plastic organizer trays for scarves, socks and tights, all arranged by color.

Closet Sources

• Round mirrors (similar), IKEA
• White banker’s boxes, IKEA
• White wicker baskets (sold out), Target
• Clear jewelry and sock trays (similar), Target
• Woods wallpaper, Cole and Son
• Paper bags, Be-Poles
• Metal hangers (sold out but I love these from HAY), IKEA
• White pendant light, IKEA
• Clothing rack piping and supplies, True Value
• Rope lights, Home Depot

5 Organizing Tips

I have a few easy tips to help you stay organized once and for all:

1. Arrange your clothing first by type and then by color.

Think of it this way: if you’re looking for a shirt, you know where to focus and you tend to remember an item of clothing based on its color. I have a ton of dresses and if I’m in the mood for a pink one, I can quickly locate my options.

2. Store your less used items away.

Get rid of the clutter by buying up a bunch of boxes in the same color and style to create a sense of uniformity and clean lines while hiding those seasonal items and keepsakes. Out of sight, out of mind!

3. Roll your socks and tights.

These items get tangled and separated easily but if you’ve rolled them into trays, it’s easy to find a specific color and pattern quickly without ending up with the entire tray thrown onto the ground!

4. Use mirrors to create the illusion of more space.

My closet as a whole is a pretty decent side but the right side is very long, dark and narrow. Adding a row of mirrors creates a sense of depth and makes it feel slightly less claustrophobic.

5. Wrangle odds and ends you don’t want to lose track of into bags.

I love Le Sac En Papier bags because they’re sturdy and stylish while hiding clutter. I have a ton of swimwear (I tend to travel to warm locales often) but don’t use it on a daily basis. The pieces all go in this bag so I can find them easily when packing.

Thanks for reading! It’s been pretty rewarding taking this once wasted space and transforming it something that I now use every day. With everything having a place, it’s less likely to get messy because I have no excuses.

Any questions about the space or organization? Let me know in the comments!

When I moved into my house back in 2009, my bedroom was painted a horrid shade of glossy band-aid beige. Actually, the entire upstairs was. My aunt Shannon spent her days off helping me cover it up as quickly as possible with my home office across the hall becoming white with black trim and my bedroom becoming black with white trim.

I’d always dreamed of having a black room and finally owning a place of my own gave me that chance. The thing about my bedroom is that the ceiling takes on the shape of the roof so it has a very high center. Having a high ceiling that is edged in trim painted white means that the black doesn’t feel so suffocating.

While I’ve always been a fan of stark, graphic color schemes (surprise, surprise!), when Joey moved in shortly after, he wasn’t a fan of having absolutely no color. In my mind, I spend my days working with tons of colors as I create my clients’ brands. Color is always on my brain so when I go home to relax, I crave a blank slate.

I’d been talking to Joey about revamping our room with a splash of color over the Summer but felt stumped. I wasn’t sure how. Then, he asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said, “A massive portrait of Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.” I told him I wanted a piece of art for our room and since he loves pink, I went with a pink background. Joey is a painter specializing in pop art style portraits so he was up for the challenge. He kept her hidden in the basement until he was done and surprised me with a 4 for tall painting a few weeks later!

As soon as the painting was done, I ordered two Chad Wys prints splashed in similar colors, one for each side of the bed. A few weeks later, I was walking through the medina in Marrakech and stepped into a shop selling hand-loomed wool blankets. The pink stripes matched Joey’s painting perfectly so I bought it for a total steal (about $40.00) and it became our bedspread.

Our room still felt barren so I grabbed a big, lush plant from IKEA, along with a lamp and added a geometric wall planter.

Finally, Joey had the idea to revamp the built-in storage cupboards on the wall next to our bed. He removed the doors, knocked out the center framing, painted the interior black and mounted a TV. Now, it feels like a much better, more customized use of space.

The thing I should mention about our bedroom is that it’s even more challenging to decorate given that it has 4 full-size doorways. Yes, you read that right. This means that there’s very limited wall space for furniture. Door #1 is the entrance to the room. Door #2 is Joey’s closet. Door #3 was a storage space Joey remodeled and turned into a shoe closet for me. Door #4 was a massive attic area that Joey remodeled and turned into my walk-in closet. (For the record: yes, I know I’m lucky!)

That’s my walk-in closet above. With all the doors that need to swing open, we’ve purposefully kept the furniture situation super minimal. We just have a bed and 2 nightstands so the space doesn’t feel overly crammed.

If you’re interested, here are the decor sources for our space. Some items were purchased 8 years ago so I no longer have links but all the recent items are linked:

Elizabeth Taylor painting: Joey Maas
Chad Wys prints: Society 6
Face pillow: Urban Outfitters
White lamp: IKEA
Acrylic nightstands: Ebay (old)
Plant and planter: IKEA
Cut-out bed frame: West Elm (white is discontinued)
Pompom blanket: shop in Marrakech
Light: Ebay (old)
Statue bust: Home Goods (old)
Geometric wall planter: Urban Outfitters
White TV: Sceptre via Amazon

The cool part about this room revamp is that it cost very little. We already had the furniture and the walls were already painted — all it came down to were a few splashes of colors, some plants and a few pieces of art. I love how the vibe of a room can change with a handful of adjustments.

Of course, being Winter, the lighting situation isn’t ideal so I apologize for the graininess and lack of quality of these photos. I hope you enjoyed the tour and if you want a tour of my walk-in closet, let me know in the comments!

On a final note, Joey is accepting custom commissions so if you have a portrait in mind, get in touch at joeymaas@gmail.com.

Next up in home posts: our newly remodeled bathroom!

I’ve missed you guys this week! I’ve been holed up in the studio finishing a bunch of branding projects and sending the next issue of Rock n Roll Bride off to the printers while also putting the finishing touches on our newly remodeled bathroom (wallpaper! brass everything!) before leaving for Italy.

Our house has been in complete shambles over the last month as our upstairs bathroom has slowly been getting gutted and revamped into a much brighter, more modern space. Finally, we’ve turned the corner with all the dirty, hard work being done (plumbing, drywall, painting) and all the fun design details are now coming into play.

I’ll be doing a big reveal with before and after shots once I’m back from traveling but in the meantime, I wanted to give you the inside scoop on what it’s going to look like! The focal point of the room is going to be the Martinique wallpaper that I’ve been obsessed with for years. I first spotted it at Indochine in New York back in 2002 and then again at the Beverly Hills Hotel last year. So good, right?!

I went back and forth for weeks on a wallpaper choice and first decided on this design but realized it was a non-repeating pattern that was cut into a custom mural-style piece. I figured if we messed up hanging it, the whole thing would be a total waste so back to the Martinique pattern it was. Since we were able to borrow a tile saw from a friend and Joey did all the remodeling and tiling himself, we had some wiggle room to splurge on something we both love (and that will remind us every day of Palm Springs!)

To accent the very bold banana leaf pattern, we’ve gone with all brass hardware on every detail from the sink faucet to the toilet lever to the p-trap. The rest of the details including the tile, grout and paint are white. The wallpaper does the talking (and rightfully so – this is a true classic!) so the rest of the bathroom is modern and understated.

Sources: Martinique wallpaper, brass mirror, brass toilet paper holder, brass towel ring, brass faucet, brass toilet handle, subway tile, brass p-trap and brass and marble knob.

This bathroom remodel has been a turning point for me. In the past, I felt the need to rush through every house project, brushing past the tiny details because I just wanted it to be done. Now that I’m a bit older getting more into house stuff, I’m enjoying researching options more. I didn’t know what a p-trap even was before this remodel but now I want everything to match. Even researching knobs for our medicine cabinet has been fun (for the record, Anthropologie has some amazing options).

I can’t wait to show you the outcome…along with the atrocious before photos! Because, my friends, whoever thought it was a good idea to glue linoleum directly to the walls of our poor little 1928 bathroom needs to get schooled. I’m so relieved that view has been replaced with floor-to-ceiling white subway tile. Ahhh, sweet relief.