The before pics of my closet might not look that bad to you, but believe me, it was.

The entire left side was already removed in this photo below because we had a leak in our attic and the entry to the attic is in my closet unfortunately. So, we started here. Luckily, I had already been planning this makeover for a while.

I had a sad dresser painted in a grey chalk paint (see, I did the neutral thing back then too!) and the walls were a muted grey painted when we moved in more than 12 years ago.

The shelves were stuffed with little kids sleeping bags (what the ???) and all kinds of junk…some of which I use still.

The shelving was Elfa from the Container Store…original to the house when it was built 20 years ago. And while I would have loved to have some built ins, it is not something I was willing to spend money on. So I decided to work with the shelves, which were in good condition.

I hated the way my closet was organized, though. My jewelry was crammed inside a portable jewelry organizer and I could never find anything I wanted. I had no storage for my sweaters (I only have 5, but still…) and I didn’t want to hang them.

I headed to the Container Store—because isn’t that where you go for clever storage?  I found some great storage boxes meant for sweaters and I was sold. I bought 3 and planned to put them on my shorter shelves inside the closet.

With everything removed, it already was feeling better. I decided to paint over the grey and wallpaper at least one wall to give it some personality. Why not?

I happened up this screenshot in Netflix for the movie Persuasion. I fell in love with the wallpaper!  I began google searching and found it on Etsy. You can check it out by clicking here.  I got the pre-pasted paper.

Then, I began to look for paint colors to work with the paper and chose a pale pink paint (Innocence) from Sherwin Williams found in the flowers of the wallpaper.

I desperately needed better shoe storage, but I didn’t want the typical thing. I searched Pinterest and found many clever storage solutions but my favorite were curio cabinets. I hunted this one down from Facebook Marketplace.

I chose a semi-gloss pink from Sherwin Williams named Dragon Fruit. Even though this color wasn’t in the wallpaper, the pink blended nicely to create the statement piece I was dreaming of.

I also used Liquid Leaf to touch up the gold trim and correct where my pink paint had overlapped.

I picked a cute plaid wallpaper from Spoonflower for the cabinet because I already knew how checks and florals go together. It had both hot pink and blush pink in the plaid and was perfect for the project.

Then, I selected a cute rug from Annie Selke to complement the space and hide the brown carpet.

One issue with my closet was that I wanted to go inside my closet and get dressed completely after my shower.  That meant I needed a dresser inside the closet. I hated my old dresser because the drawers never seemed to pull out right. I am almost 54 years old and have never had a new dresser since I was a little kid. So, I decided to buy one for myself.  I found this pink one on Home Depot, it was just the right size, not too big nor too small.

I got busy hanging the wallpaper and immediately knew I had hit the jackpot.

The shelving went back up. Then I started thinking about cute hangers…all my hangers were mismatched and ugly. I found these Pink Velvet Hangers  and bought some Grey Velvet Hangers for my husband.

Then, I put my newly painted and wallpapered cabinet inside the closet and I was blown away. It was perfect and didn’t really take up that much space.  I installed a piece of crown molding at the top of the wall.

I went to work putting in my shoes inside the cabinet. It was perfect. I almost bought a different cabinet, but when I went to pick it up, I tried to put my shoe inside it and it was too shallow to fit. I’m glad I waited for this one…it fit perfectly!

The top two shelves are glass and the bottom two are wood, so those were wallpapered too. When the door opens, it reveals a secret storage and that’s where my winter shoes are stored.

I decided to stack most of my purses on top.

I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out.

My new dresser fit perfectly under the closet shelves.

In the top drawer, I have all my earrings and jewelry organized using some clear acrylic stackable trays from the Container Store.

I got a couple of large boxes from The Container Store as well as some pink floral bankers boxes to store all my mementoes.

I organized all my clothes by color and separated my short sleeve tops from my long sleeve ones.

I installed the sweater boxes and had room for a few more purses and my hats.

My dresses hang much higher, so I bought this Pink Folding Ladder so I could easily reach them and anything else up high.  I had this small Wall Mount Ironing Board already from Target. But I splurged on an Iron Organizer, too. Now it all stays organized and out of the way.

I can’t tell you how much I have already enjoyed my closet. It’s perfect and didn’t cost that much at all. See, it just proves what a little whimsical decorating can do for you!

If you want to see a tour of the closet with videos, head on over to my YouTube episode by clicking here.

I’ve linked everything above, but you can shop the products in my Like to Know It Closet Makeover by clicking here.