From Messy Closet to Tidy Book Nook

I decided to revamp our hall closet and turn it into a book nook for the kids.

Our hall closet is a super awkward L-shaped space under the stairs where we used to store Christmas decorations etc., and later, baby gear lying in wait for baby #2. Since said baby is no longer a baby, and we've given most of that stuff away, I figured now was my chance to realize my tiny-space dreams. I've always loved those Pinterest ideas where people make use of weird little spaces in their houses, and I secretly long to live in a tiny house one day. Maybe this would satisfy my craving for smallness.

Of course, before I could transform it, I had to organize it.

Let's have a moment of silence for some of my running gear that I found buried and ended up donating. I'm not running any more half marathons anytime soon, and if I do, I will just have to purchase another dorky water belt.

We still use the front part of the closet for shoes and coats, etc., so I wanted to have a way of dividing the space up. I found a fun shower curtain online from IKEA. I cut it in half and nailed it to the back of the top shelf to make curtains.

Then, when I wasn't satisfied with the organization of the front area, I organized some more. Which basically consisted of hammering nails in the wall for hanging hats then hiding stuff in bins on the shelf.

Yay for bins!

I already had Euro pillows and yoinked them from the guest room for some cozy reading cushions. What guest really wants to take 23 pillows off the bed before going to sleep anyway, right? (Well, maybe my mom.) I got some fun shams from IKEA to spruce them up a bit. To keep things really crazy, I bought these awesome green shag carpet squares for kind of a grass effect (also IKEA). I measured and bought enough to tile the whole L shape. We'll call it a fairy forest floor!

Also from IKEA are the book shelves for the wall. We have these in my daughter's room, and they've been wonderful. IKEA must have caught on to the fact that people were using their spice racks for book shelves in the early days of Pinterest then expanded on that idea. These are bigger and (I'm guessing) sturdier than the spice racks. Thanks, hubby, for the install! I know this was an awkward space for a tall man such as yourself.

For the lighting, I happened to be at Target with my mom when she came across this cute hanging tent light in the dollar section.

I hung it in the middle of the nook, and it provided a decent amount of light and cast cool star shapes on the walls. It lasted awhile, but the kids would forget to turn it off before exiting the book nook, so we'll use it elsewhere.

I ended up buying some fairy lights on Amazon that came with a remote control and strung them up with tiny command hooks. I could've done a better job hanging them, but I'm just glad to have this task off my to-do list.

And that's that! The kids were pretty excited about the book nook for awhile, but the newness has worn off. My mom remarked that it would be a great place for Mommy to lock herself in with a glass of wine and a good book. Hmmm... Down the road, I might just make it my dream book corner complete with wine storage—what better place to store wine than a cool closet?? But for now, it's a fun space to read to the kids or for them to destroy like they do all things in their path.