Making a Built-In Art Closet

Do you have a space in your home that just doesn’t function for you? For me - that was the second closet in our office (actually both closets are an issue, but that’s really a discussion for another day). As soon as we first toured the apartment, I knew I wanted to build shelving in the space, and in the end, it really became a decision of how built-in I wanted the shelves to be. I ended up settling on ledges that I could easily remove and simple, inexpensive wood shelves to set on top of the ledges. The cost of the shelving was cheap - just a few pieces of plywood.

Would you prefer to watch instead of read? I made a closet DIY video and you can find it here:

Here’s the before and after of my un-packed, unfinished closet WITH NEW SHELVES!

Once built, it was a debate of to paint or not to paint, but I’ve settled on not to paint so far and I’m liking the Scandi/industrial vibe. I also like that I don't have to … paint the shelves.

My next decision was … to buy or not to buy brand new matching bins? Guess what I chose? New bins!! Our pleasures are so much more limited these days (COVID!!!!!!) - it felt like buying unnecessary, but beautiful matching bins was almost required. I’m very happy with my self-care choice, and am linking the bins here in case you want to buy storage materials in the name of self-care as well. (I bought the light grey color in small and medium).

I hope this gives you some desk inspiration! Do you think this is something that you would try?

as ever,

Keya