Closets with a view

Time for a tour of the "closet" hallway of our bedroom--we really don't know what to call this space. As a reminder, it's behind the wallpapered wall that our bed is on. The whole section is made up of IKEA PAX units built into the wall. There are four in total: three along the main wall (seen here) and then a fourth on the side (where I'm standing to take this picture).

We put a slim sofa table along the opposite wall (Yamazaki Home). It was smaller than we imagined it to be, but it works pretty well and is low enough that we can hang relatively long things from the hooks we installed along the top of the wall. Plus of course I have my original IKEA step stool (no longer available, sadly) to help me reach the higher shelves in the closet. All of it is in the light wood we're sticking to in our bedroom.

A lot of thought went into choosing the blinds for the two windows in here after, all the drama the last time we bought and installed blinds. In that effort, the trade-off between terrible and cheap-looking ones vs. those that cost a small fortune was....not ideal. This time, we found options that were pricy but not overly so (and ordered swatches and then waited for a sale), and we're quite happy with the outcome.
 

They are Bali Blinds roller shades in the black-out fabric named Silver Fox. Funny enough, that was the color I picked without any swatches in hand, and it remained my favorite after seeing about a dozen little squares. It looks sort of like a linen or slub cotton and does a good job of blocking light. The west side of the house doesn't get a ton during the morning, of course, but every bit helps when trying to sleep in on weekends.

Both pieces of furniture tucked in under the window are ones we bought down from upstairs (my jewelry chest and a dresser). I would love to replace that dresser with one that looks very similar but has more functional drawers--these are cheap and hard to open. I've been on the lookout for another maple or birch piece with similar height. The mirror was one I bought for the guest room a few years ago. I think at some point we will replace it with one that rests on the wall and takes up less space, but this fits the decor for now and I'm glad we've been able to make-do with so few new furniture purchases (for cost reasons as well as sustainability). The kids have been using the hallway area with the mirror at the end as a runway for trying out new fashion!

Here's a glimpse inside the PAX closets for an idea of how we're using all the organizational features in the system. We're using the hanging bar, stationary selves, pull-out drawers with both opaque and clear fronts, the pull-out shoe shelf and the pants bar (hard to see, but it's on the right above my shoes). They do certainly make it easy to cram a lot of things in there. And yes, for the record, I have PAX units and D has just one. But he's making it work.

And of course it's all by the light of this cute little chandelier (and some can lights, but that's boring). I had to add a little glamor

Next time, the bathrooms, which look remarkably like they did last July because, well, they're bathrooms and don't require much furnishing. But I'll show them off anyway before moving on to the projects we've been keeping busy with in the rest of the house.