Color overload. It’s definitely a thing.
Just look in my closet. The salmon colored pants sandwiched in between the bright green and bright blue capris. How about that multi-colored patterned top beside the chevron blue top. And for goodness sake, those purple shoes with a side of gold glitter flats!
Cause that’s just how I see life. I see bright colors, bold patterns, and lots and lots of fun combinations.
So when I went to give my closet a little upgrade, I immediately thought about painting it a bold color. Perhaps even stenciling the back ground. That’s basically where my mind goes whether I’m dressing myself or decorating my house.
But after some seriously bad blue eye shadow years in middle school followed by a brightly striped knee sock period, I learned that it’s all about balance. Not all the colors and all the patterns at the same time are a good thing. You need some rest to allow the colors and patterns to pop.
So that’s where I went with the closet. I painted it white.
Sounds so boring for the self-proclaimed color addict, right?
Wrong.
It’s like I opened a boutique in my own home. Oh how the colors and patterns now shine in their resplendent boldness. They now have a spot to shine instead of being overloaded by another competing color.
[Oh how that rings true in life. Isn’t it funny how decorating rules can be translated to life so easily? You need to let other people have their moments in the spotlight. There’s nothing worse than a “one – upping” conversation where everyone is vying for attention. Everyone needs their moment. Let them have it.]
This is also one of the final spots where that terrible yellowed beige that was EVERYWHERE in the house. Beige be gone! White wins over you every time.
Behold the beige:
After the closet was white (one coat of primer followed by two coats of Olympic white paint straight from the can) it was time to put the clothes back in their freshly painted space.
However, I decided to put each item back with intention. I didn’t just pile everything in there. I first when through a series of questions:
- Do I love this clothing item?
- Does it make me feel great every time I wear it?
- Do I own this just because I one time spent (probably not a lot) of money on this item?
- Does it look good?
- Is this is best place for this item?
- Can I more effectively organize this space?
- Can I get rid of one piece of clothing from this pile I am putting back in?
It is amazing that cleaning out your closet can be a makeover in its own way. The “less is more” statement proves itself in a closet. All of a sudden you have a closet full of clothes you love! You get excited about getting dressed in the morning.
The moral of the story: let your bold items be bold with mixing in quieter moments (like a white backdrop). It is those quiet moments that really let the statement pieces shine through. If not, bold becomes the status quo and everything is just loud all the time. Embrace the quiet to cherish the bold.
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I know you are so happy with your made over closet. It’s also great that you got rid of clothes that aren’t really ones that you know you want to wear. I’m having closet envy just looking at how much space you have in your closet. Our house has tiny, tiny closets and I’d love to be able to see all of my clothes like you can. I also love the shelves that you have on the side of your closet. Great makeover!
Thank you Paula! I love getting rid of clothes! Wow – it takes very small closets to create closet envy in our home! We also have smaller closets but this closet in the guest room is definitely the biggest. So Eric has the small closet in the master bedroom and I have the biggest closet in the guest room!
Your white closet looks lovely, and your space is so organized! I’ve been debating painting our master closet . . . and I’m actually leaning toward doing it, mostly because we have all-white built-ins in there and I think that’s too white/white/white. But here? Gorgeous!
Thank you so much Meg! I love a good, organized space. It makes me sooo happy! I definitely think each closet has its own color palette. It sounds like yours might benefit from a fun burst of color!