Let’s face it – a closet or wardrobe can be filled to the brim with designer shoes, great accessories, and fun, flirty clothes, but the dream is always to have a wardrobe that reflects your style and starts to create that ambiance from the second you step towards it to choose that days look.
If you’re of the generation who grew up watching Carrie in Sex and the City, then you will understand the life goal of having the perfectly designed walk-in closet, complete with matching furniture and throw rugs. But let’s be honest, the Carrie lifestyle is a massive pipe dream but that doesn’t mean you can’t create a fun and fashion forward ambiance on a budget and make a wardrobe that uniquely reflects you.
You can take a dresser found at a secondhand store, stain it, paint it, and then shellac it with comic strips or even glitter and rhinestones. Take framed name art and plaster words that describe your fashion aesthetic all over the walls of your closet. If you are feeling creative and inspired, use any of these 10 tips for adding more personality to your wardrobe and see if you can create a space that reflects how you like to dress. Don’t forget to snap and send us your creative spaces!
Customize Your Hangers
Every closet needs to house hangers of every conceivable shape, size and style so your fresh, new threads can be hung up. Although you probably use them every day, your hangers almost definitely don’t get a second look despite the fact that they take up a good bit of space and can give your wardrobe a boutique feel if chosen or customised well. Use acrylic paint to make those plastic, metal, and wooden hangers stand out. If you want to put in a little more effort, use fabric and a little pillow stuffing to make padded hangers that possess style and panache and also protect more special items like silks or knitwear. Take a hot glue gun and put some cute little jewels on your hangers if you feel like going with a blingy theme. Utilize suede, velvet and other regal fabrics if your closet has a majestic theme going on. Although your hangers may not be the very first thing that you notice when you open your closet door, this small and subtle touch can really help your style to pop and it is almost like creating your own ‘shop’. Next time you head to a really great boutique you will see that even the hangers have been thought about to reflect the brand, so create your own brand vibe and feel like your shopping your own wardrobe every morning.
Use Hat Boxes for Storage
It isn’t exactly easy to come across hat boxes anymore, but when you do find them, there tend to be many different options. These circular shaped hat containers are usually decorated in different colors and patterns, and they’re pretty inexpensive to boot. If you have a bunch of accessories that don’t really have an appropriate place to be stored in your wardrobe you can use hat boxes to put them away in a really stylish manner. Stack them up or mix and match the lids to create a closet storage system that is easily adjustable and very accessible. Also because they have lids, items can be kept dust free and hat boxes tend to be extremely spacious and they look vintage and cool.
Decorate It with Name Art
When you were a kid, you may have made mini posters of your name using letters found on high-gloss fashion magazines. Generally speaking, name art is a pretty cool way to define any personal space as it is unique and not easily duplicatable. Name art isn’t just about identifying a personal space, it can also be used to remind you of the people, places and things that you love the most. Consider getting name art with the word ‘Paris’ spelled out if you think that your sense of style is Parisian in origin. It is a great way to personalise and continue to theme your space.
Put Up Wallpaper
Wallpaper has really had a revival, mainly due to the mass amount of home decor shows using wallpaper for ‘feature walls’ and this can be a great way to jazz up your wardrobe and continue your theme of your dream wardrobe on a budget. If you think that wallpaper is just a little too much, use border paper instead to give your personal space incredible flare.
Spruce Up Your Lighting
Firstly make sure you have good lighting in your wardrobe, after all you need to see what is in there. Why not add some spot lights that react when you open the cupboard? Equally you could simply re think your lighting in the room and look for colour light bulbs to set the mood or decorative chandeliers – you can even make your own. Or why not add a new light switch. If you have an outlet in your closet, consider adding a tall lamp that you can switch on and off for better lighting in specific areas.
Ceiling Art
Whether your closet is small or large, you likely spend more time looking at the ceiling there than you do in most other spaces in your home. It isn’t necessary to have a mural painting on your closet ceiling in the tradition of the Sistine Chapel, but you may want to put up a few posters, spray paint a stencil or otherwise decorate the very top of your closet space for more personality. If the right colors are used, you can actually use ceiling art to make your closet feel better and more spacious.
Put Up a Photo Collage
With smartphones being as popular as they now are, it is almost impossible to miss documenting all of your most special moments. Take the time to assemble your very best photos, including yourself, your family and your friends just enjoying life and create a collage that you would be proud to display inside of your closet. Alternatively, you can use photos of individual pieces of clothing that you get inspiration from to create a collage that gets you in the mood to try out new style creations. Or snap your favourite outfits and have them pinned inside the wardrobe on polaroids so you are never stuck for an idea of what to wear as you have your own look book.
Add More Shelving
If you have a closet that you can barely get inside of because you have a lot of clothing and accessories stored there, you are going to need to come up with a better organization system. You can give all of the old stuff you don’t want away, or even put up your clothing according to the season, but nothing works better than additional shelving. Fold up bulky clothing and keep only your staples on hangers for easy access. Shoes can also be stored on shelves so that you can see them easier than if they are kept hidden away in boxes.
Use a Shoe Rack
Shoe racks may make you think of the 1980’s when they first started appearing in the closets of parents everywhere, but they are still as functional now as they were then, if not a little more aesthetically pleasing. Placed on the bottom of your closet, they won’t get in the way when you need to riffle through your collection of winter coats in a hurry. Many different types of shoe racks can also be stacked together, so as your shoe collection grows you will be able to house them in the same manner as all your other existing pairs. Use different colored shoe racks to put away your sandals, sneakers, high heels and flats so you are always able to couple the best shoes for each of your outfits.
Jazz Up Your Closet with a Mirror
If you don’t have a full length mirror in your closet don’t despair. Use mirrors of differing sizes and put them up at different angles so that you can get a glimpse of yourself from head to toe. Adding a mirror slightly angled upward at the bottom of your closet will make you feel more statuesque, while giving you a really good look at your shoes in various outfits. Hanging a mirror at eye level will be helpful when you want to check your hair and makeup at the very last minute, and save you from needing to make a separate trip to the restroom.
Filling your closet up with all of your favorite pieces of clothing can make you feel special and stylish, but there are other ways that you can express yourself. Whether you have souvenirs from your travels hanging on your closet door or a great big photo collage hanging by your accessory rack, take time and add a few personal touches to your closet space. To get the most use out of your wardrobe, have everything organized well so that you are able to keep your shoes and clothing in a good state of repair as well as access them when you need them. As you add more of the things that describe you to your closet space, you will feel happier and even more daring as you go inside and get ready to put together an exciting and original outfit.
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