Thursday, September 27, 2007

Closets, Cabinets and FLAJ?

Working with whatcha got.
Sometimes you have no choice.
Other times you don't have to, but why get more.

Some organizers will have you buy all sorts of stuff to get you organized.
The thing is: if you ain't organized to begin with,
more stuff isn't going to help.

I'm a minimalist.
Not in the form of visual art, architectural design or literal sense.
I encourage my clients to use what they have, before running to IKEA to buy the so-called next greatest plastic container.
(I give you the FLAJ. Hey, I don't get it either, it's a plastic box)

When I was asked to help Carol with her closets, I was excited she wanted to use up some stuff she had around her home. She lives in an awesome older home, with small closets having the standard single hanging rod.
Carol asked me to purchase new rods to double the hanging space. And to use the wood in her garage to mount those bad-boys to the walls. (oh yeah, power tool project -- happiness)

I tore out the old hanging rod. Installed two shiny, new rods.
And raised the top shelf for storage.
(Tools req'd: circular saw, electric drill, & stud finder)
Much more room now to hang clothes.

Now, the COOL part of this project.

Carol has these built-in cabinets, but didn't like how they were open. She was thinking of hanging a curtain or sheer in front of them. Then I mentioned rigging up some cabinet like doors. Which then made her think of these shutters she had in her basement. Now, I'm figuring out how to get these 60 inch plastic shutters to become doors.

First, will the plastic shutters hold the hinges? Yes! (I used to be a plastic components engineer at Ford) Now, build up the frame to hold the new shutter doors. Again using wood from Carol's garage supply. Cut the shutters down to fit the cabinets.

Finally, mount the rigged up doors,
to the rigged up cabinet frame.
Ending up with a neat way to hide the shelves, using supplies that Carol already had. She needs to just paint and it will look awesome!

What a fun project!!
Power tools, design work, home improvement
and most important.....A delighted client!

What successful project have you used stuff in your home?
Bonus question: Anyone ever buy a FLAJ?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

No I have not bought a FLAJ, nor do I intend to ever need one.