A bedroom with no closet...

A friend was coming for a visit and my basement guest room didn't have a usable closet so I needed to scramble to find a good alternative. Any armoire would have to be fairly small and short to work in the small, low ceiling room. Craigslist came through for me with a plain, little 50's closet/drawer combo. The owners wanted $75 but they accepted my offer of $50.

This piece was just SCREAMING for a personality. I was itching to use some stencils I had and didn't want to just paint this in a conventional way. I admired MacKenzie-Childs color combos and whimsical designs so I used that look as my inspiration. The door pull was a nondescript, worn brass disc so I replaced it with an unpainted wood pull from Home Depot and painted it with a fun design. I removed the top drawer to use as an open storage cubbie for an extra blanket, and I even managed to find 2 coffee mugs that matched my design at Tuesday Morning to set on the shelf. 

I jazzed up the inside of the door by covering it with a state map. Why not, right? The armoire was cedar lined but the cedar made the interior depressingly dark, so I freshened it up with some pale pink semigloss paint that I had. The bottom got a little trompe l'oeil fringe.

I've since moved from that house, so I'm now using the armoire as a wrapping paper closet and a place to store some of my craft supplies. (See my post "A room of one's own" for its updated look.)

What I learned from this project:

1. Sometimes not having a clear plan is the most fun. I really had no idea how this was going to turn out until the very end. I was making it up as I went along.
2. Take a risk with your color choices. It's only paint.

3. Don't overlook a "plain Jane" piece - this is where you get to be really creative.