My Week Off To-Do List:

My husband and I are off this week for Christmas vacation (an advantage of both being teachers). I had a list for things to get done this week; however, we got our 1st snowstorm yesterday, which left me stranded inside our house. Besides working out, I also caught up on tv shows, emails, etc. I now have 4 days this week to start checking off of my to do list:

1. Pick out a design for my new closet (see below)
2. Go to Home Depot to buy the closet materials.
3. Visit Benjamin Moore to buy the paint for this dresser.
4. If we still go with the oil-based paint (the best option), then I will have to leave the house (go shopping) so my husband can paint it. If we go with water-based paint, then I can paint it while the closet is being built saving us another day, saving us the messy clean-up, and saving me from having to be out of my house due to the smell.
5. Hang shelves in the dining room (pictures to follow).
6. Create wedding album from Picaboo. Yes, our wedding was back in July 2009 and we do have a smaller coffee table album, but I've been wanting one of those thick albums with cardboard type pages that lie flat. With a Groupon I received a $100 gift card for only $35. This is the classic wedding album I have envisioned!
7. Make closet dividers for the baby's closet. I thought about registering for them, but a set includes only 5 dividers and I'd rather attempt to make my own. I plan to follow these directions. I just hope I can find the plastic dividers at AC Moore or Home Depot.

I currently use the closet in the nursery to store my clothes. My husband has taken over both the closet in our bedroom along with the closet in MY dressing room. I'm not sure how that happened. So, with the baby coming in a few months I decided I wanted to build an open closet in my dressing room using the space that currently holds my 2 Ikea dressers. This will free the closet in the nursery allowing storage space for the baby and her clothes.

I have started to squeeze in my daughter's clothing on the bottom shelf, which makes the closet look very cluttered. Here are some recent photos of my closet:

 What's nice about this closet is that to the left of the photo below is more space to store shoes. :)

I am using these sample designs from Home Depot to select the design for my closet. Here is a sketch of what I'd like my new closet to somewhat look like:

•  1 long shelf the width of the closet on top
• 2 poles on the left side to hold tops and pants (shorter length items)
• 1 pole on the right side to hold dresses, tops, etc
• Under the dresses I can store an ottoman or small bench 
• 1 shelf above middle and right side of closet (to hold folded jeans)
• 3-4 shelves in middle of closet 
• 3-4 shoe racks below middle shelves

I've decided to go with the wire rack designs for a few reasons. First, it's less expensive than the wood finishes and I want to have the flexibility of changing the design in the future without feeling guilty and without costing me a fortune. Secondly, the wire designs come in a silver chrome, which I like and will match my hot pink dressing room well. Lastly, I actually like the look of the wire better than the wood finish because the overall design looks more open and more spacious. The wood design would make the room look smaller and more compact.

Check back for updates & pictures on the new closet, as well as the other items on my to-do list!