Closet Case: The Ultimate Kid's Study Zone!

This month I have been all over the place with my projects.  I have about a trillion on my list so I have been slowly tackling them one at a time...

One thing I have been really wanting to do since we switched our boy's bedrooms around, is create a study zone for Preston.  And where else would I think to do that?  Why his closet of course, you know, since it worked out so well for us!

It's been awhile since I had provided you with an update.... remember how I had left you with this image?

No worries.  I wouldn't let my love live like this for long.  We finished painting out all of his trim and moved his belongings back.  So now it looks a little like this....

But the real story is all about his closet.  This is where some magic recently took place!  Lots and lots of magic.

You see, it started off looking like this some time ago....

 
And then I shopped around my house to collect some accessories that quickly provided inspiration and gave me a vision....

So we tore everything out of his closet.

Painted out the trim white.

Put the kid to work painting the inside the same blue as his bedroom walls.

And we were left with this!

SO much better right?!

Then, we snagged a couple of these shelves from Ikea and installed them, along with a new desk {just like we did in our own closet} and his wall accessories....

TADA!

My little buddy's new desk space packs so much personalized organized punch, that he now begs me to do his homework!  WINNER WINNER!

Want a closer look at what's inside?

We will start from the top.  We mixed and matched personal accessories with functional storage.

The football is a cherished gift from a dear friend, with some artwork propped up behind it.  And those baskets, which I totally scored in the dollar section at Target!  Well, they are up high because they are filled with craft paints and stamps.  Not only are they not used as frequently as some of the other craft supplies, keeping them up so high, keeps them out of reach of the littlest fingers in our home.

Working our way down to the next shelf, I used this orange giant paperclip {found at Marshalls}, as a way to bring in some of the colors from the rest of his room.

We reused bookends that we already had, to corral his growing library of books!

And to add some additional personal touches, since he is a giant fan of playing sports, baseball especially, I wanted to pay tribute to that by displaying one of his baseballs.  I just sliced off the bottom of a paper towel cardboard roll and covered it was some scrap paper, to create the baseball stand.

Below the shelf we installed the towel bar removed from our bathroom when we replaced it with individual hooks.  The towel bar was the perfect way for us to store the large roll of paper the kiddos use for their crafting projects!

The rest of the back wall is where a lot of the fun happens.

We reinstalled his peg board {which used to be above his previous desk space}

Right now he uses the peg board to store his crayons... there are extra clips for him to add photos of friends or reminders for school.  We also added a paper covered wooden monogram and an inspirational note.

Because Preston typically has homework that he keeps for multiple days in a row, such as a monthly book log, I thought that a clip board would be the perfect way to keep track of those things at all times.

I tossed some stickers on the bottom to spell out his name, again, doing all I could to really personalize this space for him!

The cork board really was just a cork tile, cut to size, popped into a frame and tacked into the wall....

As far as storing all the rest of his drawing, writing and art supplies, of course I couldn't go wrong with my no fail soup can covered with scrap paper method!

I just love how some of the numbers are cutout, letting the tin show through... and for the paint brushes, I went a little out of my typical can realm and used an empty Crystal Light canister instead, and popped a star brad embellishment through for kicks!

   

On the other side of the desk, I placed a charging station over the hole we drilled for the task light and for charging his MP3 player and DS.

I found the charging station at Target for about $2.50 in their dollar section.  Mega score!

Of course, no desk would be complete without some task lighting, especially in a closet space since there is not much for natural light.

The task light was a clearance find at PBTeen, which means it was still a splurge, but worth it nonetheless!  It offers a ton of flexibility with three pivot points that extend to the proper position, then lock into place!

The best part was that I totally did this project HGTV style, keeping Preston locked out of his room until it was done, and then capturing his reaction of the final reveal!

And that's what it's all about!

So what once was this....

Now is this!

Which is just lovely!

I hope that there are some ideas to be found here... a lot of what went on really was a matter of reusing and making many of the personalized desk accessories.  And knowing that my Preston isn't getting any younger {which may make me an itty bit sad}, means that he needed a space that he could grow into for many years to come...  I say, "Mission Accomplished!"

Now it's your turn!  What's your favorite part?  Anyone gonna snag any of these ideas for your own spaces?  Who else has been doing a little closet transforming?  I would heart to know!