A Pretty Big Closet Detail I Overlooked

The island is about at the 80% finished point. I think I’m going to change my plan for the drawer front and door design, but that will just take a little bit of different (and cheaper) trim if I do that. I ended up purchasing different 12-inch pulls for the drawers.

I still need to add shoe molding around the bottom of the cabinets, but that’s not a huge expense at all.

I’ve already accounted for the chandelier project, and have purchased almost everything I need for that, with the exception of whatever I’m going to use for making the actual flowers. I have the metal rods for the stems and the products I need to hold the stems to the chandelier.

And I’ve already spent some time thinking through how to do that project and drilling about 50 holes in the bottom cap of the chandelier to get that project underway after I’m done with the island.

So I just need to find the right thing to use to create the actual flowers, but I can’t imagine that whatever that is (obviously, spoons come to mind) will be expensive at all.

The washer and dryer cabinets still need some trim, but I have all of that, as well as the plywood and trim needed to finish the countertops on each one. It’s just a matter of finding the time to finish those out.

As far as items needed for the cabinets, those will all be filled with items I already have. These shelves will hold my handbags. They’ll just sit right on the shelves, so I don’t need any type of organization products for those shelves.

The same goes for the shoe shelves. I don’t need anything else for this section other than to bring my shoes in and place them on the shelves.

I have two sections for hanging and folding clothes, and I don’t anticipate that I’ll need any type of additional storage products for those shelves. I just need to get my clothes out of the sunroom and into this room.

This section might need something for storage on the top shelf, but I have my laundry baskets and step ladder.

I’d still like to find a small step stool to store in this section that I can pull out to reach the top shelves on the handbag and shoe sections, but that’s not a purchase I’m really stressing over right now. Any cute little step stool will work.

All of the trim on this wall and above the washer and dryer has been installed, with the exception of the shoe molding. It’s been wood filled and sanded, so I just need to caulk and paint. But I already have the caulk and paint on hand. And as far as privacy goes, I’ve decided to stick with the window shade I already have, although I might decide to lighten the color just a bit. If I do that, I’ll just use some paint and dry brush the shade with paint I already have. And I’m going to use some privacy film on the bottom, so I’ll need to purchase more of that, but that’s not a huge expense.

And then I’m going to move the sconces and artwork from the breakfast room into this room to use over the washer and dryer. The sconces need to be painted, but I already have the spray paint to get that done.

So in my mind, all of the purchases I had left to make were pretty small and insignificant. Spoons (probably) for the chandelier, a bit of shoe molding, some window film.

And then I realized I had overlooked a pretty big item. I had planned to use baskets for these shelves since I scrapped my idea of putting doors on these sections, and I had completely forgotten about them.

In my mind, baskets weren’t a big thing. They don’t register in my mind as a significant item or a significant expense.

Well, I was wrong! Y’all, since I realized my oversight, I have spent about two hours online searching and searching for baskets to use on these shelves, and I’m running into two problems. First, finding baskets big enough seems to be the biggest challenge. Those shelves are 25″ wide, 16″ deep, and 13″ high. Almost all of the rectangle baskets I’m finding that are labeled as “large” are about 16 inches wide. That simply won’t work. I want something at least 20″ wide, but 24″ wide would be preferable.

And it’s true that baskets are generally not a huge, significant expense…when you’re purchasing one basket. But I want ten baskets for these shelves. (I don’t plan on using baskets on the very top shelves.) And when you 10X the cost of anything, that can get expensive really fast.

So far, the only basket I’ve found that comes close to the dimensions I need is this one from Home Depot. It’s 21″ wide, 16″ deep, and 10″ high. Those measurements are pretty perfect for what I need. And I love the look of it.

But that basket is $63.36. If I needed one, it would be an insignificant cost. Even two would be a reasonable cost. But I need ten of them! And I just can’t wrap my head around paying over $600 for baskets. I mean, $600 is a pretty significant cost that I completely overlooked.

So I have no idea what I’m going to do. Should I just grit my teeth and buy the baskets so that I can get this project done? I’m so ready to move on to the bedroom!!! Or is there another solution that I’m overlooking? Obviously, I want the storage on that wall to be pretty. I don’t want some cheap plastic containers filling up that wall. I want something large and at least 10 inches high so that it’s actually useful. I’ve wondered if there’s something I could make for a cheaper price, but then I’m spending even more time on another project. And making 10 of anything will take quite a bit of time, regardless of how simple it is.

But the plan for that wall was to store things that I won’t want out in the open. And since I’m way past the point of no return with eliminating the door option, I need to figure this out and either make plans to make something or just grit my teeth and spend $600 on baskets. Perhaps one of you will have a creative (and cheaper) solution for me.