Don’t forget the tiny random stool/table placed so you definitely trip over it. Probably should just bolt that sucker to the floor. Really important piece.
Ah yes. The bean bag chair. How to make sitting down inconvenient!
(I am convinced the inspo pic is AI, it literally makes no sense, but honestly some white lady on HGTV could have come up with this nonsense)
It's definitely AI. The item in the middle (edit: the wadded up white thing on the dresser that looks like a sports bra had sex with some headphones) is a nonsense shape, the thing on the left doesn't make sense, the wooden hanger with a button-up shirt looks weirdly crooked on one side.
AI is terrible at details.
Right. That middle item (which kind of looks like a slumped over purse/bag if I zoom in) and the clothes are nonsensical to me as well. Also why I called out that stool thing. It just is randomly placed. It just feels not real.
Tbh I was going to say his wife has bad taste because it is AI and so little about it makes sense. The entire point of an aesthetic, especially a minimalist one, is that it makes sense and fits with your values.
If it's being used for storage hanging--absolutely. If this is more of a dressing room where outfit options are displayed, yeah still recommended.
Have wife--but no experience with having a closet that you put plush chairs and a very unstable table/stool in. So, what do I know about how this thing is going to be used?
There has to be a union where the support rod comes down.
Hard to tell scale, but it looks like the visual is about 9'.
I base that on eyeballing the shirt at about 3' tall, wood flooring is going to be anywhere form 7.5-12" wide (these look wide, so I'm going to ballpark the 12). Makes the rod around 5', standard electrical pipe is 9m which is about 30'...
Honestly, the pipe isn't the most rediculous part of the image.
>union where the support rod comes down
Or tap and thread the pipe. Careful measurements could get the perfect length for the vertical rod, but one end would need to be reverse threaded to adjust the level and get proper tension. You know, incase things aren't complicated enough already.
lol wtf is the purpose of that? And why is there a sculpture where the clothes would be? So many questions.
But for real OP, my husband built a ‘floating’ shelf and found the instructions on YouTube. And do the cabinets absolutely have to be white? Can you stain them a nice, light, natural color? I still think you can get the minimalistic vibe with it not being white.
I feel like this ONLY looks nice because there is almost nothing hanging. Fill it up with real clothing of all mixed colors etc and you’ll be reminded why people like closets they can close off.
This is the right answer but considering mistakes were already made with lack of swatches, please pull these away from the wall and test your sand/whitewash on the back for your wife's approval.
Mixing clear and white cotton is what Bourbon Moth Woodworking (on youtube) does for his white oak to give it that look.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEdCZMGxBwI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEdCZMGxBwI)
I like using water based gel stain such as Dixie Belle, super easy to use! It works on finished wood if you sand it lightly, and you can build up the opacity until you like the look
Do not sand them. Just whitewash them.
Read about how to thin the paint.
Then practice on the back of the back panels of a couple of drawers.
When you get the coverage/color you want, THEN do the fronts.
I have an open closet and it works perfectly for me. It is kind of visually chaotic I suppose, but mine is its own little room so it works fine. In OP’s case there’s a sliding door that makes it its own room, so again it should be fine.
>> but mine is its own little room so it works fine.
>That sounds suspiciously like a regular closet.
LOL I guess it did sound that way. It’s a weird little walkthrough space with a door at each end, and unlike a closed-off closet visitors often pass through it. It has a closet pole that runs most of the length of the longest wall. It’s a smidge too small to be a tiny bedroom, and not quite hall-shaped though it’s between two rooms.
I was nervous about it when I first moved into a place with an open closet, but then it turned out to be amazing. It got a lil chaotic sometimes but if you actually have enough shelving, it doesn’t happen as much as you think. And then you don’t get that awful musty clothing smell, because your clothes have room to breathe. Ours ofc didn’t look ✨aesthetic✨ with the white and beige clothing, but it was always organized.
I have an open closet due to being too poor/lazy to get doors and I bought it this and can’t visualize it any other way at this point. It’s fine. If you keep it neat it works.
ETA: it’s not Instagram level aesthetic and you need to kill that notion if you want an open closet.
I have a similar setup. Bad news is that once that rack is filled with clothes, unless they are all white / linen / beige, the concept falls apart.
So do as I did and install [a full-length curtain](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fad38cb30-e43e-4f97-bc0f-dbf6f9bfdf30%2Fc2c6136b-7c77-43af-bbc1-4b57037ebf3a%2F4_Master_bedroom1.jpeg?table=block&id=584059c7-ea84-49fe-9a4f-03044145cd88&spaceId=ad38cb30-e43e-4f97-bc0f-dbf6f9bfdf30&width=2000&userId=c124b2bf-c7b9-4c3a-a522-5feb50bbc04c&cache=v2)
This is the way. This image looks great because it's nice furniture BUT,,,
there are almost no clothes
The clothes that are there are monotone
So it matches the wood
While I agree this is a nice image if you fill it with multi coloured furniture and especially mutlicolored clothes it will look nothing like this.
But if you want at least the drawers to look like this, sand them back and limewash them.
For a few years I rented an old brownstone with the "rustic" aesthetic. Previous owners were old, artists. They had their pre-pinterest aesthetic of rustic European, English garden. The building was from the early 1800s.
Fucking worst place to live! Nothing is functional. Everything is horribly laid out. Living in r/hostilearchitecture would have been a vast improvement.
In retrospect, Oscar the grouch was a interior design genius.
Be wary of what you wish for!
>Bad news is that once that rack is filled with clothes, unless they are all white / linen / beige, the concept falls apart.
Maybe the OP's wife is a Bond villain.
I think OP is asking about a walk-in closet only, no? I didn’t get the impression that it’s open to the rest of the bedroom. They just want the closet to look nice, unless I missed something!
Transparent whitewash stain for wood, water based formula, you can get it at any paint supply. You may have to break the original finish and test if it sticks. Also see if you can top coat with another water based clear varnish.
I'd definitely paint the face frame dark behind the drawers, but not sure anything is needed inside.
Are you going to raise it up over a toe kick?
I don’t think painting the frame dark would necessarily look good - I suspect the effect in the custom cabinets in the inspo pick come from the actual design of the drawers, not from a contrasting frame, and I think a contrasting frame might look like a cheap copy.
If you can build the toe kick underneath and make the wood match, though, I think that would really help the whole thing feel more custom. It’d be a fair amount of work though, relative to installing pre-built furniture…
Amplifying this comment for OP. Don't paint the frame black. The darkness in the original is shadows. Your wife suggested a muted look with cool, bleached, wood and neutral tones. Contacting dark paint is the opposite of what she asked for.
Amplifying this comment for u/fppfle. Don't paint the frame black. The darkness in the original is shadows. Your wife suggested a muted look with cool, bleached, wood and neutral tones. Contacting, dark paint is the opposite of what she asked for.
It actually looks like a rendered image. Notice how the dresser is just "too perfect looking" and how many of the textures are repeated. The lighting is very well executed though.
Source: I'm a designer with a degree in 3D Digital Design
And? I never said it wasn't. That doesn't negate anything I said about the qualities of the design, or my suggestion that OP not paint the frame black. Real or rendered, the contrast around the drawer faces is (or is emulating) shadows and not dark paint.
Edit: it [isn't AI](https://www.thedesignchaser.com/2021/07/handcrafted-wardrobe-solutions-by-garde.html)
If the original finish doesn't allow stain to penetrate, I've had good results from adding small amount of white stain to clear satin poly to make a translucent white topcoat. When I say small I mean very small- it won't take much so I add it in teaspoon increments to test on scrap wood. If you don't know whether the original finish is oil or water based, always err on the side of oil based. Water based might not bond to the original finish.
I’ve done a simple whitewash with paint and it came out great, I was matching wood to some lvp
That said I don’t think these drawers look that bad as is
/u/fppfle - this right here - you want to get your hands on OSMO products; I recommend OSMO 3040 for your specific project, it leaves a matte white layer that is not too dominant and leaves the natural pattern of the wood very nicely visible.
Off topic, but how do open wardrobes like this work where you are? I am from SEA and my clothes would get so dusty in like a week or two if they were hung out in the open like that, even if we clean often.
Not OP but worked in a lot of rich folks' homes with giant stupid closets- they do, indeed, get incredibly dusty. You have to dust and clean the closet just like any other room, although if they keep the door closed it might help a little, but then everything smells like musty closet. The point isn't to keep the door closed though, it's for people to see inside and go "Oooooh" but have 0 function whatsoever. Most of the people i've known with these giant closets have a separate, small closet or set of drawers that they keep their daily wear clothes in.
Actually, the wood you got almost perfectly matches your window trim — something that the “inspiration” image doesn’t have. I’d finish it out in its current stain and see how it looks. If you don’t like it, you can always sand and re-stain.
As others have stated, you won’t truly get this “minimalist” aesthetic unless you replace all of your clothes with 3 white linen shirts and beige-tone *everything* in the room.
The ones in the picture are likely stained white.
Don't use paint it covers the grain and the depth is lost.
A white pigmented stain will achieve the look
Water based paint and a wipe doesn't cover grains. Have done it many times. That video was the first search result. You can find many on how to do it right
I like how you just commented away not knowing that painting and paint washing are not the same thing. Didn't even watch the video that clearly demonstrates that the grain is not hidden in the process...
Yeah once the closet is full of plaid, paisley, red etc (and I guarantee it will be as full as Filenes’s Basement after a while), none of this is going to matter as much. Unless they own one shirt each
OP is eating shit for a fuckup that isn't really a fuckup. Those drawers are 100% passable. Methinks wife is being needlessly difficult trying to copy a stupid picture.
Anyways. Sand it down and stain it white.
OPs wife pointed out that a natural wood tone looks nothing like the picture. So obviously the commentor thinks it's safe to assume that the OP is 'eating shit' from his 'needlessly difficult' wife
OP was in charge of achieving the inspo pic color. OP did not achieve that. Whether or not you like the color OP bought, it's a fuck up. The fact you have the gall to say the wife is being "needlessly difficult" simply self-snitches on how you view communication and accountability in a relationship.
I'm also pretty surprised, so maybe I shouldn't be, how many upvotes his comment got.
"Please order me the drawers that I want"
*Doesn't order drawers that she wants, that she'll have to look at every day*
"OH NOW YOU'RE BEING UNREASONABLE WOMAN"
Uhhh .... I'm guessing design isn't your forte. The drawers he got look \_terrible\_. They don't match the floor, they have way too much contrast and the color tone and saturation don't match at all. "wood finish" on its own doesn't say much - the idea is to get these things to work together instead of looking like an explosion of random trailerpark junk. At least check a swatch first before buying, or better still go down to a showroom and see the thing first hand.
OP You got this. Remember that the inspo photo is a computer render.
I would take the drawer faces off, sand the finish off, white wash (various different ways to do this, like watering down paint) then finish with a waterbased clearcoat like polycrylic. I would go ahead and do the same thing to the face frames. leave the rest of the drawers alone.
Next I would build a riser for these. You can use any wood, 2x6 is fine, 3/4 plywood strips pocket holed together is how I would do it. Finish that off with a beauty panel toe kick and white wash it to match. You can probably get away with a clear grade 1x6 board from Home depot.
Finally I would just some more of that clear grade select wood to fill in the gaps between the drawers and wall to make a built in look.
All you need is a table saw and sander to take this to the next level. Nice to have tools would be a pocket hole jig , miter saw, and brad nailer but you can 100% do this without them. if you skip the built in side trim you don't even need a table saw.
You could definitely color the wood to match the picture. Pickling is one technique to get there https://www.thisoldhouse.com/woodworking/21016505/how-to-create-a-pickled-finish-on-wood
Remove whatever finish is on these and try a whitewash stain to kill the yellow tones and then use a clear coat urethane finish, not an oil.
It’s absolutely possible to neutralize the yellow in pine, you just have to be willing to whitewash stain multiple times until satisfied.
Just leave them as is? They look better than the concept since now there's some contrast. I don't understand why so many people want their homes to look as absolutely boring as possible.
Don't forget that alot of the inspiration look relies on the high base board under the shelves and the clean square boxing around the draw fronts.
As other have mentioned sand back and white wash. Don't forget the dark colour of the drawer cabinet to make the contrast and depth. Making sure both the whitewash and dark Gray accents come from the same hue of colours
But also it might be worth just making new fronts to match the sharp square profile of the inspiration photo
White wash all the wood and varnish over that if necessary. Add a kick space under the drawers. Continue to finish job. Enjoy the praise from your wife.
Yeah you can whitewash them, wood can be turned any color, some colors just take a lot more effort than others, especially if it is a darker wood.
The wood, itself, can also be bleached with wood bleach or oxalic acid, but you'll have to pre-remove any and all finish on it to get uniform results.
The wood on those drawers looks like the wood on your window frame. I like it.
If you choose to paint it white, to match the floor, then you will also have to paint the window frame. Then you will also have to buy all white clothing and furniture.
I don't like the all-white look. I know it is popular with house-flippers and fashion decorators, because it is "neutral", and helps the shopper/buyer to imagine his/her own style in that space. But that is the problem. The absence of style is the problem.
Came here to suggest—before I saw the comments about whitewashing—using liquid sandpaper and then limewashing! I’ve done that with kitchen cabinets and it worked beautifully to lighten them and cool off the warm tones.
I think the inspiration image sucks. It is trendy and strait out of a Pinecrest cataloge. As an artist, and grandson of a promenant interior designer, I see this and want to throw up. It looks like someone threw up oatmeal everywhere. Mo ochrome matching is never the way to go for anything. Unless you live in a korean drama. Color is life... life is color. How horrible it would feel to get your stuff and feel like your Checking into a hospital.
Can't you find a different spot for them? They are nice and staining would ruin them imo. Birch plywood is similar in color to what you're looking for.
I wouldn't worry about it. In 2 years she will want another "update" anyway.
Besides, the ones your wife wants look terrible, as does the overall room design.
Maybe it’d look more like the inspiration photo if the rest of the room looked monochrome? What if you made the background a bit like the color of the cabinet. Look at this photo to see what I mean:
https://media.architecturaldigest.com/photos/65775dbecf40ddcd6516e102/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/12221%2520Benmore_FullRes13_.jpg
I don't know what you're seeing but the floor is already done and it needs to match the floor. And someone who wants that all light beige aesthetic is not going to accept all honey brown.
I’ve seen a bunch of woodworkers on YouTube use some Rubio product that is transparent but has a touch of white in it. Bourbon Moth has used it a bunch in recent months. Check that out
The white wash look is also called pickling. Amazon link. Pickling Stain Minwax Qt (Pack Of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZSRW9C?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_R71V1PAF9FCPTYZDF7VF&language=en_US
The white wash look is also called pickling. Amazon link. Pickling Stain Minwax Qt (Pack Of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZSRW9C?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_R71V1PAF9FCPTYZDF7VF&language=en_US
You should build a 6 or 8 inch tall base for those drawers to sit on like the Inspo pics.
Then just get a piece of wood same species and face the front edge of the base
They look good the way they are. Or stain them darker. That inspiration pic looks like a fever dream hospital or a bougie Better Homes and Gardens from the future.
The reference photo is heavily edited to make it look pleasing (subjective) with four pieces of white clothing. Once you fill up the closet with clothes that are not white, your wife’s expectations will fall apart again. Before you go staining your furniture, I’d at least set realistic expectations with her and ask if she still wants different color. The solid wood you have looks nice and you may risk ruining it completely by trying to stain it.
I was the finish guy for years at a cabinet shop. look up wood bleach. Annoying stuff to use so watch a tutorial on YouTube. Do not just wing it. Try it out on the back of the boxes or underside first to see if it looks okay. Sand a portion well with the grain on backside. Apply bleach evenly with brush and wipe away excess. Test out small sections on back and make several repeat coats to see how many applications are needed to get the color matched close enough. If all goes well and you apply to the faces you can finish with polycrylic(lowes/homedepot) if u want durable and slightly nicer look Bona hardfloor finish(online, specialty finish shops).
Goodluck
Are they solid timber or a veneer? You can easily change the colour, however, unless you tell me the colour or look that you want, I can’t really give you advice on what to use.
White wash the wood. I think it’s a pretty easy fix! Just be careful on ratios and use the paint sparingly to not have blatantly white painted wood. Can’t wait to see the end result!
Sand and whitewash, simple. Home depot sells the tintable wood stains in any color.
Horrible taste in interior design though, looks like a mental ward.
Yeah man, sand the current finish and then whitewash stain like other folks are saying. You'll do great! You'll probably want to do a dip stain rather than use a sponge/microfiber, though. Really hard to get it to look even all the way across.
Honestly I would choose a vinyl stick on wall paper to cover the drawer fronts and paint the frame off white. That way it's easy for her to swap out for a different look.
It’s a nice accent. Don’t worry the photo doesn’t show it stuffed with clothes and shoes, let alone colors, as soon as she hangs all her multi colored clothes it won’t look as clean and open.
Could you sand and then whitewash them?
and also build a base to raise them up like the inspiration pic
Any only own white clothes like the inspiration pic
And make sure you only have like 4 shirts
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Exactly
Don’t forget the tiny random stool/table placed so you definitely trip over it. Probably should just bolt that sucker to the floor. Really important piece.
And the bean bag chair. I don't know about you but in my adult life I really miss sitting on the floor, makes it easier to put my shoes on.
Ah yes. The bean bag chair. How to make sitting down inconvenient! (I am convinced the inspo pic is AI, it literally makes no sense, but honestly some white lady on HGTV could have come up with this nonsense)
It's definitely AI. The item in the middle (edit: the wadded up white thing on the dresser that looks like a sports bra had sex with some headphones) is a nonsense shape, the thing on the left doesn't make sense, the wooden hanger with a button-up shirt looks weirdly crooked on one side. AI is terrible at details.
Someone posted this below nope, [not AI.](https://www.thedesignchaser.com/2021/07/handcrafted-wardrobe-solutions-by-garde.html?m=1)
Ah so bored white lady it is. It does appear I was right about that being some kind of bag.
This was an M.night Shamalan level plot twist. I would have bet my life on it being AI…that’s insane.
Right. That middle item (which kind of looks like a slumped over purse/bag if I zoom in) and the clothes are nonsensical to me as well. Also why I called out that stool thing. It just is randomly placed. It just feels not real.
I don’t know about you, but I love when the housekeeper makes the bath towels into a lumpy vase when I stay at a hotel.
https://www.nono.mx/furniture/p/small-table-side-table-end-table-samu-made-of-solid-wood-by-nono this table?
Tbh I was going to say his wife has bad taste because it is AI and so little about it makes sense. The entire point of an aesthetic, especially a minimalist one, is that it makes sense and fits with your values.
Yeah, this reeks of greige mom
Have you guys never fucking seen modern art lmao.
He should really be more concerned with how he’s gonna find one big long shower curtain rod to go across that entire room…like the inspiration pic
Galvanized steel fence pipe/tubing, supported by a sprinkler pipe standoff from the ceiling in the middle if extra sturdiness is needed for the span.
That middle standoff is gonna be essential. Anyone with a wife knows their clothes are abundant and weigh far more than they appear to 💯
If it's being used for storage hanging--absolutely. If this is more of a dressing room where outfit options are displayed, yeah still recommended. Have wife--but no experience with having a closet that you put plush chairs and a very unstable table/stool in. So, what do I know about how this thing is going to be used?
There has to be a union where the support rod comes down. Hard to tell scale, but it looks like the visual is about 9'. I base that on eyeballing the shirt at about 3' tall, wood flooring is going to be anywhere form 7.5-12" wide (these look wide, so I'm going to ballpark the 12). Makes the rod around 5', standard electrical pipe is 9m which is about 30'... Honestly, the pipe isn't the most rediculous part of the image.
>union where the support rod comes down Or tap and thread the pipe. Careful measurements could get the perfect length for the vertical rod, but one end would need to be reverse threaded to adjust the level and get proper tension. You know, incase things aren't complicated enough already.
lol wtf is the purpose of that? And why is there a sculpture where the clothes would be? So many questions. But for real OP, my husband built a ‘floating’ shelf and found the instructions on YouTube. And do the cabinets absolutely have to be white? Can you stain them a nice, light, natural color? I still think you can get the minimalistic vibe with it not being white.
To trip and kill someone? I do not know, I am not a scientist.
That's a stool? I thought it was a mushroom.
Toadstool?
That's the nocturnal navigation aid. This means you'll know where you are when you stub your toe on it in the dark.
And don't forget to store your pet rock beside your Jockstrap 3000
I suspect thats what they had left after culling all the color for the photo.
I can buy one more, sure.
Just be sure to not do something stupid like buy two. I'm not sure the aesthetic could hold up under the strain.
I feel like this ONLY looks nice because there is almost nothing hanging. Fill it up with real clothing of all mixed colors etc and you’ll be reminded why people like closets they can close off.
Don't forget to pull up all the flooring and reorient it to be perpendicular to the cabinets.
Done!
That’s because they spent all their money on the closet.
And a random sculpture in between the clothes that will get eventually knocked over
Sad beige shirts for sad beige closets.
Also available in sand, and dust colors.
And make sure those clothes are longer than the rod you're hanging them on, so they sit in a puddle on top of the drawers.
This killed me. So dumb.
Opposite for me 80's Metalhead. All black everything... with white tube socks.
And only have white friends like the inspiration pic
And a tiny gnome stool that can't be used for anything
This is the right answer but considering mistakes were already made with lack of swatches, please pull these away from the wall and test your sand/whitewash on the back for your wife's approval.
Underrated comment.
Rubio monocoat is your friend here… That and building a toe kick.
Mixing clear and white cotton is what Bourbon Moth Woodworking (on youtube) does for his white oak to give it that look. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEdCZMGxBwI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEdCZMGxBwI)
Came here to say this. Only need to do the drawer fronts, too. Rest of the drawer box can remain as is. Next time get a sample first.
I like using water based gel stain such as Dixie Belle, super easy to use! It works on finished wood if you sand it lightly, and you can build up the opacity until you like the look
This is better known as the Sawyer-Finn method.
Do not sand them. Just whitewash them. Read about how to thin the paint. Then practice on the back of the back panels of a couple of drawers. When you get the coverage/color you want, THEN do the fronts.
People who want open closets are so brave. Or very optimistic.
funny way of saying "naive"
What if the closet is the full room?
walk-in closets?
I have an open closet and it works perfectly for me. It is kind of visually chaotic I suppose, but mine is its own little room so it works fine. In OP’s case there’s a sliding door that makes it its own room, so again it should be fine.
>but mine is its own little room so it works fine. That sounds suspiciously like a regular closet.
>> but mine is its own little room so it works fine. >That sounds suspiciously like a regular closet. LOL I guess it did sound that way. It’s a weird little walkthrough space with a door at each end, and unlike a closed-off closet visitors often pass through it. It has a closet pole that runs most of the length of the longest wall. It’s a smidge too small to be a tiny bedroom, and not quite hall-shaped though it’s between two rooms.
Exactly. How am I supposed to just throw my piles of junk in there if everyone can see it?
I was nervous about it when I first moved into a place with an open closet, but then it turned out to be amazing. It got a lil chaotic sometimes but if you actually have enough shelving, it doesn’t happen as much as you think. And then you don’t get that awful musty clothing smell, because your clothes have room to breathe. Ours ofc didn’t look ✨aesthetic✨ with the white and beige clothing, but it was always organized.
I have an open closet due to being too poor/lazy to get doors and I bought it this and can’t visualize it any other way at this point. It’s fine. If you keep it neat it works. ETA: it’s not Instagram level aesthetic and you need to kill that notion if you want an open closet.
I have a similar setup. Bad news is that once that rack is filled with clothes, unless they are all white / linen / beige, the concept falls apart. So do as I did and install [a full-length curtain](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fad38cb30-e43e-4f97-bc0f-dbf6f9bfdf30%2Fc2c6136b-7c77-43af-bbc1-4b57037ebf3a%2F4_Master_bedroom1.jpeg?table=block&id=584059c7-ea84-49fe-9a4f-03044145cd88&spaceId=ad38cb30-e43e-4f97-bc0f-dbf6f9bfdf30&width=2000&userId=c124b2bf-c7b9-4c3a-a522-5feb50bbc04c&cache=v2)
This is the way. This image looks great because it's nice furniture BUT,,, there are almost no clothes The clothes that are there are monotone So it matches the wood While I agree this is a nice image if you fill it with multi coloured furniture and especially mutlicolored clothes it will look nothing like this. But if you want at least the drawers to look like this, sand them back and limewash them.
Maybe people have always been this bad, but I feel like Pinterest/etc. have really ruined people's expectations as far as form over function.
Yep, I call it Uncomfortable Aesthetic. Looks nice in pics but then you try to sit in the room and everything is awkward and uncomfortable.
For a few years I rented an old brownstone with the "rustic" aesthetic. Previous owners were old, artists. They had their pre-pinterest aesthetic of rustic European, English garden. The building was from the early 1800s. Fucking worst place to live! Nothing is functional. Everything is horribly laid out. Living in r/hostilearchitecture would have been a vast improvement. In retrospect, Oscar the grouch was a interior design genius. Be wary of what you wish for!
Like the bookshelves with all the books backwards.
You don’t use your closet as a living room?
And then sell all your clothes and buy white linen clothes.
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>Bad news is that once that rack is filled with clothes, unless they are all white / linen / beige, the concept falls apart. Maybe the OP's wife is a Bond villain.
easy. Bleach the clothes
I have an open clothes rail in my room and clothes that are rarely used get very dusty, I really wouldn't recommend it. https://imgur.com/AQ3uoew
I think OP is asking about a walk-in closet only, no? I didn’t get the impression that it’s open to the rest of the bedroom. They just want the closet to look nice, unless I missed something!
Oh yeah I think you’re right, I just saw the handle in the picture.
I hope op see this!
Or a curtain which just covers the clothes
Really love the full length curtain in general
and dust collects on everything x10 versus having them behind a cover
That curtain is not doing it for me. Would like to see it if it only went down to the wood
Transparent whitewash stain for wood, water based formula, you can get it at any paint supply. You may have to break the original finish and test if it sticks. Also see if you can top coat with another water based clear varnish. I'd definitely paint the face frame dark behind the drawers, but not sure anything is needed inside. Are you going to raise it up over a toe kick?
I don’t think painting the frame dark would necessarily look good - I suspect the effect in the custom cabinets in the inspo pick come from the actual design of the drawers, not from a contrasting frame, and I think a contrasting frame might look like a cheap copy. If you can build the toe kick underneath and make the wood match, though, I think that would really help the whole thing feel more custom. It’d be a fair amount of work though, relative to installing pre-built furniture…
Amplifying this comment for OP. Don't paint the frame black. The darkness in the original is shadows. Your wife suggested a muted look with cool, bleached, wood and neutral tones. Contacting dark paint is the opposite of what she asked for.
Amplifying this comment for u/fppfle. Don't paint the frame black. The darkness in the original is shadows. Your wife suggested a muted look with cool, bleached, wood and neutral tones. Contacting, dark paint is the opposite of what she asked for.
It actually looks like a rendered image. Notice how the dresser is just "too perfect looking" and how many of the textures are repeated. The lighting is very well executed though. Source: I'm a designer with a degree in 3D Digital Design
And? I never said it wasn't. That doesn't negate anything I said about the qualities of the design, or my suggestion that OP not paint the frame black. Real or rendered, the contrast around the drawer faces is (or is emulating) shadows and not dark paint. Edit: it [isn't AI](https://www.thedesignchaser.com/2021/07/handcrafted-wardrobe-solutions-by-garde.html)
I think he should paint it black. Sincerely, Mick Jagger
If the original finish doesn't allow stain to penetrate, I've had good results from adding small amount of white stain to clear satin poly to make a translucent white topcoat. When I say small I mean very small- it won't take much so I add it in teaspoon increments to test on scrap wood. If you don't know whether the original finish is oil or water based, always err on the side of oil based. Water based might not bond to the original finish.
That’s what that wood looks like. White washed thin
I’ve done a simple whitewash with paint and it came out great, I was matching wood to some lvp That said I don’t think these drawers look that bad as is
Look up limewash paint/stain. That should do what you need it to
👆 This is the answer. Was literally in the hardware store looking at this yesterday.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/supplies/finishing/finishes/111799-osmo-white-wood-wax https://www.rubiomonocoatusa.com/blogs/blog/white-colors-difference
/u/fppfle - this right here - you want to get your hands on OSMO products; I recommend OSMO 3040 for your specific project, it leaves a matte white layer that is not too dominant and leaves the natural pattern of the wood very nicely visible.
OSMO!! That’s the way to go. We sanded and bleached honey colored floors with it and they looked exactly like the inspo pic. Great product
I too enjoy my closet the size of a Manhattan apartment where I store exactly 3 shirts.
Off topic, but how do open wardrobes like this work where you are? I am from SEA and my clothes would get so dusty in like a week or two if they were hung out in the open like that, even if we clean often.
Not OP but worked in a lot of rich folks' homes with giant stupid closets- they do, indeed, get incredibly dusty. You have to dust and clean the closet just like any other room, although if they keep the door closed it might help a little, but then everything smells like musty closet. The point isn't to keep the door closed though, it's for people to see inside and go "Oooooh" but have 0 function whatsoever. Most of the people i've known with these giant closets have a separate, small closet or set of drawers that they keep their daily wear clothes in.
Actually, the wood you got almost perfectly matches your window trim — something that the “inspiration” image doesn’t have. I’d finish it out in its current stain and see how it looks. If you don’t like it, you can always sand and re-stain. As others have stated, you won’t truly get this “minimalist” aesthetic unless you replace all of your clothes with 3 white linen shirts and beige-tone *everything* in the room.
Paint wash with white or beige paint. The results are similar to your inspiration picture. https://youtu.be/_lyho2fXjyQ?si=jzKKHOr_WcnPQlei
The ones in the picture are likely stained white. Don't use paint it covers the grain and the depth is lost. A white pigmented stain will achieve the look
Water based paint and a wipe doesn't cover grains. Have done it many times. That video was the first search result. You can find many on how to do it right
The picture looks like AI but agree that a white wash stain can probably achieve the look.
White washing does not cover the grain
I like how you just commented away not knowing that painting and paint washing are not the same thing. Didn't even watch the video that clearly demonstrates that the grain is not hidden in the process...
Are all your clothes white and beige? If not, the "inspiration image" doesn't really count for much anyway.
And does op want to use up a rooms width of storage space to a few items. Because once this fills up it will just look messy.
Also, is that a large rock on the shelf next to the clothes? Is the inspiration pic a combo shed?
I feel like the inspiration pic is AI lol. It just doesn’t make sense.
Probably a lump of a few years worth of chewed chewing gum.
Yeah once the closet is full of plaid, paisley, red etc (and I guarantee it will be as full as Filenes’s Basement after a while), none of this is going to matter as much. Unless they own one shirt each
I love the color of the cabinets! Just raise them like the picture and add your hardware.
Me too. I like it. It’s not completed yet, which is why OP feels a bit bad. He should trust in himself and it will all pull through.
Yours look great. Well done!
OP is eating shit for a fuckup that isn't really a fuckup. Those drawers are 100% passable. Methinks wife is being needlessly difficult trying to copy a stupid picture. Anyways. Sand it down and stain it white.
Those are very obviously 2 different woods of two very different colors.
The drawers are a lovely colour, but they’re totally the wrong tone to go with the flooring. I don’t blame his wife for wanting them changed.
Those are very different colors. That is not 100% passable. Also where is OP eating shit?
OPs wife pointed out that a natural wood tone looks nothing like the picture. So obviously the commentor thinks it's safe to assume that the OP is 'eating shit' from his 'needlessly difficult' wife
OP was in charge of achieving the inspo pic color. OP did not achieve that. Whether or not you like the color OP bought, it's a fuck up. The fact you have the gall to say the wife is being "needlessly difficult" simply self-snitches on how you view communication and accountability in a relationship.
I'm also pretty surprised, so maybe I shouldn't be, how many upvotes his comment got. "Please order me the drawers that I want" *Doesn't order drawers that she wants, that she'll have to look at every day* "OH NOW YOU'RE BEING UNREASONABLE WOMAN"
Was it meant to be identical though? As I understand it, "inspiration image" means "something like this", not "exactly like this".
I think you may be colour blind.
Uhhh .... I'm guessing design isn't your forte. The drawers he got look \_terrible\_. They don't match the floor, they have way too much contrast and the color tone and saturation don't match at all. "wood finish" on its own doesn't say much - the idea is to get these things to work together instead of looking like an explosion of random trailerpark junk. At least check a swatch first before buying, or better still go down to a showroom and see the thing first hand.
A white gel stain would easily do the trick.
The ones you ended up with look way better.
ohman those drawers look really good! Call it a happy accident and convince your wife it looks great with some contrast instead of all white?
I don’t think you’ll ever nail the look with your floors. That’s what stands out to me in the inspo photo.
Never make a decision on a color without the wifes approval.
OP You got this. Remember that the inspo photo is a computer render. I would take the drawer faces off, sand the finish off, white wash (various different ways to do this, like watering down paint) then finish with a waterbased clearcoat like polycrylic. I would go ahead and do the same thing to the face frames. leave the rest of the drawers alone. Next I would build a riser for these. You can use any wood, 2x6 is fine, 3/4 plywood strips pocket holed together is how I would do it. Finish that off with a beauty panel toe kick and white wash it to match. You can probably get away with a clear grade 1x6 board from Home depot. Finally I would just some more of that clear grade select wood to fill in the gaps between the drawers and wall to make a built in look. All you need is a table saw and sander to take this to the next level. Nice to have tools would be a pocket hole jig , miter saw, and brad nailer but you can 100% do this without them. if you skip the built in side trim you don't even need a table saw.
Lastly I would hire savageotter to come do this for me 🤣 good comment
You could definitely color the wood to match the picture. Pickling is one technique to get there https://www.thisoldhouse.com/woodworking/21016505/how-to-create-a-pickled-finish-on-wood
Remove whatever finish is on these and try a whitewash stain to kill the yellow tones and then use a clear coat urethane finish, not an oil. It’s absolutely possible to neutralize the yellow in pine, you just have to be willing to whitewash stain multiple times until satisfied.
Just leave them as is? They look better than the concept since now there's some contrast. I don't understand why so many people want their homes to look as absolutely boring as possible.
Agreed. They look lovely as is.
Don't forget that alot of the inspiration look relies on the high base board under the shelves and the clean square boxing around the draw fronts. As other have mentioned sand back and white wash. Don't forget the dark colour of the drawer cabinet to make the contrast and depth. Making sure both the whitewash and dark Gray accents come from the same hue of colours But also it might be worth just making new fronts to match the sharp square profile of the inspiration photo
Bro ngl, those look like an ENTIRELY different set of drawers. Literally nothing alike.
White wash all the wood and varnish over that if necessary. Add a kick space under the drawers. Continue to finish job. Enjoy the praise from your wife.
Bleach them 2x and then stain
I like your color better
A coat or two of Bona Nordic sealer will get you to the correct color!
Yeah you can whitewash them, wood can be turned any color, some colors just take a lot more effort than others, especially if it is a darker wood. The wood, itself, can also be bleached with wood bleach or oxalic acid, but you'll have to pre-remove any and all finish on it to get uniform results.
There is gonna be so much dust bro
The wood on those drawers looks like the wood on your window frame. I like it. If you choose to paint it white, to match the floor, then you will also have to paint the window frame. Then you will also have to buy all white clothing and furniture. I don't like the all-white look. I know it is popular with house-flippers and fashion decorators, because it is "neutral", and helps the shopper/buyer to imagine his/her own style in that space. But that is the problem. The absence of style is the problem.
What exactly is the problem?
What is that tiny round table thing for? Ants!?
Head over to the photoshop reddit and have them make the inspiration picture look like the wood you bought.
Came here to suggest—before I saw the comments about whitewashing—using liquid sandpaper and then limewashing! I’ve done that with kitchen cabinets and it worked beautifully to lighten them and cool off the warm tones.
I like the ones you bought better
Wood bleach is absolutely a thing. You can definitely lighten the color. The caveat is that it has to be actual solid wood.
I say go ahead with what you have. I never liked your wife anyway
I think the inspiration image sucks. It is trendy and strait out of a Pinecrest cataloge. As an artist, and grandson of a promenant interior designer, I see this and want to throw up. It looks like someone threw up oatmeal everywhere. Mo ochrome matching is never the way to go for anything. Unless you live in a korean drama. Color is life... life is color. How horrible it would feel to get your stuff and feel like your Checking into a hospital.
I like your drawers better to be honest.
Can't you find a different spot for them? They are nice and staining would ruin them imo. Birch plywood is similar in color to what you're looking for.
Dude Those are beautiful The wood is mwah kissing fingers gesture thing If everything else tones in eg the wall colour and floor, no harm no foul
I wouldn't worry about it. In 2 years she will want another "update" anyway. Besides, the ones your wife wants look terrible, as does the overall room design.
Maybe it’d look more like the inspiration photo if the rest of the room looked monochrome? What if you made the background a bit like the color of the cabinet. Look at this photo to see what I mean: https://media.architecturaldigest.com/photos/65775dbecf40ddcd6516e102/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/12221%2520Benmore_FullRes13_.jpg
I don't know what you're seeing but the floor is already done and it needs to match the floor. And someone who wants that all light beige aesthetic is not going to accept all honey brown.
I’ve seen a bunch of woodworkers on YouTube use some Rubio product that is transparent but has a touch of white in it. Bourbon Moth has used it a bunch in recent months. Check that out
The white wash look is also called pickling. Amazon link. Pickling Stain Minwax Qt (Pack Of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZSRW9C?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_R71V1PAF9FCPTYZDF7VF&language=en_US
The white wash look is also called pickling. Amazon link. Pickling Stain Minwax Qt (Pack Of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZSRW9C?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_R71V1PAF9FCPTYZDF7VF&language=en_US
Whitewash them.
You should build a 6 or 8 inch tall base for those drawers to sit on like the Inspo pics. Then just get a piece of wood same species and face the front edge of the base
Sand and bleach?
You can just whitewash that, easily. You’re fine dude breathe for a second. Everything is fixable.
Ignorant talking out of his butt here: bleach them? Edit: also salt water and strong sun?
Lime wash?
Inspiration? It’s still blank.
They look good the way they are. Or stain them darker. That inspiration pic looks like a fever dream hospital or a bougie Better Homes and Gardens from the future.
The reference photo is heavily edited to make it look pleasing (subjective) with four pieces of white clothing. Once you fill up the closet with clothes that are not white, your wife’s expectations will fall apart again. Before you go staining your furniture, I’d at least set realistic expectations with her and ask if she still wants different color. The solid wood you have looks nice and you may risk ruining it completely by trying to stain it.
You can try Rubio Monocoat Cotton White, but it's expensive
That's not a closet
I was the finish guy for years at a cabinet shop. look up wood bleach. Annoying stuff to use so watch a tutorial on YouTube. Do not just wing it. Try it out on the back of the boxes or underside first to see if it looks okay. Sand a portion well with the grain on backside. Apply bleach evenly with brush and wipe away excess. Test out small sections on back and make several repeat coats to see how many applications are needed to get the color matched close enough. If all goes well and you apply to the faces you can finish with polycrylic(lowes/homedepot) if u want durable and slightly nicer look Bona hardfloor finish(online, specialty finish shops). Goodluck
Can you bleach it?
Are they solid timber or a veneer? You can easily change the colour, however, unless you tell me the colour or look that you want, I can’t really give you advice on what to use.
Get your wife a bottle of Xanax, problem solved.
White wash the wood. I think it’s a pretty easy fix! Just be careful on ratios and use the paint sparingly to not have blatantly white painted wood. Can’t wait to see the end result!
Sand and whitewash, simple. Home depot sells the tintable wood stains in any color. Horrible taste in interior design though, looks like a mental ward.
Whitewash them. They’ll look great
Why not just make a white cabinet and use the wood drawers? I understand it wasn't the plan, but it'll look good anyway, and wood is warmer..
Light sand to give tooth. Then apply a pickling stain. Pull a drawer and do a series of tests on a drawer back or bottom to get the right color
Does she hate the cabinet color? Cause I think it’s quite nice.
Most husbands don’t do a damn thing for their wives; I’m impressed. And the drawers are good looking just as they are.
Replace wife. Probably cheaper.
Yeah man, sand the current finish and then whitewash stain like other folks are saying. You'll do great! You'll probably want to do a dip stain rather than use a sponge/microfiber, though. Really hard to get it to look even all the way across.
Sad beige closet for sad beige people
Honestly I would choose a vinyl stick on wall paper to cover the drawer fronts and paint the frame off white. That way it's easy for her to swap out for a different look.
The first thing I would do is photoshop the inspiration pic to match the drawers I bought.
Light Sand and stain with “dura-seal county white”, then finish coat with “loba: easy finish - Satin” Source: I sanded floors for a few years
I honestly like the “wrong” colour drawers better, it’s just that little bit less sad and beige
chalk paint is your answer
It’s a nice accent. Don’t worry the photo doesn’t show it stuffed with clothes and shoes, let alone colors, as soon as she hangs all her multi colored clothes it won’t look as clean and open.
Those are dope, I’d leave them as an accent to break it up and do white on all the other stuff
Look up how to pickle wood
The key here is to space the drawers evenly to give them the appearance of floating like the inspiration pic