Vintage

Inspirational closet in Gas Town

Since we moved into our loft, nearly 4 years ago, I have hated the back space of our loft. It is dark and uninspiring. Daryl has created an editing suite with IKEA book shelves, which defined the space somewhat, but still left me with a "ho hum" feeling. I have always wanted to create some sort of storage back there, but I wanted something that was visually interesting.

Back in April I was flipping through a magazine at Indigo and was inspired by pictures of a featured loft in Gas Town. The owners had converted some vintage luggage to create their closet, using the suitcases as the drawers. Brilliant!

I sent out a plea to friends and family to search their basements and garages for suitcases circa 1930's - 40's. We were able to acquire several pieces that way as well as purchasing some. The next step was coming up with a design. Daryl & I have not tackled too many building projects, so we consulted both of our fathers and a few friends. We thought about building a dresser where the suitcases pull out but ultimately cast that design aside because we needed a simpler design if we wanted to do this ourselves. Daryl tackled the design project on SketchUp whereas I pulled out my graph paper, pencil, and ruler. As the months passed I did not think that we would ever actually get the project built. We finalized our plans in August and then in September went to Rona to purchase the supplies and  to have our wood cut. Within a week our shelves where built, stained, varathaned and set up. Totally happy with the end result. Since the project did not put a kink in our marriage, I think we may be tempted to try another building project together.