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Under $250 IKEA Hack: DIY Walk-In Closet

When I first purchased my home, I had these wild fantasies of turning the second bedroom into an epic walk-in closet. And when I say “epic” what I meant was not DIY.

You see in my last two places I was renting, so it didn’t make sense to go all out on my closet rooms. Because of that I made myself a kick-ass closet on budget including garment racks made out of pips and a DIY IKEA island (see the hack instructions here).  It worked, but I longed for more.

Cut to me moving into my first home in Los Angeles with my big dreams and big enough budget. I was ready for the big leagues – the Instagram famous closet designers, and all the associated bells and whistles.

Well, the closet gods had another idea.

Never in my life have I experienced such contractor drama, ass crazy quotes, and dropped balls.

The fancy closet designer? Rates started at 35k for a reach-in closet. A reach-in??? I don’t even want to think about what a ROOM for a closet would cost.

The custom cabinet maker? 12k (which I was willing to pay) using the same kind of crusty IKEA fake wood … BUT he ghosted on me and ran off to Mexico with my deposit.

So I turned to old faithful … IKEA!

I called my assistant and said, “We’re building my closet room in 72 hours. Come over.”

I gathered a couple of pictures on Pinterest, drew a crappy pic on a sheet of paper, created a shopping list, and sent her on her way.

IKEA was able to customize their PAX system to mirror my crappy drawing, and the unit was delivered and installed the next day thanks to the help of a Task Rabbit.

The next step was the decor.

Since I use this particular room for an office a well I needed a table and chairs to be the focus of the room, I pulled the look of the room together with a rug, a snazzy overhead light, and cool green dresser to store my jewelry and accessories.

The entire room cost me a couple thousand dollars,  and the shelving was under $250. And to think I was ready to pay 12k WITHOUT all of the decor.

Consider me an IKEA closet connoisseur for life.

Product Links:

IKEA PAX system

Marble Table, Anthropologie 

Velvet Chairs, Anthropologie

Rug, Anthropologie (sold out)

Dresser, Modshop

Lighting Fixture, Lamps Plus

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3 Steps To Organizing Your Closet Like A Pro

There is nothing more defeating than opening up your closet doors and feeling a giant wave of overwhelm. Life is overwhelming enough, why does your closet have to add to your stress too?!

Listen, I’ve been inside some rough-looking closets. I’m talking clothes everywhere, mismatched hangers, random Halloween costumes, dust, dirt, and god knows what else.

It’s bad, and all of this closet chaos leads to a phrase I think we’ve all familiar with …

“I have NOTHING TO WEAR!” 

As true as this feels in the moment, the reality is it’s completely false. You have plenty to wear; you don’t want to wear it for a couple of key reasons: 
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1.) You can’t see, and you certainly can’t comprehend what you have because your closet is a train wreck.

2.) The items you own no longer represent who you are at this point in your life.

Today we’re going to tackle the first reason, the fact that your closet is a freaking mess!!

If you follow these three steps, you will experience instant style relief.

Step 1: Take Inventory 

By now you should have downloaded a copy of my Ultimate Wardrobe Checklist. If you haven’t, you can download it here. Next, I want you to march into your closet with this list in hand, then mark off all of the items you own that fit and are in good condition. Any items missing from the list will go on your shopping list. The goal is to create a functional wardrobe loaded with basics. This will expand the number of outfits you can create. As for the items that don’t fit and are in terrible condition? Get rid of those items pronto.

Step 2: Merchandise 

You want your closet to look pretty like a store. Do nice clothing boutiques have a pair of ratty pajamas hanging next to a winter coat? No, they do not. All like items are hung together and coordinated by color. This is what I want you to do next: Hang all of your sleeves shirts together, long sleeve shirts together, pants together, skirts together, etc. Make sure they are facing in the same direction. Bonus points if you can keep like colors together (for example all of your white short sleeve shirts are together, all of the black are together).

Step 3: Upgrade Your Hangers 

Nothing upsets me more than a smorgasbord of hangers in a closet! Dry cleaning hangers and those chunky plastic ones get under my skin in the worst way possible. I recommend Slim Line velvet hangers. Buy them in bulk on Amazon and please never turn back. These hangers not only make things look uniform and pretty, but they also free up space as well.
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These three simple steps are going to give you peace of mind and clarity. Will they solve all of your style problems? No, but this is certainly a good start. You can’t solve the problem if you can’t see the problem.

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Lazy Girl’s Guide To Style

What would you say to a person who wants six-pack abs, but refuses to eat right and exercise?

You would probably tell them they’re delusional, or you’d say to them to stop being so darn lazy!

Same goes for style.

It drives me NUTS when people want to be stylish, but they aren’t willing to put in the work to look their best.

It takes effort to have style.

Don’t be fooled by the women who make it looks “effortless,” they put in work to look that good.

It doesn’t have to be HARD work, but it does have to be work.

In today’s video, I am sharing some simple tips that even the laziest lady can follow to improve her style.

>> WATCH NOW<<

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Pro Tips For Denim Shopping


I’ll never forget the time one of my clients emailed me completely distraught over her inability to find jeans that fit.

In her email, she went on to say that her body is “so weird” and “nothing ever fits her” – common phrases amongst my clients.

There wasn’t one weird thing about her body.

So I asked her which brands she had been trying on.

It turns out; homegirl was shopping in the wrong department! She was a 30-something woman shopping for jeans in the juniors department.

I immediately gave her some ADULT brands to try, and her problem was instantly solved.

The takeaway?

It’s not your “weird body”; it’s the choices you’re making. And if you walk into the store armed with some knowledge, you are bound to make better choices.

In today’s video, I am loading you up with information on how to successfully shop for denim.

>> WATCH NOW<<

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Transforming Your Wardrobe With A Tailor


A few weeks ago, I was going through my closet looking for items to consign, and I was on the fence about two dresses.

One fit well, but I wasn’t reaching for it.

And the other made me look like a sack of potatoes, but the statement sleeves made my heart sing.

Before I threw them in the consignment pile, I slipped the dresses over my jeans (I was feeling lazy) to see if maybe I could keep them.

That’s when it hit me!

Why consign when I can alter?

Dress #1 could easily be transformed into a jacket, and dress #2 into a top.

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Eureka! Style genius in the house.

In today’s video, I am sharing some ideas for bringing new life to your old clothes with the help of a tailor.

>> WATCH NOW<<

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How To Decide On A Trend

I’m not like most stylists.

* Most stylists love going to Fashion Week.
* Most stylists devour Vogue magazine.
* Most stylists turn their noses up at off-season styles.
* Most stylists live for trends.

For me?

* Fashion week gives me freaking anxiety (I stopped attending years ago).
* I’d rather read a business book than a fashion magazine.
* I prefer Saks Off 5th over Saks 5th Avenue.
* And I don’t give two sh*ts about what’s hot and what’s not.

In today’s video, I am sharing my perspective on trends:

How to know when to embrace them, and when to kick them to the curb.

I’m also sharing the ugly trend I embraced HARD.

>> WATCH NOW<<

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Outfit Ideas For Speaking On Stage


Last week a good friend hit me up with a MAJOR fashion emergency.

She had booked a stylist to help her put together outfits for speaking on stage and the looks, to put it bluntly, were not good.

It’s not that the individual pieces were ugly, or even that the outfits were terrible. The real issue was that everything she chose broke every single rule when it comes to stage-appropriate outfits.

Rule #1- Your outfit must be figure flattering at EVERY angle. You will be photographed and you can’t be looking like a house on camera, am I right?

Rule #2- Your look can’t distract from your message. They came to hear what you have to say, if your outfit is too busy or overpowering that’s all they will remember.

Want the rest of the rules? (I’ve got 5 of ‘em) Tune into today’s video.

>> WATCH NOW<<

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How To Avoid Sales Associate Pressure Purchases

They (aka some meme I saw on the internet) say, “Nothing haunts us more than the clothes we didn’t buy.”But really, “they” should say, “Nothing haunts us more than the clothes we wasted money on because a sales associate pressured us into it.”

Ok, my saying doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but you get the point.

Being pressured into a purchase sucks! Here is what usually happens:

You get invited somewhere fabulous and find yourself “needing” a new outfit.

But there isn’t enough time to shop online.

So you head to the mall.

Problem is you’re frantic and frustrated.

So you ask the sales associate for help.

That’s when the trouble begins.

“Try this on. OMG, gurl! Soooo cute. It’s PERFECT for your event!”

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Hundreds of dollars later you have your look, but you’re not 100% sold on it. BUT the salesgirl was practically doing a backflip over it, so it must be good.

You wear the outfit, but not with 100% confidence.

After that, the outfit collects dust in your closet. You can’t donate it because dammit you spent so much on it!

Can you relate?

Let’s not do that nonsense again, ok?

In today’s video, I am sharing my tips for avoiding sales associate pressure purchases.

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How To Style A Sheer Blouse

Why does style have to be so darn difficult sometimes?!

Like seriously, sometimes I think wearing a uniform would be 100x better than picking out an outfit each morning – but that’s no fun.

The truth is, some garments are easier to wear than others.

Take jeans, for example, EASY! Pretty much anything you pair with jeans looks good. That is probably why we reach for them so often – it’s the easier softer way.

Then we have the garments that are much trickier.

The trickiest of the tricky?

Sheer blouses!

What the heck goes under them? What kind of bra do you wear? Can you put something over them?

So many questions and in today’s video I am answering all of them.

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3 Belt Styles Every Woman Should Own

>>WATCH NOW<<

99% of the clients I’ve interacted with can’t stand their stomachs.

They think it’s way bigger than it is, and will go out of their way to hide their bodies with baggy/shapeless clothing.

Hate to break it to you, but hiding only makes things worse.

You think you look slimmer, but the reality is, you’ve just made yourself look bigger.

So what’s a self-conscious gal to do?

Define and distract.

Put a belt around the smallest part of your waist to define your shape, and then distract from any trouble areas by highlighting an area you love (your face, legs, boobs … anywhere!)

There are three types of belts every woman should have – no matter her size. I am sharing those and a few others in today’s video.

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