I cannot tell you how many people tagged me in this Facebook Marketplace post.  It was A LOT.  I was either tagged or I was sent the listing.  I believe someone even text me.  There was an old school being taken down and they were selling several things inside, including the old slate chalkboards, flooring, the original doors, and some old school lockers or closets.  We initially contacted the person and said we were interested in the vintage chalk boards.  Deb wanted one for her workshop and for the garage both.  We waited.  No call back.  I actually sent a message, commented on her post, text her, and called her. Nothing.

I finally heard back from her yesterday and we got to go take a look.

Old School Lockers or Closets Repurposed

We went in fully thinking about the chalk boards.  They were all 4′ sections an had all been removed and stacked along the walls in each classroom.  They also had these closets or lockers in each classroom.  I am not sure what they were used for… maybe for the teacher’s belongings.  We decided we wanted a few chalkboards and then I had this thought.  

Deb and I opted not to have a huge walk-in closet in the new house.  I find them to be a collector of junk and clothes that we don’t want.  The bigger the closet, the more clothes.  A few days back, I was thinking about organizing the new house and wondering where we would store all of our shoes.  And, I had this idea.  Maybe we could get a large cabinet and place it along the really long wall in our bedroom.  And fill them with cubbies for our shoes.  Basically, we would have shoe cabinets.

When I saw the little lockers or closets in the old school, I immediately thought of that shoe cabinet idea.  

We had to make a decision…

How many closets do we want?

We decided that two would be sufficient – one for each of us.  So we paid for our old slate chalkboards and our two closets and went on our way.  Once we got home, we decided to measure that wall and it was a lot bigger than we thought.  Knowing how much we like our spaces FULL… we discussed running to get another one, because there is more than enough room.  Now… neither of us felt like it, because we were both exhausted.  And, we knew we had to go up on the second floor and carry it down.

We also knew that if we didn’t run back and get a third one, we may regret that decision.  If we didn’t want to third one, we could always put it elsewhere in the house.  Or we could sell it.

What did we do?

Do you remember the big mirror that we made for an old church window?  I want that on the side of these “shoe cabinets.”  So in order to actually see what they would look like, we carried both cabinets into the house and set them into place.  Clearly there is enough room for a third cabinet.  

We decided to run and get the third one.  That will make us each a cabinet for our shoes and one for bags, hats, scarves, etc.

Other plans for these cabinets include…

They do need a lot of work.  I will be stripping the finish off of them.  If the wood doesn’t look great underneath, I will be painting them.  But I would love the leave them their natural wood color.  And, of course, Deb will be putting the fronts back on the closets and making the little cubbies for the inside and getting them all situated for organization.  

I hope these turn out like I see them in my head.  They will be all lined up on the wall of the bedroom and will make a gorgeous focal point. 

What do you think?