Starting Fresh & Smart: A Bedroom & Closet Reveal with Target’s New Made by Design Line

Have you ever gone to an organizing store and after buying an insane amount of bins/boxes/supplies, you leave feeling so much more elated and excited? It’s a scientific fact that you release serotonin when you shop for organizational goods. There is something about the fantasy and furthermore ABILITY of your life being more pulled together and easier that physically makes you happier.

Well, that’s how I feel after styling this shoot and writing this post. Today, I have a bedroom and closet makeover that is 100% Target with most things being from the new Made By Design line. This collection is full of home goods including furniture, lighting and accessories, so it’s not just organizational. It’s not meant to be decorative at all, instead focusing on function in a way that’s simple and attractive to create solutions for our everyday home problems and frustrations. At first, I was like “Okay great, everyone needs good basics” without inducing the same excitement in me as say Opalhouse when I first saw it simply because it’s seemingly so basic. But by the end of the week, after interacting with the pieces and really understanding how each item is solving little everyday problems, my tune changed. I realized “Okay, I NEED this because it will make my life easier,” and THAT emotional response honestly trumps all others right now. What good are decorative knick-knacks if they don’t actually add value to your life (well, yes, decor adds emotional value, but not in the same tangible way that something that helps you get dressed in the morning without bemoaning your lack of smart storage does, or even charging your phone without having to irritatingly reach deep behind your bed to find an outlet for your plug does.) THAT is life-changing, as in it can actually change how you live. Sign me up.

Somehow the designers figured out ways to make day-to-day life slightly less annoying, with solutions to save a little time and effort here and there in an affordable and attractive way. You’ll see.

First, let’s get into the closet (this collection is heavy on the organization, after all)…

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When we started, it looked like this:

I fall into the trap of devouring decked-out closets, just to realize that I simply won’t ever have that life because they are massive, walk-in closets with an island in the middle, etc. As you know, the closet in our LA home is TINY, but we do have a hall closet that we haven’t addressed yet, and doing this project inspired me to use this line to make mine FAR more functional.

This closet is just a reach-in with no built-in storage, just the rod and shelf and yet LOOK at how functional it is now. We maximized every single inch of it and it STILL looks pretty.

We started with the white basic furniture pieces and mixed in the pretty linen and see-through white metal mesh.

All of it is meant to be able to move around and fit into each other.

Now, I am not a professional organizer, which is precisely why I can speak to the benefits of this line:

1. The linen is SO pretty in person. It looks super high end and high quality. Thank you, Target.
2. The linen boxes have handles on all sides so that it can be pulled easily no matter which way you orient it.
3. You can treat the canvas hangers like dressers by adding the bins or just stacking sweaters and jeans.
4. The see-through mesh are obviously great for visibility (you won’t have to guess where your scarves are, etc.).
5. Everything is affordable and the collection will not change. That means if you want to add to it in two years you can without having to mix in a different color or style.
6. There are even under bed bins with tops that flips open so you don’t have to pull the whole box out to access that swimsuit.

I’m buying all of this. Writing this post has given me such an organizing bug.

Perhaps my favorite thing here and something that I am buying today is the hanging shoe storage. Over-the-door shoe hangers are ALWAYS ugly or when they are pretty, they are canvas so you can’t see the shoe. This is nice, with pretty mesh that you can see through (and it ventilates which I realize sounds gross but, listen, it is a selling feature and now not having something that vents seems disgusting). It’s very durable and can hold many, many mules. We could have easily doubled the shoes (it can hold 26 pairs) but for photography purposes, we kept it simpler.

We styled the hanging shoe container with sneakers and flats and then put the heels on the shoe shelf that has customizable dividers.

I couldn’t stop talking about the shoe storage and how much I loved it, how smart it is, how much I needed it, etc., when someone joked “I know some people have a shoe fetish, but I think you might be the first person to have a shoe STORAGE fetish.” I think I do. I don’t even love my shoes, but I have no space in my closet and we could hang this on the inside of the hall closet for all my sneakers and flats. It’s just so smart.

On to hanging:

I don’t know what I have that is fancy enough to put in a wardrobe bag but I’m going to buy some fancy clothes just to have these pretty linen wardrobe bags in my hall closet. The clear plastic side lets you see what is inside before you take it down to open. Smart. Pretty. I want. Also please note the beautiful, matching linen hamper. Smart. Pretty. I also want.

I feel like a crazy person writing this post, loving this line so much, it’s just so pretty and simple and smart. I want that life with that closet, even though it’s just a basic closet.

Even the hangers are pretty, and the back of door rack has S hooks that you can add to if you want to really load it up with purses and scarves.

There are belt drawers with dividers (can also be bras, underwear or socks) and we couldn’t get a few of the scarf organizers in time, but you can find them all here.

Okay, let’s talk bedding and then about this chic, simple furniture now.

How could those sheets be better than other basic white sheets? Here’s what I learned and experienced:

1. They are designed to dry quickly.
2. They are wrinkle-resistant. Not stiff, mind you, just have the ability to let wrinkles fall out more easily. Anyone who likes their sheets to look crisp yet soft, you’ll be glad to know you can stop your Saturday morning sheet ironing routine.
3. The sheets have “top and bottom” labels. The troubleshooting for which side is which isn’t panic-inducing but it’s just kinda annoying when you guess wrong and find that the side you thought was the top turns out to be the longer edge and you have to pivot. Problem solved.
4. They have ties on the inside of the duvets. I realize that this isn’t a new idea (they’ve been doing this for a while now), but it’s a detail that’s sometimes lacking in cheaper options. Oh, and do yourself a favor and just don’t buy a duvet without ties inside to tie onto the comforter, you WILL regret it as you battle nightly with yanking your comforter/duvet insert from the bottom of the cover. I can honestly say that the biggest thing we are missing in our society right now is a service that inserts your down comforter inside your duvet cover. Uber for duvet…Duver? This at least makes it easier because it stays put after you’re done sweating.
5. The sheets are designed both for shallow mattresses AND thicker ones with two sets of elastics.

That’s smart. And YES they are of course very soft and simple and affordable at $35 for a queen set (which is hard to beat for great cotton sheets).

This line also has pillows that are designed for back, side and tummy sleepers. I haven’t tried them personally but check them out if you are unsatisfied with the level of firmness under your head.

The designers went minimal in the shape for the furnishings, allowing for smart function like laptop or book/magazine storage on top, a drawer for nightly needs and room on the bottom for something larger like a basket, or—in this case—a collection of pretentious black and white art books because right before I go to sleep I typically like to brush up on my “Byzantium” knowledge.

I love the tone of the wood and that simple minimal finger pull. It’s just really pretty and looks far more expensive than it is ($80).

On to why my brother and the director of the video FREAKED out. Yes, you can plug your phone or anything into the lamp. I’ve seen this offered by newer, hip hotels and it makes SO MUCH SENSE. Depending on where the outlets are in your room, you might not have anything convenient by your bed, so you either have to leave your phone somewhere other than where you actually need to access it, run an extension cord across your floor or have that annoying reeeeeach behind your bed every night to just barely fit your charger.

The lamp also has touch functionality with three different settings—so smart so you can really customize how much light you output at any given point of the day/night. The shape is simple, it has multiple features that make your life slightly easier, plus it’s affordable.

On the other side of the room, we have the matching desk, which is such a great piece for a first apartment/home or a small office since it’s not TOO big, but just big enough.

Again, it’s in the same pretty wood tone, with open storage for books or laptop and one drawer for pencils, etc. The chair was designed to be ergonomic so even while it isn’t padded, the shape of it is supportive (and you can add a seat cushion, obviously).

The collection also has a ton of lucite dividers and organizers, which we used in both the desk drawers and nightstand. Check them out next time you are in the store or see the collection here.

We created a video showing you the whole collection in action. Please take a peek if you are interested in how to have a slightly easier life :).

This whole line can be layered on of course, but at its core, it is a line of well-designed essentials for home, kitchen and closets, inherently non-decorative, no extra bells and whistles, with the goal instead to be smart, attractive and affordable solutions for living. That sounds like a bunch of marketing speak but these are my true words after spending two days immersed in the product for the shoot.

If it weren’t 105 degrees, I would be rushing right now to Target to buy all the goods to redo my hall closet.

A huge thanks to Brady, Priscilla, Emily B and Sara for their art directing, production, styling and shooting skills. I’m so lucky to have such a talented team (whom I love to travel with…yay!). And thanks to Harter Creative for being so lovely to work with, professional and fun! Brian is in a play in LA so he couldn’t come up to shoot, and we were lucky to find a crew that we loved working with.

This post was created in partnership with Target, my favorite store, with beautiful affordable things, created by a company with great values.

3 Shelf Hanging Fabric Storage

Over the Door Garment Rack

Non Slip Velvet Hangers

Collapsible Hamper

6 Shelf Hanging Fabric Storage

Short Fabric Bin

Deep Fabric Bin

Slim Metal Shoe Bin

Deep Metal Sweater Bin

Short Metal Sweater Bin

Garment Bag With Window

Wood Pants Hanger

Fabric Accessory Bin

Over the Door Mesh Shoe Organizer

Horizontal Cubby With Bins

Fabric Shoe Bin

8 Bin Shoe Organizer

1. 3 Shelf Hanging Fabric Storage | 2. Over the Door Garment Rack | 3. Non Slip Velvet Hangers | 4. Collapsible Hamper | 5. 6 Shelf Hanging Fabric Storage | 6. Short Fabric Bin | 7. Deep Fabric Bin | 8. Slim Metal Shoe Bin | 9. Deep Metal Sweater Bin | 10. Short Metal Sweater Bin | 11. Garment Bag With Window | 12. Wood Pants Hanger | 13. Fabric Accessory Bin | 14. Over the Door Mesh Shoe Organizer | 15. Horizontal Cubby With Bins | 16. Fabric Shoe Bin | 17. 8 Bin Shoe Organizer

Gray Fringe Throw Pillow

Texture Color Block Lumbar Pillow

Glass Belly Vase

Bed Frame

The Casper Essential Mattress

Nightstand

Rug

Bedding

Microgel All Positions Pillow

Underbed Fabric Bin

Blue Sunglasses

Taupe Sunglasses

Watch

Medium Plastic Organizer Tray Clear

Large Plastic Organizer Tray Clear

Solid Poly Fleece Blanket

Solid Easy Care Sheet Set

Glass Stackable Short Tumbler

Marble Coaster

Carafe 18.5oz

Carafe 36.5oz

Lamp Shade

Table Lamp Base

Bookends

Cream Notebook

Green Journal

Matted Wood Frame 11″x14″

Single Image Matted Frame

Stapler

Black Pencils

Table Lamp

White Thin Single Image Frame

Desk

Desk Chair

Ring Set

Night Serum

All Bright Eye Roll-On

All Bright Night Cream

Small White Bowl

Gold Arrow Barrett

1. Gray Fringe Throw Pillow | 2. Texture Color Block Lumbar Pillow | 3. Glass Belly Vase | 4. Bed Frame | 5. The Casper Essential Mattress | 6. Nightstand | 7. Rug | 8. Bedding | 9. Microgel All Positions Pillow | 10. Underbed Fabric Bin | 11. Blue Sunglasses | 12. Taupe Sunglasses | 13. Watch | 14. Medium Plastic Organizer Tray Clear | 15. Large Plastic Organizer Tray Clear | 16. Solid Poly Fleece Blanket | 17. Solid Easy Care Sheet Set | 18. Glass Stackable Short Tumbler | 19. Marble Coaster | 20. Carafe 18.5oz | 21. Carafe 36.5oz | 22. Lamp Shade | 23. Table Lamp Base | 24. Bookends | 25. Cream Notebook | 26. Green Journal | 27. Black Matted Wood Frame 11″x14″ | 28. Single Image Matted Frame | 29. Stapler | 30. Black Pencils | 31. Table Lamp | 32. White Thin Single Image Frame | 33. Desk | 34. Desk Chair | 35. Ring Set | 36. Night Serum | 37. All Bright Eye Roll-On | 38. All Bright Night Cream | 39. Small White Bowl | 40. Gold Arrow Barrett