Closet Update: An Ikea Komplement Add-On

Back when I finished my walk-in closet in 2022, I truly thought I was done and had the closet of my dreams. You can read all about it, including how much it cost, here. Well, after living with it for about 4 years AND after moving to a mostly remote job… I started to realize it could use a little tweaking.

Here is the section that I was looking at for some edits:

I had it organized with summer dresses on the far left, skirts in the middle (summer at the top, winter at the bottom), and then winter and formal dresses on the right. Also, that basket at the bottom of the left cubby is my “stuff that needs to be donated to the thrift store” pile.

Over the years, my work wardrobe has become much more athleisure heavy. I was using a dresser in my bedroom to store my t-shirts, bottoms and sweatshirts. However, between the gigantic oversized drawers that made it hard to organize and the fact that it’s over 20 years old and one drawer keeps falling apart… I was looking for a better alternative.

I decided to combine my dresses into one area and utilize the now empty space in a different way.

I purchased the following from Ikea to add to my closet for the update:

Building the drawers was pretty straight forward, however they are quite fussy and you need to have everything EXACTLY lined up or they won’t fit onto the contraption for the final step. There was a lot of cursing and a smashed finger which resulted in quite an impressive blood blister, but I got it done.

Tips for if you do it on your own: have an electric screwdriver handy, as well as a flathead and a hammer. Also, don’t be like me and put each drawer together while sitting on the ground and contorting yourself like a gremlin. It would be much smarter to build them on top of a soft bed/comforter so that you can stand while doing it.

Here is the finished project:

I left the hanging bar at the top for my nicer camera-appropriate athleisure toppers. Then, I utilized the four drawers to better meet my needs.

  • Drawer 1: t-shirts
  • Drawer 2: long sleeve t-shirts
  • Drawer 3: hoodies/sweatshirts
  • Drawer 4: joggers/sweatpants

I love the new set up and it seems to work much better for my current life and needs.

And yes, I do feel like my dress and skirts sections are packed a little too tight for my comfort. So, I am working on yet another purge to narrow it down to just the items that I fully love.

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My Athleta Haul: Comfy Ninja Vibes

I love Athleta and have shared some of my favorite finds over the years. I typically wait for a great store sale before buying anything, because while the quality is top-notch they are quite pricey. I’ve also lucked out and found some fantastic pieces at my favorite consignment shops for a steal. Which is where this haul started…

As a mostly remote worker, my daily uniform is comfy bottoms and comfy + camera ready tops. As we are about to switch from humid hot to chilly in Maryland, I’m taking a close look at my jogger/sweatpants drawer and plan to do a RUTHLESS purge.

As I start my purge, I know I have three pairs of Athleta joggers that I purchased during the pandemic and have loved and worn time and time again. In fact, I’ve just done some quick math: about 7 months of the year, 4 weeks a month, 6 years, wearing each pair probably 1-2 times a week… Yeah, I’ve worn these joggers 150+ times EACH since 2020.

So, it is a surprise to nobody that they are getting pretty darn worn out.

I also have a few thrifted joggers/sweatpants that just don’t fit very well anymore – dumpy butt, crunchy fabric, too much/not enough stretch. Apparently, I’m the Goldilocks of comfy pants.

When I was out and about with my friend recently to visit some of our favorite consignment stores, I made sure to focus on finding some replacement pants. Well, we did a speed-run through a store that was about to close, and I found a super soft pair of Athleta wide leg sweatpants that seemed to fit my needs. So, I grabbed them and paid. When I got home, I laundered them, tried them on… and fell in love.

Then, a few days later I was near an Athleta store, so I decided to stop in. I told the nice salesperson my Goldilocks pant needs – not too heavy/hot, not too light, not fitted like leggings, must have pockets, must be super soft, and I prefer darker colors. I tried on three pairs and two were winners.

This is when I realized that the purple pair of pants I tried on (above left) were the EXACT SAME PANTS as the black pair I bought at the consignment store! Oh, and I grabbed a tank top from the sale rack to try on… and of course ended up loving it.

Here are the pairs I purchased:

When I was in the store, they had a Friends & Family sale of 30% off, and if you had one of their credit cards it was 40% off everything. Currently on the website, they still have the Friends & Family sale for 30% off and an extra 10% off with code: EXTRA10.

Now I’m the happy owner of three new pairs of comfy pants! Which means that I feel pretty confident that I can get rid of the three pairs that have been worn to death, along with any other pairs that no longer meet my needs. Bring on the closet purge!

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My Style: September 2026

September has flown by as it does each year in a haze of back-to-school and various birthday shenanigans. The weather has switched from hot and muggy to cooler and I’ve unearthed my comfy sweatshirts for those chilly nights.

Let’s take a look at my September outfits:

Office Style

I only had one day out and about for work, so I thought it would be a good time to style a thrifted-but-never-worn skirt from my closet. I thrifted this linen Modcloth skirt in Florida back in August 2025 for $7 and added an interior drawstring to help the waist fit me better. But then I never wore it. So, I pulled it out and styled it with a simple black blouse, purple cardigan and Mary Janes… and I kind of hate it. No biggie though, it has been added to the re-donate pile so that someone else can enjoy it!

Casual Style

Yeah, these are basically just three versions of the same outfit. I added the pink gingham skirt to a recent Natural Life order for sheets (it was one of those throw one more thing to get free shipping purchases) and I love it so much styled with a graphic tee. So it got styled twice this month. The orange skirt was a Nordstrom Rack clearance find a couple months ago and also looks super cute with a fun tee shirt.

The outfit on the left was for a fun day off to celebrate turning another year older – so I went out for breakfast with a friend, followed by some leisurely thrifting. Once again, I love these cute Mary Janes from Keds and as an added benefit, they are super comfortable. The outfit on the right was for some secondhand/vintage/antiquing adventures with a friend on a rainy day.

Wedding Style

For my last outfit of the month, I have this fabulous thrifted dress that I wore to my cousin’s wedding. I thrifted this dress probably 10 years ago or so and I think the last time I wore it was at my sister’s rehearsal dinner about 8 years ago. For this month’s event, I paired it with a pair of gold heels that have literally been in my closet for over 25 years… but they are magically comfortable for being such a high heel. We had an amazing time at the wedding and I can’t wait to bring this gorgeous dress out again someday in the future.

New vs Secondhand Tally

This month, I count 8 items that I purchased retail and 11 items I purchased secondhand.