Welcome to DIY Diary. Each entry covers a new home-improvement project. Here, a DIY closet system comes to life as Lakesia Jennings, a self-taught creator, transforms her builder-grade walk-in into a coveted dressing room.
Remember all the dreamy home-improvement goals many of us had in the depths of quarantine? Lakesia Jennings actually rolled up her sleeves and accomplished them, most recently with a DIY closet system. “I originally started DIY’ing in 2020 during the pandemic,” says Jennings who now has more than 175,000 followers on @kesiashouseahome. “I was at home, bored, looking at different YouTubers and other DIY’ers, and just started to feel like, ‘You know what? That looked easy. I think I can do this. I got it, I got it!’”
The results are a lesson in the power of positive self-talk. Jennings, who works as a business analyst during the day in Jacksonville, Florida, is now a bona fide DIY influencer, with everything from a showstopping pantry upgrade to a glam fireplace mantel under her toolbelt. The best part: knowing she can do anything she sets her mind to. “I feel like I’ve kind of found my purpose, which is weird because I’m usually like the girly-girl type, and then all of a sudden now I’m into woodworking!” she says with a laugh.
Jennings’s latest project? Transforming a humble (and generic) walk-in closet into a DIY closet system worthy of Pinterest fever dreams. “I wanted to make sure that my closet is epic,” she says.
Before the revamp, her existing walk-in closet was a classic builder-grade special—with wire shelving and a dresser. “Of course, it was just chaos, from the ceiling to the floor,” she says. “I wanted to make sure that it was practical for me, but also very, very beautiful.” See how she takes it from drab to fab.
Purge and plan
To start a DIY closet system, you need: