Wardrobe envy: Closet and storage solutions for every space

Mirrored robes should be carefully positioned, but they really let the light fly around a room, and making dressing by your clothes so convenient. Miami, EZ Living’s best-selling wardrobe to date, above, this 2m mirror version is €999, ezliving-interiors.ie.

YOUR bedroom should be a soul-soothing, calming space. Putting firm manners on clothes storage is far from fashion — it’s absolutely vital. Standalone, fitted, roomed-off, or built into the architecture, wardrobes offer a generous style choice.

The right composition and surface finish can make the wardrobe completely present or all but disappear into a discreet storage wall.

Read the space in square metres — including odd angles and the bed position — before you open the door to any other design questions.

A dressing room is far less of an indulgence when it’s performing double duty. Platsa Wardrobe with seven doors and six drawers, 300cm x 42cm x 201cm, €680, ikea.ie.

Slab, glazed, or mirror faces, soft-closing hinges or silent slides — cabinet trends generally follow those of universal, home storage elements. Think about losing pulls with bump or glide operation to still visual intrusion. Blocky, economical, free-standing robes of 1,800mm-plus will touch or skim a standard ceiling.

Banked in sturdy, monumental widths of 110mm-plus, they read as much more expensive, fitted units. Flat-pack ranges can be synched tightly against shelving, drawers, and open hanging, offering an up-scale, cohesive finish from a budget assembly.

Winkle out the screws and you can tailor the elements for so many other spaces when you flip the room.

The Georgians adored their made-to-measure cupboards. Embellish freestanding pieces with crown moulding and baseboards to give it some design punch and apparent period weight.

It’s a detail that either makes you swoon off your Jimmy Choos, or completely blank and questioning the indulgent loss of square metres: Would you, could you have a walk-in wardrobe? Walk-in robe by SlideGlide, in Soft Cream with moulded drawer fronts and glazed elements from €2,000, slideglide.ie.

Fully fitted wardrobes can make awkward spaces sing, cloak uneven walls, and even add acoustic muffling. Using walls and ceilings as its structural outer frame, they will earn their price in an ergonomic, perfect installation.

Initial measurements are ideal for a collaborative computer-aided design (CAD) chat but have the supplier carry out the final measurements before ordering. A split-millimetre, exquisite install will ensure you optimise the design and fit, and don’t sit up in bed reviewing infuriating gaps, sticky doors, and cock-eyed angles.

Bespoke wardrobes can include drawer elements on show or behind sliders, and with second-fix detailing taken to the ceiling and skirting, they recede elegantly into the architecture.

One sheltering partition also gives you some blessed privacy in which to dress at leisure. PAX Wardrobe, white high-gloss 150cm x 66cm x 201cm, €665, ikea.ie.

Drill down on the material talents and action of the doors. Bi-folds or swing doors have a hinged operation that limits their width and demand around 700mm of standing space for opening them up.

Half horizontal tinted mirrors to the top of the panels and doors can mask the glaring, naked reflections from the bed (a no-no in feng shui) while inflating apparent space.

Wall-mounted framed-up modular shelving is space intelligent and an easy DIY install for a dressing room. Tease apart and add units as your life and clothing needs expand. System storage includes more open shelving, integrated chests, and hanging space over blind doors, but glazed sliders in smoked and textured glass are on the rise.

A masterclass in Chalk Paint up-cycles, a formerly unloved French armoire aristocratic enjoys fresh Rococo stature. Painter-in-residence for Annie Sloane Ildiko Horvath elevated the ornate carvings and details in Graphite, a wash of Napoleonic Blue, ‘knocked back’ with a little French Linen and a little Aubusson Blue, Honfleur and French Linen. 

Wide-open storage looks Gucci-gorgeous in glossy magazines but is a disaster if you don’t fold your clothes meticulously every day. Designer framed units offer signature stanchions (frame edges), mouldings, door tracks, interiors fittings and lighting. Budget for these inclusions to conjure the full Kardashian-esque dressing room.

Inserts are essential to configure the contents of your wardrobe. Micromanaged, interior detailing can double the price of any standard wardrobe — free-standing or fitted. Ensure you know what’s on offer in your package, and consider what you could add with cheaper individual purchases such as baskets and clever hangers. Metal elements, articulation, glass, together with back-lit and track lighting are the priciest options. Still, if these inclusions divide and conquer your clothes and deliver them in a silken glide, you might find them worth the investment. Lighting is crucial to judging outfits. Use directional spots on the ceiling working with interior or exterior lights to illuminate the ritual of dressing up.