Your wardrobe is one of the most utilised spaces within your home and plays a pivotal storage role. When you are designing your wardrobe, your lifestyle and your personality play a huge part.
Are you the sporty and adventurous kind, or are you the sedate and homely type? Do you prefer to hang your clothes up rather than keep them folded? Are you a fashionista, who has an extensive collection of shoes, bags, and accessories; and more dresses than you can count? Do you have a child with an artistic personality who needs her own space? Or are you a globe-trotting businessperson, or an upcoming executive? Once you start thinking along these lines, you can get started on designing the wardrobe that will work best for you.
If you are a sports lover, you must plan your wardrobe around your sporting essentials. Some deep drawers for your muddy sports gear, helmets, and jerseys; loft storage for suitcases, camping gear and sporting kits and hooks to hang your cap collection are essential prerequisites.
If you are into yoga, then a dedicated space is needed for your yoga mat and gear. Track pants and exercise clothes can be folded on shelves as they will not crease. Plan for some hanging space for formals. A tall wire basket will neatly hold all the extras like your cricket bats and hockey sticks that do not have their own space.
Executives lead a fast-paced life and need a meticulously organised wardrobe where everything is readily accessible. Dress codes would mostly include formal wear; business suits, skirts, and pantsuits that must be ironed to perfection and stored without creases.
Plan for maximum hanging space, as clothes that are folded tend to lose their crisp neatness. Trousers get their own rack, and ties and belts should also ideally be stored in drawers or on a sliding rack. The bottom shelf or drawer can hold all your formal shoes; make sure that shoes that are stored in drawers always have an air vent so that they don’t smell bad.
A couple of pull-out shelves can hold coordinated sets of clothes that are ready to be packed into your suitcase for a business trip in a jiffy. Store your important documents in drawers that can be locked.
Business people wear clothes that are appropriate for the occasion; which may range from formal wear for meetings to casual tee shirts and jeans for a typical day at work. As a businessperson, you should plan your wardrobe layout with a mix of shelves for folded clothes, hanging space to hang up formals and ironed clothes, and drawers for accessories.
Organise documents in a drawer that can be locked for safety. Plan the right amount of space for jewellery, watches, and other accessories like cufflinks, ties, and belts. Optimise the areas according to your preferred style of storage.
As a fashionista, you will probably have more clothes than anyone else! You need practical solutions for storing all your different styles of clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories.
A mix of hanging space, drawers, shelves, and boxes for accessories, hooks to hang up bags and hats would make up your ideal wardrobe layout. If you don’t have a large mirror in the room, then choose mirrored shutters for your wardrobe so that you can check out your outfit before an evening out.
If space permits, a walk-in wardrobe would be the ideal option for you. If you have valuable jewellery, get a small locker or safe that can be anchored to the shelf for safety.
Design a couple of drawers at the bottom of your wardrobe for shoes, or plan for open shelves alongside where your shoe collection can be on display.
Your children’s wardrobe should be designed based on their interests and should be colourful and creative, with plenty of space to store all their essentials.
Make the wardrobe child-friendly, and use colours or decals that appeal to their personality but are child-safe and non-toxic. Hangers should be at a height that tiny hands can reach easily. Add some hooks at the side so that your child can hang up his or her school bag easily. Plan deep drawers for toys right at the bottom of the wardrobe, preferably accessible from outside so that they can take out and put away toys on their own.
If your little ones are artistic, they will need a separate space to store art-related items like easels and paints, crayons, and colour pencils. Use wardrobe finishes that can be wiped easily in order to keep clean in case of spills.
Customised designs for wardrobes will help you to store all your belongings just the way they should be stored. The market is awash with new styles and wardrobe accessories that can help you to optimise your space and design a wardrobe that is as functional as it is aesthetic.
This article is written by Basob Majumdar, VP Designs, HomeLane.com. It was originally published in ‘Roof and Floor’ from the Hindu Group.
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