One of the biggest mundane challenges of adulthood – especially if you’ve lived in the same place for a while – is that you tend to slowly accumulate stuff over time. Books, papers, odds and ends, and (sometimes worst of all) clothes all build up the longer you’ve been around, and the longer it’s been since you’ve had to pack it all up and relocate. But while culling your collection is a popular (and often quite useful) option, if you find yourself struggling to fit everything you want to keep in your closets, it might be time to try out an old-fashioned solution to this modern problem of abundance: modern wardrobes.
Why Choose A Wardrobe?
While the word itself might call to mind something more Narnia-adjacent than you might want for your master bedroom, modern wardrobes combine the best parts of customized closet storage with a design that’s decorative, freestanding, and still allows you to make full use of your existing closets. Ranging in size from traditional tall-but-narrow cabinets to full-wall installations, modern wardrobes offer a stylish and functional alternative to a slightly more common and conventional dresser or chest of drawers.
What’s the big difference? Simple. Most Americans store their clothing in one of two ways: either hanging in a closet or folded in a dresser. Who uses what, of course, varies from person to person, but in my experience drawer storage is typically reserved for clothing you don’t mind having wrinkled – socks, underthings, and maybe sleepwear – while closets are reserved for nicer clothing… and often long-term clothing or miscellaneous storage. Modern wardrobes integrate plenty of space for hanging clothes into their design, creating a separate space where you can store frequently used clothing that you don’t want wrinkled… and that you don’t have to struggle to find in an overstuffed closet.
Of course, having a squeaky clean and tidy closet is a more effective long term solution (after all, you can only keep adding more specialized storage to the same room for so long!). But if your house (or even just your bedroom) is short on closet space that you absolutely need for some other purpose, adding a modern wardrobe to your space will enable you to keep a door closed on your closet mess while treating your clothes to the place of pride they deserve. Even relatively small wardrobe towers afford you plenty of room to store a week or two worth of clothing, with enough space between each piece that it won’t feel crowded or be difficult to sort through.
What About Closet Organizers?
Another popular (and, again, often quite effective) remedy for overstuffed closets is to pull all the stuff inside out and build in elaborate custom closet organizers. From cubes and cubbies to multiple tiers of closet bars and hanger organizers and even built in closet lighting, these setups can certainly make it easier to stow everything you own. And the price tags can be reasonable, at least for the parts. Unfortunately, to get a quality setup, you typically not only have to pay for the parts, but also for the installation. Modern wardrobes, on the other hand, come with similar storage options already built in, and don’t require any of the custom construction – or really any more than maybe a wall anchor.
Specialized Storage Wardrobes
In some cases, modern wardrobes even come with specialized types of built-in storage. The most common of these are ones designed specifically for shoes. This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, it’s easy to wind up with a shoe collection big enough to lose track of in a large closet, even if you don’t collect them. Wardrobes designed with shoe storage in mind make it easy to keep many multiple pairs stowed and organized (in or out of their boxes), and sometimes even on display.
No mater how big or impressive, a wardrobe won’t replace your existing closet. But if you’re squeezed for storage space, need more room for hanging, or storage that’s a little more specialized, adding a modern wardrobe to your bedroom might be the much-needed supplement you’ve been longing for.
