When starting to look into all of the custom closet choices that are available, a smart shopper will save him or herself a ton of time and dollars too, if some basic pre-planning work is done ahead of time. Knowing personal storage needs and desires, as well as those things that make a new closet fully function will go a long way in achieving the best possible fit and function within personal budgetary constraints.

Get out the measuring tape and know exactly how much space is available. Do not forget to look at not just the horizontal floor space, but vertical space too, all of the way up to the ceiling. Capitalize on height if it is available for storing out of season items on high shelves. Consider installing another pole for hanging lesser worn garments above the main pole.

Lighting is another critical factor; you cannot wear what you cannot see. If there happens to be a window or skylight, that is great, but do bear in mind that clothing continually exposed to sunlight will fade over time.  Most will need to have some regular lighting installed and the usual one bare bulb in the center of the ceiling really does not do the job. A tip from lighting designers, make sure that the light source is in front of clothes, not behind, as this casts shadows on the very objects that the owner is searching for.

Finally, do an honest assessment of personal storage habits and the contents of the wardrobe. It is okay to admit that your personal habits will never get shoes into neat little cubbies, so do not waste money on these and instead consider some big open bins on the floor. Custom closets only work well if they are designed with the owner in mind.

This is part two of two in article looking at both fitted wardrobes and stand alone closets. Take a look at part one of our article titled Fitted Wardrobes or Wardrobe Closets? to catch up to this post. Part one we looked at defining these two terms, taking into account how both wardrobe closets and fitted wardrobes are designed. Below we move past definitions to get into the reasons you’d want to choose one type of closet storage system over the other.

To understand which type of closet storage system is better, you need to look at what your needs are in relation to these products.

For instance, a fitted wardrobe with sliding doors is an excellent option for a home that needs a lot of storage space yet cannot afford to waste any space in doing so. A sliding door fitted wardrobe makes for an excellent choice in this situation for a number of reasons:

1. You can store about twice as much in it than a wardrobe closet of the same width.
2. Because the doors slide open, you need not reserve space to the left and right of the unit for the doors to swing open.
3. You can access and utilize the storage space that runs between the top of the fitted wardrobe and the ceiling of your home too.

Additionally, many people find the fitted wardrobe a more attractive option if they are seeking a more modern look for the closet storage system.

On the other hand, a wardrobe closet may be a better fit for those in a different situation. Consider a home with a large amount of space that seeks to use an armoire not just for storage but also as a decorative item. A country home with an antique flair that enjoys relishing in the solid wood wardrobe design would benefit most from the look of an antique closet over the flair of a fitted wardrobe.

Contrast this with someone who is the go a lot and needs a suitable solution for closet storage who might benefit the most from a portable closet, and you have yet another different reason to use one of the other of these two classes of wardrobes.

As you can see, it all comes down to what you want and what you need, as well as the home and living situation, in order to decide which is a better for you: a wardrobe closet or a fitted wardrobe!

If you have a decent budget and are in mind to spend it on a closet storage system, you will end up finding out that there are quite a few options out there that move far beyond simply a Rubbermaid closet organizer. Companies like John Louis Home manufacture complete closet systems that have to be installed from floor to ceiling that can completely transform your walk in closet to a closet storage room of massive proportions.

These closets are certainly nice and do the job as far as holding clothes correctly, but what if you don’t have a walk in closet? What if you need to create a closet with the space you have?

This leaves you with the option of buying either a stand alone closet or installing a fitted closet. Deciding which one of these is better is the question I want to look at today.

Fitted Wardrobes
A fitted wardrobe is a wardrobe closet that’s installed from floor to ceiling utilizing the homes design as part of its construction. This means that the design of the home is taken into consideration in a big way and the wardrobe is literally fitted around it. For instance, a fitted wardrobe may be installed that runs the length of the entire wall that the bed rests against, going from the floor to the ceiling on both sides of the bed and then connecting with a cabinet that runs over the length of the bed. Another example is that some fitted wardrobes will utilizing the walls of the home to function as the back wall of the wardrobe closet and even the side or sides of the closet, depending on the layout of the home.

Fitted wardrobe is very popular in the United Kingdom. In the United States, there popularity is not as great – perhaps due to percentage of homes designed built in closets or walk in closets that provide ample storage space from the start for their wardrobe clothes.

Stand Alone Closets
A stand alone closet can be defined as any free standing closet storage space. This definition takes into account both portable closets as well as wardrobe closets. Let’s look at these two types of stand alone closets.

A portable closet is a lightweight closet designed to be mobile and provide access to clothing. They are used often in guest homes, guest rooms, and in studio apartments and dorm rooms, as well as for anyone who is often on the go and needs a reliable closet. A portable closet nearly always consists of a light metal frame with cloth walls. They cost between $30 and $100 US.

A wardrobe closet, also known as a wardrobe armoire, is a heavy free standing closet, nearly always made of solid wood. Wardrobe closets often feature elegant designs, hand painted or hand carved engravings, and cost a bundle, with the price tag starting at the low end of about $200 US and going up into the $2,000 to $3,000 US range.

Stay tuned as tomorrow we complete part two of two in this article series comparing free standing wardrobe closets and fitted wardrobes!

Well, they don’t exactly love to hear this, but they simply must.  Children need a clean, tidy space for rest, relaxation, play and often, for studying. Oak wardrobe armoires are a clever storage solution for their bedroom dilemma!

Dressers are great pieces of furniture, but they often fill up quickly with things stuffed in them and on top of them. Wardrobe closets are a great way to expand children’s bedroom furniture space to keep clothing and such neatly tucked away. Oak wardrobe closets are perfect for hanging clothes, storing linen, books and more.

Cleaning and organizing juvenile bedroom space doesn’t have to be a painstaking chore any longer. The Prepac Oak Juvenile TV/Wardrobe Armoire will give you the added space you need to get the job done. The wardrobe closet has versatile dimensions and can be easily assembled. This oak wardrobe is a simple, all-in-one bedroom storage center in one box!

There will be no excuse for clothes and other bedroom items lying all over the room. Prepac Oak Wardrobes are well made with engineered wood that is made to last. Three drawers on the bottom of the oak wardrobe move with ease and have child-friendly, built-in safety stops. This armoire is well recommended and reasonably priced on Amazon.com for $197.00.

The Prepac Oak Juvenile TV/Wardrobe Armoire looks classic and polished with a clean, attractive appearance. The light brown oak has simple detail and will fit well with any bedroom theme. The wardrobe contains generous hanging space and shelves for children’s clothes, bedroom items and a small TV. You will be glad that your children can finally have a place to store their things!

Fitted wardrobes are wide, spacious and visually appealing space solutions, especially for master bedrooms. These elegant bedroom fixtures have plenty of space to go around to meet store all of your shoes and attire.  Fitted armoire wardrobe closets will turn any decent sized bedroom into a hotel-style living space.

The Milan Fitted Wardrobe aligns perfectly with your wall to give your room a discreet, roomy look. The Spring Birch is a pleasant neutral color that is adaptable for any bedroom color and style. You’ll have more than enough room for your clothes, shoes and accessories. The style is formal and stylish and accentuates the bedroom with class and flair.

There are a myriad of designer knobs to choose from to customize the drawers and closet handles according to your specifications. Play a part in creating the bedroom makeover that you love and deserve with a Milan fitted wardrobe.  This spacious centerpiece is a one-stop storage center that will set your bedroom in a class all by itself. There is a place for everything in your bedroom, and everything can be in its place!

This high-end wardrobe closet is available online through Spacemaker.  They will craft your armoire to look just the way you want it to. You can feel like a star and enjoy the bedroom makeover you’ve always wanted. Create a stylish bedroom look that is classy and timeless with beautiful fitted wardrobes.

When creating a spacious bedroom, clothing and shoes are often the biggest hurdles the get over. After deciding what to keep and not to keep, the clothes that remain need a place to call home. Beautiful pine wardrobes are attractive, spacious and practical space savers that fit nicely in traditionally styled bedrooms. The smooth, golden brown wood will look great with any color scheme for a stylish, practical look.

The top-selling English Heritage Wardrobe Triple Armoire is made with beautiful solid pine that is visually appealing and long lasting. There is no lack of space with this huge wardrobe that more than suffices to provide needed storage space. These beautiful pine wardrobes have fine detail on the panels and a lovely mirror right in the center. Behind the left and center doors there is plenteous hanging space. The remaining door has several shelves for shoes, vanity items and accessories.

The English Heritage Wardrobe Triple is expertly crafted and hand waxed for a great look and a maximum lifespan for your bedroom storage needs. In addition to the abundant space inside the wardrobe armoire closet, there are also drawers underneath to store items such as papers and books. These wardrobe armoire closets will help to cover all the bases for your comprehensive space saving efforts.

This English armoire comes partially assembled for ease and mobility as it is transported and delivered to your front door. It is rather large, so remaining assembly for the wardrobe closet should be completed in its designated bedroom space. These lovely English furniture centerpieces can be found at PineSolutions.com for about $1119.00.

These lovely mirrored wardrobe armoire closets will take center stage for your princesses to bask in for years to come. Mirrored wardrobes will be one piece of furniture your daughter may even want to haul off to college! The Enchanted Kids Mirrored Wardrobe is mesmerizing and delightful for sweet, feminine look girls will love at any age.

This attractive antique white armoire features a large oval mirror encapsulated by detailed solid hardwood accents. The mirrored door opens up into a discreet storage space with a pull out drawer for girls to store their vanity items, books or even a 23-inch TV! This attractive centerpiece has very nice features and serves as a great storage option for your space solutions.

In addition, there are two spacious drawers at the bottom of the mirrored wardrobe for additional space options for all the girl stuff! The Enchanted Kids Mirrored Wardrobe is featured on Amazon and available for your purchasing pleasure for $590.00. This is not cheap, but it’s a priceless investment in a little girl’s memory bank.

This Victorian style wardrobe armoire closet also has such safety features as nice round edges and corners with drawer stops for every drawer. The Enchanted Kid’s Mirrored Wardrobe’s sophisticated look, attractive finish and timeless style will be a mainstay for a girl’s bedroom space. Take a step back into fairytale land with this quaint, feminine wardrobe closet for your little princess.

Dark wood has a very durable, appealing look and looks great in almost any furniture style. The lovely dark finish looks shiny and unblemished for your practical wardrobe storage needs. Dark Alder bedroom wardrobes are a part of the Brookstone Collection of furniture and are available on Amazon.com for about the affordable price of $145.00.

This beautiful piece of furniture has wide, spacious shelves to store grooming items and bedroom various items. This attractive two-door wardrobe closet opens up for a neat, concealed space option. There are also two adjustable drawers cleverly concealed behind the doors for added space options.  These lovely bedroom wardrobes are easy to assemble with metal runners and safety stops for the drawers.

You can store bulky items such as sweaters and thick attire without taking up too much storage room. The dark Alder wood has a traditional, impressive look that is in a class by itself. You can easily find this wardrobe armoire closet on Amazon.com in the Home and Garden section.

In addition to a sleek, dark wooden finish, you can enjoy the practical design that features a big pullout drawer at the bottom to store such clothing as shirts and slacks. This armoire is priced right, looks great and is a great showcase for your bedroom décor. It can serve you well as a great storage piece that is stylish, sleek and attractive for years of enjoyment.

Sonoma Black 2-Door Armoire, Prepac, $150
This very modern and very stylish armoire was once priced much higher, but for some reason people did not find it very attractive. While it may not be the perfect piece for a high-end adult room, it is perfect for the teenager that is just starting to grow up. It has very clean lines and a simple, yet elegant look about it. For the price, this is an absolute steal right now. Check out Amazon.com and various other online retailers for this armoire.

Camden Black Armoire, American Drew, $775
This is just a classic and very sharp looking black armoire. It is perfect as either a bedroom armoire or as the center piece in the dining room. There are not enough good things to say about this product as it truly a beautiful piece of furniture. The elegant bottom drawers and the long door top section set this apart from just about anything else in its class.

Series 200 Armoire, Status, $750
This piece wins out because of the very unique look that it has. It totally gets away from the traditional look and has an open space at the top where something could be displayed and then two very long doors that open into the wardrobe closet. While the space that is taken by the top features restricts this armoire to only one bottom drawer, the look is worth the sacrifice. It may not be for everyone, but whoever has this in their home has something truly special.

Nearly every home is now built in with a linen closet by the bathroom. These are the tall, narrow closets you find in the hallway near the bathroom or sometimes the bedroom.

But what if your home doesn’t have a built in linen closet? This article will address this question by pointing to some helpful products and ideas you can use as linen closet storage.

Options for
Linen Closet Storage

Or “What Do To When You
Have No Built In Linen Closet?

You use a free standing
closet instead, most likely!”

If your home or apartment doesn’t have a built in linen closet, or any closet nearby the bathroom for storing extra blankets, towels, sheets, and so on, short of designing and building a closet into the walls (a topic for another article!), your options basically all revolve around buying a stand alone closet or a combination of closet organizer or closet furniture accessories to hold such items. The amount of storage closets and related accessories that fall under this category is immense, as just about every article on this discusses a different type of closet that fits in with this definition. So let’s separate the wheat from the chaff and recommend some products specifically for linen closet storage.

Since we want to be budget conscious about this, we’ll start with the cheapest items first and move on to progressively more expensive linen closet storage solutions.

1. The ever classy *wink wink* “over the toilet” storage option.

This option works in real life much better than it sounds in print. The term “over the toilet storage” is unlikely to be found on any company’s website as part of their sales pitch. Lucky for us, we’re not selling anything, so we can call it like it is!

Anyhow, an open “closet” storage item like this, with two legs and a metal frame (often wrought iron) consisting of multiple open storage shelves, works very well for holding many of the same items a linen closet is purported to be used for. It also ironically makes them even more accessible for someone who needs them.

For instance, if you realize you need a towel when you’re out of the shower, would you rather walk down the hall and get it from the linen closet or simply reach above the commode and find a fresh towel to dry off with?

By the way, the one featured here costs $89 from Target, is made of wrought iron, and can hold 25 pounds – more than enough for our purposes here. It’s not “really” a linen closet or linen cabinet, but for many people, it’s just as good and will save them money, so I wanted to start it off as the first one on our list!

2. Bath Storage Tower from Ameriwood

You can also buy a free standing storage tower like this one from Ameriwood, designed with bathroom and linen storage needsin mind. As you can see from the picture above, this bathroom storage tower lets you store items both openly and behind closed doors – perfect for keeping extra towels and wash cloths on hand while keeping more private needs nearby, like extra toilet paper.

Available from Target for $89. Assembly required. Note that some reviewers found this bath storage tower’s assembly instructions to be kind of hard to follow and/or flat out noting that assembly was a problem. I’m including this here now just to let others know who may have read this before and thought about buying it.

3. Bathroom Espresso Towel Shelf/Rack from X-Frame

Spending a few more dollars – $130 versus the two items above priced at under $100 – you can really get an awesome looking storage unit from Target for the bathroom.

This is my favorite one on the list – just look at that photo! It looks awesome.

I wish there was just one or two more shelves for storage, but with 4 swuare storage areas boxed in on this shelf, you can definitely hold a respectable number of towels, sheets, and linens.

And while this tower could stand to be taller or equipped with at least one covered shelf or drawer, it makes up for it with it slick looking design.

4. Bathroom Storage / Linen Cabinet from Ameriwood

Ameriwood is making it twice onto the list, and for good reason. Costing $150, for about twice as much as the item featured in number two, you can buy a fantastic wooden bathroom storage cabinet. This solid wood cabinet features both open and closed storage areas and tops it all of in an espresso finish.

Mimmicking the design of a real built in linen closet, it’s tall and narrow and provides enough space for all the things you’d normally hold in a linen closet, except now you will probably have them directly available in the bathroom – exactly where those items are needed the most!

This is a close tie with the previous item in terms of how cool it looks. What this cabinet offers in additional to looking great is twice as much functional storage space!