This is part two of two in article looking at both fitted wardrobes and the stand alone wardrobe closet. 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.

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.

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!

A portable wardrobe or armoire is a temporary closet designed to give extra storage space in a pinch. As the name suggests, these closets are light weight and completely portable. They are simple to assemble, take apart, and move. Still, despite their portability, they are comparable to standard wooden armoires in terms of storage space.

Portable armoires are great options for anyone that needs a cheap and efficient way to organize and store clothing. These wardrobe closets are perfect for temporary living scenarios like college dorms or summer homes. A portable wardrobe is also a fantastic option for storing seasonal clothes. Why keep all those bulky winter coats in the primary closet all year? A portable wardrobe can store them safely and efficiently, but most importantly, they can be stored at a low cost.

Most of these portable armoires have fabric exteriors around a metal or plastic frame. Also, many portable armoires come on wheels. They have see-through nylon windows to facilitate viewing of the armoires contents. In most cases, temporary wardrobe closets are completely collapsible, so moving them is quite simple.

Wardrobe closets are a necessity for anyone with a significant amount of clothing and a minimal amount of space. A portable wardrobe closet offers the perfect temporary solution to any clothing storage problem. Furthermore, these closets are sturdy enough to serve as permanent storage if necessary. Best of all, the reasonable prices mean that anyone can afford a portable armoire.

What is a portable closet?

First and foremost, it’s a closet that is exactly what it’s name states – it’s something that is portable.. To this end, a portable closet is made to be something you can easily move from one place to another without struggling or hurting your back. This often means that they are equipped with wheels for easy transport. If there are no wheels, or in addition to the wheels, many closets are designed with handles so they’re easy to grab and carry.

Most portable closets stand 3 to 5 feet tall. These stand alone closets are not made of solid wood like their wardrobe closet armoire cousins. Instead, in order to make them portable, the materials must be light weight. This means portable closets are usually made of cloth, mesh, plastics, and other man made materials to keep them light and mobile.

Portable closets cost far less than wardrobe closets. On average, they tend to run under $100 for a portable closet, which is many hundreds of dollars cheaper than what many would consider a cheap wardrobe armoire. For this reason alone it is worth looking into the portable closet as a possible solution to your storage needs.

But what do you miss out on if you buy a portable closet instead of wardrobe closet furniture? Two things come to mind. One, wardrobe closets are simply nicer. They’re heavier, made of solid wood, and are truly built to last. (How else could there be a flourishing market of antique wardrobe armoire which are already hundreds of years old and still going strong?) Secondly, You don’t so much get a piece of furniture like you do with a wardrobe closet – hence the phrase, wardrobe closet furniture – but rather, you get a decent looking yet functional storage unit for your clothes or other closet items. In other words, you can trade aesthetics for function and still get the storage at a fraction of the cost of a wardrobe closet.

This describes many peoples situation with their clothes and other closet items and there closet. They’ve simply run out of room. What is there to do?

Purchasing and installing a good closet organizer is probably the best thing to do, short of throwing away half your clothes. (Even better- do both.) But if this solution is just not for you, then a solution that IS for you would be to purchase a nice stand alone wardrobe closet.

What exactly IS a wardrobe closet?

It’s actually quite similar to a portable closet in that it’s an item that mirrors the reasons for having a closet; i.e. it provides a space to hang your clothes.  However, most portable closets are not made of solid wood and most are not really designed to emulate a nice piece of furniture. (If they did, they wouldn’t be so portable after all.) So where the portable closet  ends is where the wardrobe closet begins in a sense, becoming a real piece of heavyweight furniture and something that compliments a room.

A good wardrobe closet is a good-looking wardrobe closet. Many are made of elegant finishes and solid wood. They come with drawers and covers and don’t show your clothes off to the room. Imagine a large chest of drawers but with the top part more like a vertical shelving unit, one tall enough to hang shirts, pants, suits, and dresses, and deep enough to accommodate the shoulder width size of clothing. Unlike portable closets, you’ll rarely find anything like a shoe rack or a laundry bin in a wardrobe closet -why? Because a wardrobe closet is simply too nice looking for something like that. It’s not really the proper spot to hang a pair of Vans Men’s Shoes. (Note that some do have shoe racks hidden on the inside, but you wouldn’t want a shoe rack covering the outside of a $500 wardrobe closet.)

The price range for wardrobe closet is something to consider – you will be making a real purchaser with your dollars, not just buying a few shelves but rather, buying a real solid piece of furniture that should last decades. The price reflects this, and many wardrobe closets cost upwards of $500 US.