Wardrobe Closets

There comes a time in life that after years and years of working our tails off, we finally get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We spend the first 30 years of our life accumulating debt, the next 20 paying it off and then finally, we get to treat ourselves to something like the Modus Armoire furniture. There simply may not be a better name when it comes to high quality bedroom armoires.

The Modis Nevis Armoire in Espresso retails for about $815 on Amazon.com and is available via their Prime Membership. This means expediting shipping that is 100% free. The cost of shipping this product alone will make up for the annual fee of $79. This is the ideal bedroom armoire that can serve as a beautiful wardrobe closet or for the TV. There is also storage featured via two pull out drawers.

The Modus Newport Armoire is also priced around $815 and has all of the same Amazon.com benefits of the Nevis. It is made from pure Tropical Mahogany and is solid wood. Like the Nevis, it is ideal as a wardrobe closet or to tuck the television away in. The English dovetail joiners and contemporary brushed chrome knobs (also available in shaker-style) really set this apart from all others in its class.

While both of those models are beautiful, the Modus Hudson Armoire is truly a signature piece. Once again, it is available on Amazon.com with Prime benefits and sells for about $1,100. That price is actually a steal as it is listed for well over $1,500 at many other online retailers. Made from Eastern Ash and featuring English dovetail joinery, any bedroom immediately moves up a level in class when this is placed in the room.

Modus is just one of many makers of expensive wardrobe closet furniture. Many of them can be found on Amazon.com and a variety of other sites. For this type of furniture, it is hard to beat the deals that Amazon offers. Their prime membership can be put to great use on something like this and if you don’t already have it, sign up and take advantage of the 30 day free trial to get the free expedited shipping. While you may get lucky and find this item slightly cheaper on other sites, they will charge at least $100 shipping and that will more than eat up the small discount.

If you are interested in getting a wardrobe closet, you might want to take a look at a different type of closet storage unit that offers some of the same benefits as a wardrobe closet. No, this is not another type of closet organizer – although those are nice! Actually, it’s a whole other type of stand alone closet known as a portable closet.

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.

Wardrobe closets tend have a (justifiably) high price tag attached to their costs. This is because of the nature of their design, the quality of the materials used, and the reputation they have with a culture associated with “high class”, so to speak. Places like Target or even Walmart do sell wooden wardrobe closets and wardrobe closet furniture, but much of this is made of plywood and other cheap materials and can hardly be considered a real wardrobe closet.

How then can a price conscious consumer save money when buying a wardrobe closet? Where can you go to get a good deal on an armoire that won’t cost an arm and a leg?

Sites like Amazon or Ebay have quite a few sellers distributing antique wardrobe closets, but these are not cheap items by any means. The same goes for a brand new wardrobe armoire. While you can certainly save some money shopping around, the cost associated with even a good deal is stil a fairly large expense.

Unless, however, there is one interesting twist to the sale: is the item used?

Now, the irony is that all antique furniture is obviously used, technically! So we’re not talking about these. What I’m referring to is buying a used wardrobe closet that’s also a modern wooden wardrobe closet. This is by far the best way to purchase a very nice unit and yet save a serious amount of money.

The question then is where can you buy a modern but used wardrobe closet? The options are limited and may take some hunting on the part of the buyer. That being said, the first place I’d recommend looking is your local Craigslist. Craigslist is a wonderful site for buying and selling used (and new) goods, services, etc. and it’s possible to find awesome deals on furniture, including wardrobe closet furniture, at these sites. The best situation is someone who owns one and just wants to get rid of it because they don’t have the space, they need the money, or they’re moving out. These people are likely to sell it for a very lower price just for the hassle of having it removed from their home and getting it out of the way.

Next, and in a similar vein, is looking at local garage sales and yard sales. This is really an extension of the first suggestion in a broad sense – i.e. buying person to person – but not everyone is going to advertise their items on Craigslist. You can however, find a list of local garage sales on Craigslist and sometimes people list all the items or types of items they have for sale.

Next up is something that can take more skill but the pay off is big. This is the idea of going to estate sales and bidding on furniture and other items. You’re actually more likely to find a good deal on an antique armoire here than a modern one. But, hey, that wouldn’t be so bad now would it?

As you can see, with some determination and searching skills, it’s possible to locate the used wardrobe closets out there for sale and get a good deal and a wardrobe closet armoire all at the same time without sacrificing quality.

Most everyone is familiar with the wardrobe armoire, or what’s known now as a modern day wardrobe closet. While antique wardrobe closets tend to have a bit more differentiation in the styles -i.e. French, Indian, Chinese, European styles, etc, coming from the time frame period in which they were created – today, most follow a standardized 3 door design. These modern wooden wardrobe closets create the “classic appeal” in their physique. This is the type of armoire that people picture in their heads when they imagine a wardrobe closet.

The irony is that is there anything other than a wooden wardrobe closet? It all depends on what you consider part of the wardrobe closet family. Let’s take a look at some different items included in this category.

Photo by Padsbrother

Wooden Wardrobe Closets. As mentioned, this is the type of armoire that we all know and recognize. Wooden wardrobe closets and similar pine wardrobe units are often very large, bulky, and weigh so much one person cannot easily move them. Modern designs typically warrant the inclusion of a 3 door front set with a set of drawers to the top and bottom of this design. The legs rest on the floor and do not contain any wheels.

Antique Wardrobe Closets. The variation in style here for antique armoires is much bigger than modern designs. Antique wardrobe closets were primarily built by hand. Many even on down to a craftsman who did nothing but create armoire style furniture. In this regard, we use the term armoire in the classic sense to describe any wood based furniture with drawers or cabinets.

Portable Wardrobe Closet. A portable wardrobe closet is usually meant to describe an altogether different piece of furniture, although it is similar in function. A portable wardrobe closet is usually a small, non-wood based portable closet, designed for containing or holding clothes “on the go.” A portable wardrobe closet may have wheels for easy moving or be equipped with handles for the owner to easily grab and move about.

Between the modern day wood wardrobe closet, the antique armoire, and mobile / portable closets, consumer have many different choices for how to best organize and hold their wardrobes with various wardrobe closet furniture.

You would never guess the history behind the wardrobe closet. One might think it’s simply another piece of furniture mass produced and sold in big box retailers, invented in a board room or meeting. While some furniture sold as wardrobe closets is definitely mass produced, true wardrobe closets come from a much more interesting background.

First of all, let’s look at the terminology used for wardrobe closets. You might have also seen them referred to as an “armoire”. Armoire is a french term that loosely describes any type of wooden cabinet with shelves. This is a fairly apt description of both modern and antique wardrobe closets, as the most classic look is that of a solid wood wardrobe closet that has multiple shelves.

What’s far from different between then and now is what the wardrobe closet or armoire was used for. Interestingly, the armoire historically was used to house weaponry! Along with weapons, it often held food items. Somewhere along the lines, it delved more into holding clothing than weapons or other items, and now, it’s almost always used to hold clothes or some kind, with some exceptions for dish ware and other collectibles.

Traditionally, throughout history wardrobe closets were a hand crafted item. People worked with their hands, creating an armoire as an individual piece of art. Many antique wardrobe closets bear the markmanship of this art, as shown through elegant and abstract designs carved into the wood. This could create a signature mark for the artist, as well as signify the general cultural timepiece that the wardrobe closet comes from.

It’s really interesting to think of wardrobe closets (or wardrobe armoire furniture) being used to house weaponry, and it’s also fascinating to think of each one being hand made, and then seeing how they development as a whole in different areas such as France, England, China, and India.

Next time you look at your antique wardrobe closet, ponder it’s history and be proud to own such an item!