Handbook

Wardrobes and storage rooms are auxiliary spaces in a home, serving as storage areas. However, there are two fundamental differences between them. While a storage room can house various household items, a wardrobe is exclusively for clothing and footwear. Daily-worn outerwear and shoes, hats, and umbrellas usually have their place in a hallway rack or closet.

 

I’ll discuss the common design mistakes in these rooms. An amateur approach can lead to:

• Allocating too little or too much space for these areas;
• Incorrect door placement, hindering access to necessary shelves;
• Miscalculation in shelf and rod placement;
• Poor ventilation in the room.

 

Wardrobe Room

 

Setting up a wardrobe in small apartments isn’t practical. In such cases, a spacious wardrobe in the bedroom is more convenient. However, in larger apartments and country houses, they are quite fitting.

Wardrobes vary in size and shelf placement:

• Single-sided, with a single row of shelves, optimally 1.3 – 1.5 meters wide;
• Double-sided, measuring 1.75 – 1.9 meters wide;
• Triple-sided, with a width of 2 – 2.2 meters;
• Four-sided, stretching 2.6 – 2.8 meters wide.

The standard shelf width is set at 55 – 60 cm for clothes and 30 – 35 cm for shoes, similar to the depth of the cabinets.

 

For items to be hung, install a rod or hanger. There can be several for short and long clothing, arranged in two or three rows. Optimal placement heights are:

• 1.9 – 2 meters for long items;
• 1.2 – 1.4 meters for trousers;
• 90 cm for shirts.

 

I recommend a shelf spacing of 35 to 40 cm. The top shelf should be no higher than 2 meters from the floor. The shoe shelf is best placed at 50 cm height. The distance between the rods and the top shelves should be at least 5 cm.

 

Drawers shouldn’t be too low; an optimal height is between 1.1 and 1.4 meters from the floor. Generally, I base the ideal height on the average height of the apartment’s residents. It’s illogical to install a high hanger for dresses if a short-statured person will use the wardrobe.

In the wardrobe, it’s also feasible to accommodate a small section for an ironing board, about 1.6 meters high and up to 30 cm wide.

And, of course, what’s a wardrobe without a mirror? It should ideally run from floor to ceiling, equipped with daylight lamps.

 

Storage Room

 

Storage spaces are often included in apartment and private house designs. Residents sometimes repurpose them into laundry rooms or small home offices. I advise against this due to the loss of essential space for storing items and equipment. It’s better to properly zone the living space when designing the apartment.

I suggest dividing the storage room into several functional zones:

• Lower sections for seasonal shoes, a vacuum cleaner, broom, mop, and a cabinet for household chemicals;
• The middle part for shelves and drawers for tools, food items, bottles, jars, and some clothing items;
• The top shelves for rarely used items like tents, inflatable boats, suitcases, holiday decorations, etc.

The storage room can also accommodate sports equipment – bicycles, balls, dumbbells, sleds, skis. The door should open outwards.

Exercise caution and avoid storing food items near chemicals.

To prevent the storage room from appearing overly cluttered, use the same material for all shelves, and cover drawers and boxes with a uniform tone. For lighting, install several ceiling lights in the middle.

 

This topic is quite extensive, so if you want to set up a wardrobe or storage room in your apartment, it’s wise to seek professional help. I, designer Olesya Blashchenko, am ready to draft your future interior sketches and calculate the budget for work and materials.