Posted by Lauren Jacques - Senior Buyer on 16th Apr 2024
How to Choose the Best Wardrobe for Your Bedroom
Imagine your dream wardrobe. It’s probably a whole room, lined with designer shoes, your fanciest togs colour-organised and stored on padded hangers. Perhaps there’s a plush armchair to sit in while you pull on your socks, built-in jewellery storage and mirrors that allow you to see all angles of your outfit.
Assuming you’re not a multi-millionaire with a Beverly Hills style mega mansion, the dream of a walk-in wardrobe filled with expensive clothes is, sadly, pretty unachievable. Nevertheless, there’s almost certainly improvements to be made to your current wardrobe set up.
For those of us with normal lives and normal homes, who use our wardrobes for storing old board games and birthday wrapping paper as well as our clothes, the good news is that there are solutions out there. Ones that won’t require you to win the lottery or woo a power-hungry Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a passion for space travel. Read on for our guide to upgrading your wardrobe for easier mornings, less clutter and perhaps even a touch of billionaire glamour…
New Wardrobe, New You: How a New Wardrobe Can Change Your Life
Alright, so maybe that’s over-stating it a little. A new wardrobe probably isn’t going to change your entire life, solve hunger and bring world peace. It probably won’t make you significantly happier either. But a good wardrobe may just make your day-to-day life that little bit easier.
Wardrobes to make your morning less stressful
Ever convinced yourself that you have the perfect top for that date on Friday only to create complete chaos trying to find it (and ended up wearing the same old shirt you always wear)? Or found those trousers you love more creased than origami and with no time for ironing? Opened your wardrobe to be walloped by a cascade of clutter? A badly designed, disorganised or too small wardrobe can add a whole extra level of stress to an already busy morning.
Investing in a wardrobe that fits your room and your stuff may just help to make life a smidgen easier. It can help you to keep your clothes neatly organised. It can make finding the item you’re looking for easier. And it can help you to take better care of the clothes you love.
Wardrobes for a more stylish room
Derelict doors, scuffed up sides and faded frontages. An old, tumbledown wardrobe will really spoil the look and feel of your bedroom, a space that’s supposed to be calming and sanctuary-like. And that tidy room, tidy mind thing? That can be absolutely true. A messy, disorganised room really could be playing havoc with your stress levels.
A smart new wardrobe, complete with handles that are fully attached, hinges that don’t creak and a hanging rail that could collapse at any moment, can make a huge difference to the look and feel of any bedroom.
Wardrobes that help you declutter
Other than garages and lofts, the master bedroom is often the most cluttered room in the house. Home to those bits and pieces we can’t have lingering out there in the public areas of the home like the living or dining room, the bedroom wardrobe is often the place we opt to shove stuff that doesn’t really have somewhere to call home.
Unfortunately, this means that our bedroom’s wardrobe is called upon to do much more than just house our jumpers and jeans. It means it needs to be a multifunctional piece of furniture that provides us with space for all manner of belongings. A well-designed wardrobe is capable of doing just that, with built-in drawers and shelves on different levels in addition hanging space, making organisation of a variety of belongings simple.
Wardrobe Features and Benefits: The Best Wardrobe For You
Your home and your personal needs will dictate what your new wardrobe might look like. Here are some of the features to seek out…
A wardrobe with top storage
Taller wardrobes and built-in wardrobes will often include high shelves fitted over the closet’s hanging space. If you have high enough ceilings for a wardrobe closet with this feature it’s definitely a worthwhile investment, especially if you’re short on storage space because of a loft conversion or a lack of built-in cupboards and closets. Ideal for those bits and pieces you won’t need to access regularly, like out of season clothes, Christmas decorations or photo albums and other keepsakes, high level storage is a must for families with a lot of belongings.
Our top tip: keep a fold-down step stool in the bottom of the wardrobe so those top shelves can be accessed without breaking out the ladders or clambering onto an unsteady desk chair.
A sliding door wardrobe
Wardrobes with sliding doors are a real boon for rooms with minimal floor space or awkward layouts. Requiring no clearance for doors that swing out into the bedroom, a sliding wardrobe gives you plenty of freedom when it comes to siting your furniture while also looking sleek and modern thanks to its neat finish. Sliding door wardrobes look great in modern minimalist bedrooms but can also be used in more traditional designs when chosen in colours and finishes that blend into their surroundings – pick a wardrobe in the same colour as your wall for a barely there look.
Our top tip: use temporary self-adhesive wallpaper or decals to make a feature of a simple sliding door wardrobe. Change up your design when you redecorate for a whole new look without the cost of a whole new wardrobe.
A mirrored wardrobe
With a mirror door wardrobe there’s no need to invest in a separate full length mirror for your bedroom – it’s right there, built into your furniture. This is great news for small size or busy bedrooms where wall space is at a premium and makes room for other furniture items or even for artwork or decorative pieces. In addition, a mirrored wardrobe can help to create a sense of space, even in the pokiest rooms, reflecting light into dark corners and brightening up an otherwise uninspiring space.
Our top tip: opt for a wall-length mirrored wardrobe with sliding doors when furnishing a small spare room. This looks sophisticated and modern, creating an indulgent walk-in wardrobe effect with minimal impingement on floor space.
A wardrobe with drawers
Some larger wardrobes will include built-in drawers in addition to hanging space. These drawers are great for underwear, t-shirts and other items that don’t need to be hung up. Having folded items packed neatly into your closet can mean that you don’t need to purchase a separate chest of drawers, potentially saving you hundreds of pounds.
Our top tip: always fold knitwear and keep it in a drawer with anti-moth measures (cedar wood balls or lavender bags are both good options). Jumpers and cardigans can easily snag on hangers and will often stretch and lose their shape if hung.
Choosing a New Wardrobe: What to Consider
When it comes to choosing a new wardrobe for your home there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind, other than budget. To help you find the right wardrobe that will stand the test of time follow these simple rules:
- Know what you’re planning to store: having a good idea of exactly what’s going inside your new wardrobe can make it easier to decide when in-store. Look for the ratio of hanging space to shelves and drawers and opt for a system that best suits your belongings. For example, if you have a lot of suits or dresses a long hanging rail is a must, but if you’re storing jeans and tees look for spacious drawers. Meanwhile, if you have a lot of non-clothing items opt for a wardrobe with lots of shelf space.
- Measure up before you leave home: knowing exactly how much space you have by carefully measuring your room (we recommend drawing out a rough plan of your bedroom to take with you too) makes choosing a new wardrobe simpler. Doing this will keep you from ending up with a wardrobe that dominates a room or a single wardrobe that looks stranded in a large room.
- Know your style and stick to it: it can be easy to be swayed by in-store offers or attractive displays, however it’s important to know what you’re looking for and to stick to your guns in the face of temptation. That black wardrobe might look fab in a showroom but it’ll be somewhat incongruous in your cottage-core bedroom.
- Keep existing furniture in mind: if you aren’t planning a complete revamp of your room it’s a good idea to take photos of the pieces you’ve no intention of replacing and refer to them as you shop. This helps to avoid the colour and style mis-matching that can lead to a very expensive bedroom rehash!
Our Favourite Wardrobe Options
Ready to shop? Check out our favourite wardrobe choices to suit any bedroom, whatever your storage needs:
The best wardrobe for modern bedrooms
If you love the slick modern look, the Sicily sliding half mirror wardrobe could be right for you. We love the combination of materials for a timeless appearance that will blend well with any bedroom décor as well as the spacious combination of hanging space and high shelving.
The best wardrobe for small bedrooms
The best wardrobes for small bedrooms have sliding doors, mirrored fronts and simple designs, all of which you’ll find in the unfussy Lazio two door sliding wardrobe. Available in a range of finishes (though we think white is a sensible choice for small spaces), the Lazio offers two width options to suit your room’s dimensions.
The best wardrobe for maximising storage
If you’ve got a clothing collection that’d put your local branch of H&M to shame look no further than the large Sicily five door bi-fold wardrobe. This huge closet, complete with clever bi-fold doors and optional inbuilt mirrored section, has the option to add drawers to its already generous storage space featuring both hanging rails and shelves.
The best wardrobe for varied storage
If you’ve got a wide variety of items to pack away the Emden six door, six drawer wardrobe with hinged doors could just be the answer to your prayers. A monster of a storage unit, the Emden provides deep drawers, two shorter height hanging spaces and one full length hanging space as well as high level shelving that’s perfect for storing boxes, accessories and more. Two full length mirror doors are a convenient addition.
The best wardrobe for traditional rooms
Lovers of that country cottage vibe will jump at the Edgemont two door wardrobe with drawer thanks to its solid rustic oak finish. This freestanding wardrobe with full width bottom drawer is part of the wider Edgemont range, which includes a chest of drawers, bedside table and bed frame, so it’s easy to create a cohesive finished look.
The best wardrobe for kids’ bedrooms
Available in simple white or warm ash, the Hip Hop two door hinged wardrobe is a smaller dimension unit perfect for rooms with less floor space. Ideally sized to slip into a recess, this smart wardrobe matches the rest of the Hip Hop range, including a space-saving tall boy chest of drawers and a trundle bed designed for easy, comfortable sleepovers.
Wardrobe Shopping at Bensons for Beds
Don’t be fooled by the name, Bensons for Beds is about more than just beds! In fact, we offer a vast range of wardrobes in a variety of sizes and designs, helping to make designing your bedroom all the easier. And then of course, there’s bedside tables, chests of drawers and dressing tables to choose from too.
In addition to finance options designed to help you spread the cost of your lovely new bedroom, we also take the stress out of delivery with to-your-room two hour delivery slots and the option to change your schedule up until five days before delivery day.
To start shopping, speak to our bedroom design experts or to place an order, drop into your nearest Bensons for Beds showroom or call us on 0808 144 6160.
