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9 Ideas for Closets That Won't be Hidden Away

Make your closets the best feature of your bedroom, rather than an afterthought, with these inspirational ideas

Catherine Smith 26 April 2016

Houzz New Zealand Contributor. A design addict from way back, I can't resist looking at other people's houses. And doing a tiny bit of styling and decluttering. Just a tiny bit.

Houzz New Zealand Contributor. A design addict from way back, I can't resist looking... More

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Wardrobes are usually the sturdy work-horses of your bedroom, corralling all your clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories – and a lot more besides, if you are short of storage in the rest of the house. But that doesn’t mean they have to fade away and become a boring background to the rest of the room. If you have the luxury of a walk-in wardrobe, a master ensuite, or both, here’s how to rethink your closet to create the best room in the house. You’ll pamper yourself every morning rush-hour and thank yourself in the evenings as you get ready for bed.

Sarah Davison Interior Design

1. Bring living-room style into the bedroom
While you need sensible utility lighting in the dressing area to see the clothes, you can still amp up the polish with a dramatic feature light fixture and beautiful drapery. It is tempting to think that basic white fittings will help bounce around the light, but a rich colour is best to show off your clothes.

If solid wood cabinetry is out of your budget, ask your wardrobe manufacturer to show you their selection of wood veneers, wood-look or dark-coloured laminates to get the look.

BEST FIT: Those who have space for a full-sized dressing room.

Kate Hansen Photography

2. Repurpose old furniture
Who says you have to have new purpose-built wardrobes and closets? If you love upcycling, this is the closet look for you: adapt a terrific mantelpiece or sideboard as a closet.

Taller pieces from the Arts and Crafts period may give you enough hanging length and often have bonus shelves or tiny cupboards for accessories. Otherwise, you may need to add a base or legs to suit your clothes. Period wardrobes may be too narrow for today’s coat hangers, but insert shelves for folded jumpers, tops and pants.

To complete the look, use old mannequins to display your favourite pieces, hunt for hat blocks or shoe trees, glove boxes and vintage storage paraphernalia to bring your closet out in the open.

19 inventive repurposing ideas

Architecture Architecture

You can play with this look in a modern apartment too, with open hanging and shelves for your best looking shirts and shoes, and a collection of drawers for the boring stuff.

BEST FIT: This will work for people who love to colour block – or at least keep things tidy.

Traditional Bathroom Traditional Bathroom

3. Bring the closet into the bathroom
In the days before efficient ventilation and de-humidifying systems, it made sense to separate the wardrobe from the bathroom so that steam and damp didn’t ruin clothes with mould. But with today’s good fan systems (look for one that switches on automatically when it detects motion or humidity), you can blur the boundaries between dressing and bathing.

You may not want to store outdoor clothes near the bathroom, but it makes sense to have lingerie, hosiery, sports gear and nightwear right where you need to put them on after your shower. Work with your cabinet-maker or designer to create drawers and doors that complement your vanity fixtures for an integrated look.

BEST FIT: This style needs wide or square rooms, so you can move around easily.

MFM Design & Construction llc

4. Add architectural details
If the rest of your house has period beams, beautiful architraves, wall panelling or ceiling roses, don’t stop them at the closet door. Use stylish drawers, quality handles and pulls, and glass-fronted cabinets to repeat the look of the rest of the house. Alternate clear glass cupboard doors to show off your best shoes or handbags with mirrored glass that bounces light around.

BEST FIT: Period houses with features you can copy are the right home for this style of wardrobe.

Tim Ditchfield Architects

5. Bring the outdoors in
A room that blurs the lines between bathing, luxurious views and your favourite handbags out on display is a seriously wonderful way to bring a closet out in the open. If you are concerned about light damaging precious garments, add to the living-room glam with a sweep of light-filtering curtains or blinds. Or you can install blocking blinds, which you open only when you are there to enjoy the view.

BEST FIT: Suits secluded sites or cleverly landscaped courtyards.

smarterBATHROOMS+

6. Copy the best hotels
Take a tip from the open-plan look of the top hotels, where the vanity is a work of art. Here the homeowner has had the curves of an old-time Art Deco dresser reproduced as a vanity, the old Hollywood boudoir look repeated with vintage-look handles.

If you want to take the look further, add a layered light-fitting, a cluster of light bulbs as a modern nod to backstage dressing rooms, and a sweep of mirror that does duty for face and full-body. With vases of flowers, an array of your prettiest fragrances, this is a closet you won’t want to leave.

BEST FIT: People lucky enough to have walk-in wardrobes.

Make the most of a small walk-in wardrobe

Jasmine McClelland Design

7. Turn your closet into a gallery
With a sleek architectural daybed under a dramatic feature light, this closet space could be part of the public spaces of your house. The look is achieved with meticulous custom joinery, helped by no visible hardware.

Use hidden hinges, touch latches and drawers in a disciplined pair of rows to create the look of a panelled salon. A sky light helps create interesting daylight patterns, but this gallery-meets-closet is at its most dramatic at night.

BEST FIT: Modern furniture collectors with a very very good joiner-craftsman.

Candace Barnes

8. Turn your closet into your boudoir – or your living room into your closet
Forget being discreet, just go berserk and turn over your closet into the boudoir-meets-salon of your dreams. Actual wardrobes for storing things are behind panelled walls and sweeps of mirror, so you can bring in the sofa, armchairs, your favourite coffee table books and entertain your friends from the bathtub.

What the heck, this is your whole living room in the closet. One chandelier is clearly not enough for your glittering lifestyle, so add more sconces for sparkle and shimmer.

Dan Kitchens Australia

If your bedroom is more modest, you can still give your closet living-room comfort with the addition of a built-in window seat. Make it more than somewhere to sit while you put on your shoes by widening it for a daybed retreat that’s ideal for escaping from a busy household.

BEST FIT: Nesters whose hearts are always happiest at home will be happy here.

Wolveridge Architects

9. Bring little people’s style out in the open
An open-plan closet not only looks sweet in a kid’s room, it encourages tidiness. If small sorts don’t have to open drawers or cupboards, they are more likely to find their own clothes – and put them away again. It’s best to keep everyday apparel and shoes near to ground level; leave the high-up shelves for party or out-of-season clothes.

BEST FIT: This works for little ones keen to learn tidying up skills

TELL US
Do you prefer a hidden closet, or one that makes a statement in your bedroom? Tell us about it and share a photo in the Comments section.

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petapea

In my tiny apartment (65sqm) having everything on display would just look cluttered. I had storage built-in so everything is away, neat and tidy!! This room was once the study, now it's my WIR (right side), and multi-purpose storage facility (left side), including for linen/cleaning stuff/office stuff. There's even a ladder in there!