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Space crunch As much as a wardrobe is a necessity, making space for one in a small room can be rather tricky. Sarah Thomas offers some creative ideas to store your clothes in style.
The word interior designing most often brings to mind images of fancy showpieces, different types of lights, extravagant furniture and all things classy. While all this is true, the task of designing the
interiors of a home is not so much about adding flashy items but making use of the ordinary in an extraordinary manner.
If you have a small room, then the biggest problem that you would face is a lack of space for the wardrobe.
As essential as a wardrobe is, sometimes there is just not enough space for it and you definitely can’t have a huge cupboard eating into your room space.
If you are dealing with a problem like this and you are of the opinion that
putting all your clothes into a box and pushing it under your cot, is the only
solution, then you’re wrong.
“A wardrobe is super essential in a room. You can’t have clothes thrown about here and there, and expect your room to look impressive. While it is true that a small room can seem complicated to design, and a wardrobe space may seem impossible to have, there are several alternatives,” says Cynthia Grooger, a freelance interior designer based in Goa.
Cynthia prefers designing smaller rooms, as after a makeover they look the best.
There are several alternatives that would look great, take lesser space and are easily available at affordable prices as well.
A clothes rack
A clothes rack is extremely simple to have. They are available in any furniture shop and can be placed in the room, with your clothes on hangers. They can be made to look chic and colourful by arranging your clothes in a colourful manner with stoles or scarves hanging on the sides, to add a oomph factor.
The way you arrange the clothes is what would make the rack look decent. The shoes can be placed below the clothes on a stool, to accommodate all your
belongings in one place.
A hanger wardrobe
A hanger wardrobe is not a wardrobe at all, but it looks absolutely lovely and serves the purpose, says Shyell Nicole, a freelance model who used to live in a small room. She suggests that those who stay in an extremely small room with no space for a rack also, can have hanger wardrobes, which are nothing but long strings tied to the hook of the hanger. Several hangers can be tied to a spot on the ceiling; this saves space and looks great too.
Shyell says, “This helps a lot as all your clothes are in front of you and you’re not going to lose sight of anything. But you need to keep them neat.” Otherwise they can easily become an eyesore.
Closet bunk beds
Most of the time, closet bunk beds are used in the kid’s room, but it could be customised and designed to look beautiful, says Afifa Al, an interior designer based in Bangalore.
She says it’s a super space saver and is perfect for a single person. The lower portion has drawers and a cupboard,
saving space and a person could sleep on top. Most often the closets are built-in.
Wooden ladder wardrobe
The best part about finding alternatives to wardrobes is that you can be completely creative. As long as it works for you and suits the setting of your room, then that is what ultimately matters.
Two ladders can be placed on either side, such that they are wide apart and inclined towards each other. Two planks can be placed below, joining the two. You can add a few more wooden planks
between the two ladders and place your footwear and clothes. Hangers could be used to hang them on the top-most wooden bar.
Open wardrobes
Afifa suggests open wardrobes for smaller bedrooms. She says, “Open wardrobe is a small-sized structure that can be placed at the side of the bed. It can be used to keep clothes and footwear.”
She calls this her favourite style of storing stuff. But open wardrobes have their drawbacks as well. They are difficult to maintain and if the room is dirty, the clothes get dirty too. So, keeping the room spick and span is a must, if you plan to give the open wardrobe a try.
In order to avoid the dust reaching your clothes, you could also try using curtains to cover the wardrobe. The curtains can be fancy, with frills and in vibrant colours to complement the room decor. Or they could be simple and classy. Whatever works best for you.
Afifa recommends using light colours to make the room look large. Either have it all in one single colour matching the walls or add a little bit of contrast. Most of these wardrobes can be made and designed according to your liking.
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to wardrobes. You could do as you please, as long as the wardrobes suit your setting and don’t look like a
desperate attempt to make some space for your clothes. It must match the setting and harmonise well with the space.
Let your imagination run wild, bring out the designer in you and transform your little space.