Clothes Rails As Alternative Wardrobes

One of the quick and easy ways to store extra clothes is to use a clothes rail. These tend to be stored in the spare rooms or in the corner of the main bedrooms. These are great for hanging clothes that are in temporary need of a home, but probably not good for long term storage.

I have found these tend to be in use more in spare rooms or if homeowners are organising a car boot and want to hang the clothes on a rail.

Clothes rails have not covering at all and cannot a lot of weight, so only ideal for short term use or hanging light cotton clothes. Wardrobes are designed and built to hold more clothes and the wardrobe doors, either sliding door wardrobes or traditional open doors keep out the dust from the clothes a lot more than the canvas or open clothes rails.

Canvas Wardrobes For Teenagers

I have seen many houses and many bedrooms that belong to children or teenagers. The difference in furniture within these rooms is clear to see. The obvious reason for this is that tastes change, children grow up and their needs and clothes space changes. If you imagine that that a teenager might not appreciate an antique wardrobe but still needs somewhere to hang those clothes.

The option of canvas wardrobes are popular as they are simple to construct and can be adapted or colour scheme altered with another canvas colour. These wardrobes do not have slide wardrobe doors in the same sense as there is no solid runners or unit for the doors to be hung onto. It is important to note that whilst canvas wardrobes make a cheap alternative, there are some problems which I came across when asking the homeowner about them.

• They attract dust, so if you have someone with an allergy to dust, these are not the best wardrobes.
• They can get dirty quite quickly from hands touching the same areas of material on a regular basis. The covers can come off and be washed but you need to aware of this when purchasing.Traditional wardrobe doors do not show up the dirt as they are wood or glass.
• Not very sturdy, so they definitely cannot be moved around too much.
• Finally, they do not hold a huge amount of weight so they are ideal for small children, or as an extra wardrobe for a teenager, but not ideal for main wardrobe as jeans, jumpers and tshirts soon become too heavy for the rail.

The Glass Wardrobe Doors

Following on from my blog post about walk in wardrobes I have viewed a lot of bedroom décor that has included wardrobes with sliding doors. This creates a really airy space as often the doors are from floor to ceiling and if they are made up of frameless glass these can be really effective. The only problem I discovered with these doors is that you need to position the bed and other furniture so you are not continually catching your own reflection.

The doors can also be hard to keep clean and smear free if you have small children. It might also be an idea to make sure they are not tempted to play too rough close to the doors incase the doors smash, crack or get scratched. This would be a disadvantage to having these doors as one crack would need the whole door replaced.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these type of doors though and how easy they are to keep clean?

The Walk In Wardrobe Design

The walk in wardrobe is something which is proving a popular choice as I come across houses what are limited on space. This is a great option if you have an awkward size room with a space that can be made use of.

Sometimes a full size wardrobe is too big and bulky to fit into gaps, but a space can be created as a walk in wardrobe complete with wardrobe doors that can either have a effective sliding door mechanism or open outwards if there is room.

In some instances, a smaller room next to the bedroom has been made into a storage room complete with sliding doors and walk in wardrobe experience. This is a great way to utilise the room and prevent it from becoming a junk room or just another storage room.

Different Types of Wardrobe Doors

As I have been looking at the different houses and the different ways in which space is created within them, one thing that is always interesting is the different range of furniture and how that has been adapted to the style of room and person who is using the room. For example, an antique wardrobe would look out of place in a teenagers room due to the usage and design of the wardrobe and wardrobe door solution. I started to take an interest in the different types of wardrobes and how contribute towards space and décor.

One of the main wardrobes that I saw was the traditional wardrobe that comes flat packed and is designed to be constructed within the room it will stand. There are benefits to this in that the cost of the wardrobe is often less that the heavy duty, quality wood wardrobes, but they can only be move occasionally and are not designed to be moved frequently as this may affect the structure and presentation of the wardrobe, such as the wardrobe doors not completely closing due to it being dragged across the room too much.

Sliding Doors Will Save Space in Bedrooms

Moving home into a smaller place can cause a lot of space issues as the double bed that sat perfectly in the last house no longer fits into the room that was going to be the spare room. There are quick fixes such as limiting the number of bedroom units and try to get units that can attach to walls and storage boxes can hold a lot of bits and bobs without having to be based on the bedroom floor space.

There is the option to purchase furniture that has sliding door systems to reduce the need to allow space to open a door, which can save space and open up the room more.

If this is your first home, why not think about furniture that can be adapted and reduce in size when needed such as sofabeds. Alternatively, consider beds that offer draw space within the frame to reduce the need for storage units within the bedroom itself.

Is there is an area of the bedroom in which nothing ‘fits’ consider making this into a walk in wardrobe and you can install sliding wardrobe doors which would be effective in creating space and making the room look bigger.

Kitchen and Dining Space Saving

Some houses will have a separate room for dining and some kitchens extend into one room as a kitchen/dining room. If the kitchen is large enough, the household might want to eat in the kitchen and this will involve purchasing a kitchen table. This seems an easy task to start with, until you start to think of how many people will be using the space to eat? How frequently will the table be used? Can we save space with no-one is eating at the table? 

These are great questions to ask and the solution is often a fold away table, like the one shown here. The great option here is to also include the chairs underneath the table as an extra space saver.

 

If you are going to using the chairs and table on a regular basis then the size of the table will not matter, but if it something that is only going to be used at Christmas then make sure the space available is utilised well. 

Kitchen Space Created With Sliding Doors

Example Utensils Rack

Space is essential in any house structure. There are various kitchen ideas to save space and even more so, worktop space that is important. When planning a kitchen, designers need to be aware of making sure the main 3 points of cooker, sink and fridge are at a perfect triangle and all within easy walking, standing distance to each other. Depending on the design of the kitchen, the utensils can be stored on a rack close to the cooker, where they are used most.

Some kitchens have taken an approach to have cupboards and make use of small spaces with space saving sliding doors that push and close. Kitchen cupboards tend to be opened in the traditional way, but more and more kitchen designs are included deep drawers and cupboards that can be opened easily and also close to give the kitchen a stylish look and feel and reduce the need for door handles.

The kitchen is one room which needs to be as clear as possible, especially if you are cooking and moving around with hot dishes aswell. There are also the obvious hazards to be aware of such as the cookers and hobs and liquids heating on the hobs that might spill.

Coffee Tables For Space Saving Ideas

There are some great space saving ideas for furniture so regardless of the size of room that you are trying to furnish. Companies seem to be offering space saving solutions as standard, as they appreciate that homes can become cluttered and it not always possible to move house to create extra space.

Lets start with one of the more popular space saving ideas of the coffee table. The designs for these have changed from the simple base to storage solutions for newspapers and books. A lot of coffee tables have inbuilt drawers or simply a shelf under the main surface.

We like how this stylish and modern design of coffee table lifts up and extends to create an additional space and also storage underneath, but without the drawers.

A great space saver for the lounge, come back to the blog for some ideas on space saving in the other rooms of the house, such as wardrobes with sliding doors and fold away tables.

Not Sure About This Idea Though...

As I've begun my home search I've not yet come across this idea that was featured in the Daily Mail. I think that although this apartment looks stylish and impressive, I would prefer the privacy and normality of a conventional bathroom suite.

Image source from Daily Mail article

Just wondering what the other rooms in the apartment look like?