I suppose I could kind of say that I have a walk-in wardrobe. Well you can at least walk in to it. Not very far mind as it’s very skinny. In fact I’d say I had more storage space in my old flat pack wardrobe.
Around the tinternet, and more specifically on Pinterest there are hundreds of walk-in closets. Some of them are gigantic (yes Mariah we are looking at you here) others more modest.
The whole dressing room/spare bedroom thing is very popular at the moment too isn’t it? In my old spare room I had wire shelves, poles and drawers fixed across the wall to house all my clothes, with a three-quarter bed across the other. My friends and family never seemed to mind that they were sleeping amongst the contents of H&M. When Big transformed a bedroom into Carrie’s closet I don’t think I was the only one who was concerned about how they would squeeze in an Ikea sofa bed for unexpected overnight guest.
Practicalities aside, what would your dream wardrobe look like? I’d take inspiration from the wardrobe of JC Crew Director, Jenna Lyons, and centre it around some awesome architectural feature such as a huge fireplace. Obviously there would be a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling to illuminate the racks and rails of shoes. I would have some form of upholstered pouffe or chaise to recline on when picking out my outfit for the day. Custom built cubbies would house shoes and other accessories and there would be a huge ornate mirror. Dreamy. All clothes hanging in my dream walk-in wardrobe would fit perfectly, would not be susceptible to ‘bobbling’ and would rarely require ironing of any form. I also love the images I’ve seen of peeps having a massive claw foot tub in their dressing room, but is this practical? Would your favourite jumper become a victim to mildew?
What would your ideal wardrobe look like? How are you storing your clothes at the moment and what changes would you make to turn your closet into a dream walk-in? You are hereby granted permission to be as extravagant and ostentatious as you like…
Image sources | White open wardrobe with shelves | Pink chandelier | Jenna Lyons dressing room | Dressing room with white walls and vintage details | Grey shoe storage | Black shoe cupboard | Open wardrobe at back of bed | Open plan rail with honeycombs
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To be honest I count myself very lucky that living in London I have a two bedroom flat – as it’s currently only me & the hubby we have a spare room which is a luxury in itself! So I store my clothes in the wardrobe and draws in there, shoes under the spare bed and my husband keeps his in the wardrobe and draws in our bedroom (I get under the bed in our bedroom too for the substantial bag collection!). Most of the time everything is just folded up….. sometimes literally just flung on the spare bed and left until the weekend!
I obviously LOVE the idea of one of the wardrobes pictured about but I seriously think that I would need to employ someone to manage it! Even with my meager current situation it can easily get out of hand and end up taking me a whole Sunday afternoon to sort, refold and put away! The idea of having anything bigger is almost stressful! Although maybe if everything was beautifully laid out and easy to find it wouldn’t get in such a mess – either way as we can’t actually afford to buy our own flat and think we’ll be renting for sometime yet it’s really not something I need to worry about 🙁
You are so right Bryony. It would take forever to manage one of these wardrobes. Your set-up sounds ideal.
I remember watching Newlyweds once and Jessica Simpson had a complete meltdown about where to hang things in her walk-in wardrobe. How the other half live!
I’ve got a sort of walk in wardrobe (like yours, you can’t walk in very far before you bash yourself on something!) but I’ve just started this whole capsule wardrobe thing. 40 items (including shoes but not bags or other accessories).
The idea is that you do this for three months then ‘refresh’ your 40 items to suit the season. Its only day 3 but I am actually LOVING it! Its the same stuff I wear most of the time anyway but with less crap around it and so much less hassle deciding what to wear
Full disclosure 1: I didn’t get rid of EVERYTHING i took out (though there is a huge ebay/instasale pile, IG username is deltafoxtrotcharlie if you’re interested), lots of it went in the spare room wardrobe
Full disclosure 2: I also capsule wardrobed my nail varnish colours, is that weird??
Claire this is an AMAZING idea. It’s worthy of a whole RMS post!
I always liked it when Gok laid out a capsule wardrobe in his programme so fab to find someone who has done this in real-life. I take it you don’t have to buy 40 things each season, just ‘borrow’ them from your spare room wardrobe and top up with some new buys?
How many tops, bottoms, dresses etc are you rotating?
I would GLADLY write a guest post if that would be of interest (probably after a few more days though :))
If you look on my IG feed I put a picture of everything that’s in my wardrobe but it works out at 18 tops, 2 x shorts, 2 x dresses, 3 x skirts (one not pictured), 4 x jeans of varying colours, 1 x smart trousers and 1 x blazer plus 9 x shoes. Workout gear and sleepwear etc not included. I’m also posting my outfits daily (though today’s comes later because I’m wfh and everyone knows that wfh = sweatpants)
And yes, next season you think about what you want in your capsule, carry some stuff over, get some out of storage and buy a few new pieces.
Do keep us updated on how you get on. I’m very intrigued and tempted to try…
Amazing! I’ve always wanted to have a walk in wardrobe/dressing room, but doesn’t having all the clothes on exposed rails make it easier for moths to munch up all the clothes? I’d love to hear from anyone who has one! We’ve had a moth problem for the past 3 years and they eat all my finest – never the stuff I’m less fussed about 🙁
What an absolute pain. I have little dishes dotted about with cedar balls in them and so far I haven’t had a moth problem….
Moths are a serious pain when it comes to walk in wardrobes!!! However moth balls seem to do the trick!
I always thought having a walk in wardrobe was classed as a luxury… until I moved to Australia and most new builds over there have a walk in wardrobe.
When we moved into our Aussie home a few years ago I was SO excited to have a walk in wardrobe…. I didn’t have enough clothes to fill it but I did by the end!!!
Now, we are back in the UK and looking for a home, it will be something I will seriously consider adding in or making a small space for!! I love the fact you can shut the door and not see you clothes squashed into wardrobes or drawers.
However, yes Moths can be a problem!!! Choosing clothes in the morning is so much easier though as you can see everything in front of you.