How to go about planning your wardrobe?

Before you think this is a post on 10 wardrobe must haves for the summer-fall fashion scene, let me warn you, it IS NOT.
It deals with a comparatively boring topic - wardrobes, closet interiors, design, shelves.
So there, now that the expectations are set, lets begin :)

I have moved across cities for a pretty large part of my life. Every new house we would move into would require me and my sister to choose cupboards or rather sides of a cupboard. The power struggles over "the better side" are a thing of the past.
Now it is between the husband and me. Who gets which cupboard and how many shelves. In the end he always needs and gets more space than me. Stop snickering you men! You know it, you guys use a lot of space. I know some women who might be nodding at this ;)

When it came to thinking of wardrobes for the new/own place, I drew a blank initially. I mean like, what's there to think about. It is simple right? A few shelves and some hanging space. Anything would do.
Well,  I was wrong. There are, like anything else in the world, hazaar (a thousand) options. From the plywood used for the structure, to the laminate stuck on top, the style and colour of shutters (doors for the uninitiated), the shelves, accessories. You name it!

So then I went on my research hunt guided by the questions -
1. What are my needs for storage?
2. Who is going to use the wardrobes?
3. Maintenance capability? *Laziness is a huge factor here.
4. Space available in the house

Storage needs - First you need basic wardrobes to keep every day clothes. Then there is the stuff like bedsheets, bed spreads, comforters/rajais, pillows, cushions, all your other linen for the house. You also would have luggage that you would like to stow away when not needed - suitcases, duffel bags, carry on bags and the likes. Think of all the other accessories, make up, bags, purses, shoes, hats, caps, sports/hobby related clothes, accessories.

For the bedroom, I would like something basic like these, with one change. I would prefer the top shelf to be moved to the bottom. In my opinion the top shelf is often at a height much more than the average person and thus becomes a hard to reach place. Good for stuff you want to hide from the kids but not to keep things you might need on a daily basis. A hanging rod is better there.
Ladies - If possible try to make space for a longer hanging shelf too, for all those summer dresses, skirts, long kurtas that are longer than the standard hanging shelf height of about 42 inches or 3.5 feet.

Picture courtesy Furniture123.co.uk

Picture courtesy Furniture123.co.uk

Person using the wardrobe - I feel the shelf style should be different for a wardrobe meant for a grown up vs a child. If you want the kid to be independent, that is. If you are the kinds who choose and lay out clothes, right from t shirt to the inner wear and socks and even help your 6 year old wear them then you can design the shelves as per your needs rather than the kids. For kids the shelves should be easy to reach, easy to see and safe rounded edges. There should also be a lot of toy, book, sports equipment and other accessories storage, but we will deal with that in a separate post.

Maintenance - From what I have learnt so far, laminates are easier to wipe off and clean compared to veneers. Wipe off with a damp, not wet, cloth and you are all done. Then there is Duco (the car paint sprayed over finish), glossy acrylics or lacquered glass (glass painted on one side) and other fancy materials for the wardrobe interior and exterior finish. Choose based on need from the material - looks, durability, functionality and also based on how would you maintain things in the house. If you are blessed with the time and patience to give tender love and care to things in the house then do go ahead and choose material that needs attention and upkeep. So a veneer finish would look rich, smooth and classy, say in the living room. But the kids room can do with a functional yet aesthetic looking laminate.

Space availability - Based on space in the house you could add lofts on top of the wardrobes (if you need extra space). Use sliding doors instead of traditional pull open doors if there is a space crunch. Sliding doors look modern too. We have under-the-stair space too at our place which we will be using as storage to keep those travel suitcases or sports equipment or other knick knacks which always manage to make way into the house and you wonder where did that come from or why did I ever buy that? :)

Picture courtesy Houzz.com and Billinkoff Architecture

And anyways, I am more of a there-is-a-place-for-everything and ALSO a clean-up-the-place-in-15-minutes-before-someone-is-coming-over person so I need enough storage to dump stuff in away from view :)

Hope this information sharing helps! Do write in for any specific questions, queries you would like to discuss or ideas you would like to bounce off.
Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely week ahead.