ᐅ Custom Wardrobe Cabinet Layout by a Carpenter

Hello everyone,

we want to have a wardrobe custom-built by a carpenter for our future condominium. Attached is the carpenter’s initial plan.

We really like the proposal (especially the 2 clothes rails), but we are unsure how to design the narrow right side: instead of having shelves across the entire height, we are currently leaning towards a shoe compartment at the bottom, then drawers up to about halfway, and shelves above that. Next to the wardrobe, there will be a shoe and seating bench where most of the shoes will be stored. By the way, there are 3 of us (including a 3-year-old toddler).

What are your experiences with wardrobes – which layout has worked well for you?

Thank you very much for your help!

My experience: There is almost always a lack of space for shoes. Plan a dedicated area for shoes, making full use of the wardrobe’s depth. Children grow quickly and tend to have surprisingly large feet at an early age – I would keep that in mind.

Do you also have longer jackets or coats that need to be hung there? If so, the two rods one above the other might be a bit impractical. If not, I think the solution is good. Instead of drawers, we have nice baskets in the shelves—one for each family member for hats, scarves, gloves, etc. This way, you have a bit more flexibility in height compared to fixed drawers. A shoe rack would be far too small for us, but we are five people, and in addition to the open shoe rack, each of us also has a Pax basket in another wardrobe.

I’m also thinking about the challenge of storing coats, short coats, and anoraks.

Should the wardrobe hold everyday jackets or those not needed for the current season?

I would install two continuous shallow drawers at the bottom for shoes and scarves, then a hanging rod of appropriate length for coats, with shelves above. I would omit the compartments on the right. In my opinion, compartments are not that important. You could also place a basket or box inside. What would you use the compartments for?

Ibdk14 schrieb:

Do you also have longer jackets or coats that need to be hung there? If so, having two rods one above the other might be a bit impractical. If not, I think the solution is good. Instead of drawers, we have nice baskets in the shelf compartments—one for each family member for hats, scarves, gloves, etc. This way, you have more flexibility in height when arranging, compared to fixed drawers. A shoe rack would be much too small for us; we are five people, and in addition to the open shoe rack, each of us has a Pax basket in another wardrobe.

We mainly have jackets that aren’t very long. The 100cm (39 inches) height per clothing rod should hopefully be enough. Yes, we would also only put sports shoes and similar in the wardrobe that are not used every day. The others go into the shoe bench.

We actually have an old Pax wardrobe for our coat storage – about 60cm (24 inches) deep and 1.50m (59 inches) wide. It has two hanging rods on the left side, and four drawers at the bottom right, with another hanging rod above them. At the very top, there is one shelf on each side for backpacks and similar items.

This setup easily fits our jackets on the upper rods, children’s jackets below, and everyone has a drawer for hats and small items. On the outside of the wardrobe, there are two hooks for the children’s jackets that are used daily – it’s easier for them to hang up their jackets themselves than to use hangers.

Our coats hang elsewhere. Personally, I really don’t like storing shoes in the same closet with clothes, so we keep our shoes separate.