How to Optimize your Wardrobe Design?

Planning your new Custom-Made Wardrobe may feel daunting at first. How big should it be? How many drawers do I need? How much is it going to cost me?

HomeShake's Wardrobe Planner is a revolutionary tool to design your Wardrobe. But you may have plenty of questions about how to optimize your space.

Our experts have come up with 5 key insights that should help you when you start planning your new built-in wardrobe.

1. Have a look at your Existing Wardrobe

How many dresses / shirts / jackets do you need to hang? How about long dresses or coats?

This is pretty much the first thing you need to look at. Depending on your own clothes, you will easily figure out how many segments or hanging rods you actually need.

You can estimate that 1 meter of wardrobe rail can fit:

• 30 shirts (3cm per shirt)
• 25 trousers or skirts 4cm per pair of trousers / skirt)
• 20 summer jackets (4cm per jacket)
• 15 winter jackets (6-8cm per jacket)

This is very well explained on HAFELE’s guide for wardrobe fittings. You can refer to this guide to find particular fittings that you would like to see installed in your wardrobe. Just talk to our team and we will make it happen.

2. Define Clearly the Size of your New Closet

How long do you want your wardrobe to be? How tall?

• The length is the main price factor. It is also the most important dimensions to determine before you start thinking about the internal configuration.

Depending on the length, our wardrobe planner will determine a number of doors. This number will vary if you choose sliding or swing doors. It can also be manually adjusted. But this number of doors is key to calculate the number of internal segments.

So before anything, look at your space. How long can your wardrobe be? We usually recommend to optimize this number as much as possible: switches can shifted, sockets can be repositioned, but the length of your wardrobe is all you get.

• The height sounds straight-forward: built-in wardrobes should be floor to ceiling. But you may need to consider a box up.

For HDBs, ceiling height is maximum 260cm, and that is included in our basic price. For condominiums and landed properties, the ceiling may be higher: 280cm or even 300cm.

For wardrobes with a height above 270cm, we charge an additional price. This is because we are beyond the standard size of plywood. That means we have to double the carcass, so there is much more work and materials involved.

To minimize this additional cost, you may opt for a box up above 260cm. It is a smart way to have a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe within your budget.

• The width is fixed: the carcass should be 60cm deep.

That is the optimal depth based on common hanger sizes. For instance, a standard coat hanger is between 43 and 47cm wide. If you add a blazer, it will be around 50 to 55cm.

Our wardrobe carcasses are always 60cm deep, but to make it look nicer we add a frame on the sides. It’s more like a drywall to make the wardrobe look sturdier. It also helps to absorb or cover the imperfections of the walls, which may not be perfectly straight. This drywall covers the doors, so the actual width is closer to 62cm.

3. Prioritize Practicality Over Design

Should you have Swing or Sliding Doors?

Most of our clients come to see us with a very clear design in mind. A higher proportion ask for swing doors, because they like the slim and elegant look. Others look for a smart fitting to have a large and yet very light sliding door.

Our key advice is to make your wardrobe as practical as possible.

It is fine to go for swing doors, but it will make it more difficult to navigate from one segment to another. Also, once the swing doors are open, there may not be a lot of room to walk around.

For small wardrobes (L 150 cm), it is actually a good idea to go for swing doors. It is also a very fine idea if the wardrobe is used by more than 1 more, be it siblings or a couple. With swing doors, both of you will be able to access the clothes at the same time.

For larger wardrobes, we usually recommend sliding doors. There are beautiful sliding tracks that allow you to open the doors with a slight push. HAFELE also offers a powered fittings, and sliding doors that flush together.

A wardrobe should feel simple, clear, practical - the opposite of a cluttered space that is hard to reach.

4. Limit the Number of Drawers

It may sound counter-intuitive, but trust us on this: you do not want too many drawers.

Our recommendation is to go for 1 chest of drawers per person, no more, no less. You only need drawers for undergarments and accessories / jewellery.

You shouldn't have too many drawers because it's drawers are often under-utilised. They usually serve as shelves where people stack up clothes that they hardly every use. Dresses, pants can be hung. Tops and shorts can be folded and placed on shelves.

Secondly, drawers reduce significantly the hanging space. For trousers, skirts, suits, that's not a problem: you only need 80 to 90 cm to hand them properly. But when it comes to summer dresses, evening gowns and coats, you need up to 180cm. If you have 4 drawers in each segment, that's just not possible.

This is why we have made it possible to modify the number of drawers. You can consider going with 2 drawers only, which will then give you ample space to hang your dresses above them.

Plus, let's state the obvious: there is an additional charge per drawer (+$50). Our standard chest of drawers includes 4 drawers and will cost your $200. It makes more sense to spend your budget of a fancy accessory or LED lights rather than more drawers.

5. Treat Yourself with a Fancy Option

When our clients commission a custom-made piece of furniture, we try to answer a simple question:

How can I make my new Wardrobe significantly better than all my previous ones?

Forget about the size, the colour, the materials, the internal configuration. At the end of the day, what makes your wardrobe much better?

First, lights. Our advice is to cater for LED Strip Lights to be fixed below the top shelf of the wardrobe, next to the hanging rod. Our electricians will pull the supply, connect the LED Strip Light, use a Sensor or create a switch. It is all included in the price displayed on our website. With lights, a wardrobe feels so much more practical.

Second, fittings. Do not underestimate the power of branded fittings. They last longer, they work better, the are quieter and smoother. Many of our clients ask for BLUM hinges, and they are right. It is a small charge for a totally different experience.

Last but not least, a jewellery drawer. We have bundled together 3 items that will allow you to see, access and keep safely your precious watches and bracelets. Our jewellery drawer is more narrow that usual drawers. It is placed on top of your chest of drawers. It includes:

• a tempered glass top to see your jewellery
• an internal divider to organize everything nicely 
• a set of lock and key to keep them safe

Of course, we offer a range of other options. We love the full-height mirrors with bespoke black powder-coated aluminium frame. Glass doors are also very popular among our clients, to see your clothes. 

That is the beauty of our wardrobe planner: you can try various designs and options, get a price, compare, and confirm your favourite wardrobe for what is the most intimate place of your home: your bedroom.

Start Designing your Wardrobe Now: HomeShake's Wardrobe Planner