please help us design a hall linen closet/wardrobe!

infohound2006

15 years ago

I know you folks have thought about this a lot! Please help me figure out how to design a replacement for the awful-quality built-in 'linen wardrobe' we have. It's in the hall by 3 bedrooms, between the stairs and our MBR door. This is our chance to start afresh!

Questions incude, first, the "sensible" things to put there; to help decide how deep to make it; how many deep/shallow drawers, shelves, and whether to leave a narrow tallish section.

What to put in?

Here are our initial ideas:

- in shallow drawers: medicines, both OTC and Rx (we have lots, unfortunately), typical first aid stuff

- deep drawers: towels, extra pillows, comforters,

- shelves: TP from Costco, large liquid soap etc,

?? sewing kit, perhaps sewing machine.

- Perhaps some tall storage for a mop/broom, or gift wrap paper. We'll have a central vacuum (with Hide-a-Hose), so no need for vacuum space.

What else should I think about storing (or not)?

Current plan: The wall is 76" wide. The plan is for two 36" wide cabinets, each some combination of drawers on the bottom and shelving above. One pull-out shelf (to set things down for a few minutes, yet not accumulate clutter). The right edge will abut a narrow, ~25" wall (need to measure it), then a ~15" wide railing looking down a stairwell toward the LR. Depth unknown, as I don't know how narrow wall reveal is reasonable.

Manufacture:

Should we look at closet design companies? (which?), or get a couple of Ikea Pax wardrobes (but would 24" deep work in our space??). Yes, we could do full custom, but I'd rather spend the $$$$ for my home office, (or a vacation), than for a linen wardrobe!

If photos would help, please let me know!

Here is a link that might be useful: GW thread on linen closet depth

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Comments (2)

ronbre
15 years ago
i did two when i was redoing my MIL's house..and they were great..one i bought two 36" wide cabinets and sunk them into a 6' wide space that was open..and topped them off with crown moulding..i bought oak cabinets that had cabinets on the top and drawers in the center..it worked out really nice..there were adjustable shelves in the cabinets areas..that made 8 drawers and 8 cabinets.

the other one we put 3 large drawers at the bottom and 2 sets of cabinets at the top

also did a bank of cabinets on a wall in the long large laundry room with 9' of base cabinets and 9' of wall cabinets with a straight stretch of countertop for folding clothes..in the base cabinest all had drawers and one was all drawers.
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reyesuela
15 years ago
What you store is totally personal. I have three IKEA Pax 36" wardrobes (in the white, raised panel design) and love them. I have 2 deep ones for my clothes (there's only one closet in the master bd, and it's 4' wide) and one shallow one for linens.

Few halls will be able to take a deep cabinet. Ours is 6' wide, and because of the door layout, a 2' deep closet would be claustrophobic.

We do not have many linens, but our shallow cabinet is FULL with just linens for our family of four, plus some dirty clothes space at the bottom. The nice thing about the depth, though, is that everything is very accessible.

We keep our meds, tp, etc. in the bathroom.

Triage everything BEFORE investing in more storage. How many towels do you really need? How many meds are old? How many are duplicates? Lots of people have Nyquil AND Mucinex AND Sudafed without realizing that there is only ONE effective OTC decongestant, ONE effective OTC expectorant, and ONE effective OTC cough suppressant. Have a small bottle of decongestant/expectorant for the day (cough suppressant optional), one expectorant only for night plus Afrin for night use in emergencies, and that's it. With a bottle of pain killers and a swig of the alcohol of your choice, and you can recreate whatever branded blend you desire with a lot less total space. The basic rule is to learn to check ingredients before buying and make sure you don't duplicate products.
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please help us design a hall linen closet/wardrobe!

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ronbre

reyesuela

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