Wardrobe in the hallway: design, types and selection

It is difficult even to imagine a typical modern corridor in which there was no room for a closet, because this is a universal furniture for storing everything. When making repairs in the hallway, you need to fit this piece of furniture into the design so that it looks harmonious there, while fully fulfilling its main duties.

Not only theater, but also housing usually begins with a wardrobe - a place where you can leave outerwear. The specificity of the Russian climate, even if you live in the far south, is such that you simply cannot do without jackets, coats and fur coats. It is not too beautiful and practical to keep them on a hanger in the hallway all year round, but it also makes no sense to buy a separate wardrobe that will take up space in the room and be empty throughout the winter. One can be installed right in the corridor - then you can quickly respond to weather changes, and outerwear intended for going outside will not be hidden somewhere in the depths of the apartment.

In addition, many modern wardrobes can be used for purely economic purposes.

The furniture located here can be quite large and at the same time not disturb anyone., and modern manufacturers understand the needs of people and provide special sections in the design for storing any things.

There are a great many types of cabinets, and before you get this or that look, you should figure out which one suits you best.

First you need to understand that the wardrobe can be cabinet or built-in. The first option assumes the presence of its own body - this is an independent piece of furniture, it can be moved to another place at any time. With the built-in one it will be somewhat more difficult - it is mounted into the walls and from the side it looks like the same pantry.

Regardless of which of the furniture options you have chosen, it can be with or without doors. Open cabinets are more often part of modular designs, since only those things that are not very afraid of dust, such as shoes, can be stored on unprotected shelves. For clothes, classic wardrobes with a sliding door are still more suitable.

A typical hallway accessory is a spacious wardrobe-hanger, where you can hide the entire wardrobe of all household members at once. However, if you have already decided to organize a full-fledged storage for things here, additional modules will not be superfluous at all. So, an additional closet-pencil case on the side, which is a high and narrow frame, provided that it is filled with a large number of shelves, allows you to store not only the top, but also any other clothes.

In the lower part, a special shoe rack can be highlighted, even with a seat for more comfortable shoes.

Finally, variability also concerns the shape of the product - it does not always exploit a worn-out rectangle. Today, semicircular radius models are popular, which will appeal to everyone who does not like the excessive angularity of the room. - at the same time, such an object can separate the living space, which passes into the hallway without any pronounced door. In addition, trapezoid-shaped cabinets are often placed in the corner, which effectively uses the space without cluttering it. The only problem in using all this furniture of an unusual shape is that it is difficult to find additional hinged modules of a similar shape for it.

A good wardrobe in the hallway is itself a bulky and complex structure, and even must meet the best expectations of the owners regarding durability. Not to mention the aesthetic appearance. All this leads to the fact that in terms of the frame material, you have to choose from only two options - natural wood or MDF boards... Of course, outdoor decor is made from anything, including plastic and glass, stone and metal, and even leather, but they are not so important for extending the life of the product.

Wood, such as maple or walnut, alder or oak, will cost the future owner a tidy sum, and yet it definitely should not be discounted. This material has so many advantages that its price will be adequate for any sober-minded person. Not only is such a cabinet beautiful without any potentially harmful painting - it is, in principle, completely safe due to the naturalness of the raw materials used, but it looks elitist at the same time.

MDF is high pressure pressed wood shavings. Of course, such an artificial material, both in strength and durability, is much inferior to the real massif, but the slabs are relatively inexpensive, although they are all the same natural, environmentally friendly raw materials, which outwardly are difficult to distinguish from their "massive" counterparts.A specific advantage of MDF for men "with hands" is also the fact that, if you wish, you can put together a wardrobe yourself, purchasing material and armed with drawings. With supposedly low durability, this is still an acquisition for thirty years ahead, so the choice in favor of MDF can hardly be called unsuccessful.

It is not enough to choose a spacious and roomy wardrobe - it is important that it is functional specifically for your needs, therefore, furniture should be evaluated not only by the frame, but also by its internal filling. The requirements for a quality and thoughtful product are usually as follows:

• the basis of the foundations of the furnishings for the corridor is a section for storing outerwear, which should not only be equipped with hooks or a longitudinal bar with hangers, but also must be quite wide so that all the things of the owners fit inside;
• side drawers for everyday clothes and other things in the hallway are optional, but in a cramped apartment, they may be appropriate;
• The “correct” wardrobe for the corridor usually also includes a lower section designed specifically for storing shoes;
• drawers are not found in every model, and not all owners need them, but if you have a lot of small accessories, sometimes such an addition can come in handy.

The above parts are usually initially part of your furniture, but some components are sold separately, and you will have to buy them separately. These additions include the same mezzanine, which allows you to productively beat high ceilings without taking up extra space in the horizontal plane.

Housewives often complement the wardrobe with an adjacent mirror. (if the doors of the piece of furniture themselves are not mirrored) and a dressing table, which also creates a full-fledged make-up area.

When deciding on the choice of such furniture, it is important to pay attention not only to strength, durability and price, but also to practicality in terms of the ability to accommodate as many household items as possible. A good wardrobe should, on the one hand, be quite large so that you do not think about buying additional bedside tables, on the other hand, it should not take up too much free space. and fit into the size of the corridor.

At the same time, even being constrained by the square of your own home, you must remember that the body must be quite deep so that the outerwear fits inside without being wrinkled. If there are not too many of them, but there are a large number of smaller things, it makes sense to purchase a model of a non-standard, for example, rounded shape.

In small apartments with small corridors, the issue of storing something, in general, becomes very acute, therefore high cabinets are in special demand. This is very practical - if you literally have one square meter to accommodate such furniture, and all the space will go under the main compartment for outerwear, leaving no space even for side shelves, it makes sense to make the wardrobe multi-level by adding a mezzanine on top. By the same logic, the shoe department is not separated into a separate piece of furniture - on the contrary, it is built into a common frame and is located under the main department. In homes with low ceilings, it makes sense to install modular structures right up to the ceiling, especially if the owners cannot complain about their own short stature.

A beautiful design option should be considered the execution of furniture in a classic wooden design, when the creators do not hide the material from which the frame is made. You can decorate it in the most unexpected ways, from the usual carving to the already somewhat forgotten burning of drawings.

If the cabinet does not have a characteristic woody shade, then it will almost certainly be white, and this decision is quite understandable.

• In many small apartments, the corridor cannot boast of spaciousness, and therefore an attempt to install at least a relatively large piece of furniture here greatly narrows the area. To expand it, at least visually, you need to use white.
• The entrance hall is exactly the room into which natural light from the street gets in a very limited amount, which means that the owners themselves are interested in the corridor not being perceived as a gloomy crypt.

An alternative solution is a mirror cabinet. - this approach cannot be called original now, but it is practical. First of all, both of the above goals are achieved, for the sake of which it makes sense to choose a white model - the room visually expands and becomes lighter. In addition, it is from the hallway that people go out into the street and quite naturally want to evaluate their appearance, and mounting a mirror directly into the cabinet door allows you to kill two birds with one stone without taking up extra space on the walls.

A typical corridor rarely suffers from an abundance of furniture - if you bought a multifunctional wardrobe with a lot of compartments, and even with mirrored doors, it may be that there won't be any other furniture at all. It means that such a large piece of furniture plays an almost decisive role in the overall design of the room, because it is simply impossible not to notice it.

So, if you like the classic style or rustic styles that are relatively close to it, then you simply have to turn your attention to a solid and large wardrobe that looks extremely natural, that is, unpainted in any other color than natural. Classicism is wealth, therefore it is impossible to save on the situation either in terms of money or in terms of space. In addition, the old masters were guided by the familiar and proven rectangular shapes, all these rounded and even more intricate shapes did not exist then.

You should treat the choice of furniture in a completely different way if you are more into minimalism and its various related directions. By itself, this style excludes an abundance of decor and, in general, any details that could not be removed, because the wardrobe will look extremely simple. If your minimalism has the characteristic features of high-tech, which, in principle, is not too friendly to materials of natural origin, then you literally should choose a model with a mirrored door., because glass is almost the only material that is often used in the manufacture of cabinets and is completely appropriate for the interior of the future.

The Scandinavian style is the least picky in this regard: on the one hand, it focuses on a predominantly white interior, on the other hand, he welcomes the use of natural materials, and also allows interspersed with bright accents, and such a painted wardrobe may turn out to be such.

The greatest freedom of expression is, of course, left by creative styles such as Art Deco. One of the main requirements of this trend is non-banality in everything - including in the design of furniture. How this will be implemented is not so important - you can achieve the desired effect with the help of an atypical shape of the case, leather, metal, glass inserts and much more.

When purchasing a wardrobe in the hallway, most people make an impulsive choice, focusing on an attractive appearance or attractive cost. This is certainly not the best logic, because such furniture is not just an interior decoration, therefore it is worth considering all the options available, evaluating them according to several criteria.

• Dimensions. Your reference point is the golden mean between good product capacity and its compactness, at least relative. It makes no sense to take a wardrobe with a huge volume in reserve, but the buyer must understand that if everything does not fit, he will also have to purchase a cabinet, and then saving space will still not work. In a long and narrow hallway, get a tall wardrobe - it may not be so convenient if you are short, but this is the only way out of the situation. Pay special attention to modular designs - they are good for those who anticipate a potential expansion of needs, but do not see the point in immediately acquiring a bulky design.

• Frame. This is the element on which the life of your headset depends - if it breaks or deteriorates, it is unlikely to be repaired. It is best to choose MDF or even real wood, since they are strong and durable, and also completely safe in terms of ecology, but modern plastic solutions can be an unpleasant surprise.

• Integrity. What consumers forget too often is about an adequate inspection of a particular piece of furniture. The model as such can be good from all sides, and you cannot find fault with it, but you can bring a product with defects, scratches, cracks, chips and so on. It doesn't matter if the cabinet was still in the warehouse, or if it was damaged on delivery to your home - you don't have to pay for a product that doesn't meet your expectations. At least the above-described disadvantages will affect the aesthetic appeal of the design, and the money is not spent in order to be ashamed of every guest who steps on the threshold. In addition, damage to fittings and fasteners can lead to the fact that the furniture as a whole will lose some of its functionality, if not immediately, then relatively soon.

• The form. This criterion is far from being paramount, but it also cannot be completely ignored. The frame design should not interfere with normal movement along the corridor, and it must also fit into the overall interior design. It should be remembered that even the most beautiful furniture that looks like a foreign body is unlikely to decorate an apartment.

• Number of doors. This characteristic is considered last and is largely related to the issue of dimensions. If a huge headset has only one door, then when open it will take up a huge additional space, and this is less convenient than if there were two doors. At the same time, in order to save free space, many modern models are equipped with sliding doors - they do not increase the dimensions of the furniture, even when open.

Reasonably placing the cabinet is another task that, for some reason, not all consumers get it right the first time. Be guided by the principles suggested by logic.

• The set should not interfere with the opening of the doors. A corridor is the place where there are at least two doors: the street door and the one that leads from the depths of the apartment. If they do not open inside the corridor, the problem disappears by itself, otherwise it is necessary to allocate space for the structure so that it does not intersect with the radius of the door opening.Otherwise, you actually disable the doorways, and if you yourself can still be quite nimble to slip into a narrow opening, then the problem will remind of itself again as soon as you buy another large piece of furniture that simply cannot be carry.

• The cabinet should not interfere with movement around the room. Too many consumers believe that this is a requirement for furniture with closed doors, but if they are swing doors, they can significantly increase the volume of the structure. In theory, there is nothing to let another household member through by temporarily closing the door, but if you do not live alone, and almost all the things of the whole family are stored in the closet, you need to be prepared for the doors to be opened often. This means that the actual volume of the headset will be much larger, and sooner or later it will lead to an accumulation of irritation.

• The contents of the cabinet affect where and how it is located. If the headset is in the hallway, it is better to choose it in such a way that, from a logical point of view, it corresponds to the order in which a person is prepared for going out. A separately equipped shoe rack with a seat is almost always located closer to the exit, because you will never go outside barefoot, and there is no point in trampling dirt in vain if you still do not use any other section of the closet in the summer. If you also store casual clothes here, then you may need them at any time, even without going outside, so the sections with them are placed as close to the living quarters as possible.

• It is advisable to install open cabinets as far from the kitchen as possible. As a rule, a modern hood is able to effectively cope with the tasks of eliminating specific kitchen odors, but it is largely focused on the space above the stove, and the source of aromas can be located elsewhere. Even if you like the dish and you find the smell pleasant, it is not customary to smell food in our time, therefore, you should protect your clothes from contact with the smell as reliably as possible. If the structure is of an open type, it is reasonable at least to move it as far as possible from potential danger.

And some more useful tips.

• Don't skimp on purchasing a cabinet. Such furniture is not an accessory whose constant replacement is worth thinking about, therefore it is better to buy it once - and for decades to come. In some cases, high-quality samples from natural wood last for half a century or more, and you should not think that the design will become outdated - on the contrary, it will become vintage and even cooler.
• Do not go to the store without understanding why you came. Before going for furniture, roughly estimate how many things you have that have nowhere else to place, and add to this a small amount of space to expand your wardrobe. Think about what compartments, shelves and so on are needed to comfortably accommodate everything, how many hooks you need, whether you need a shoe rack. Having compiled the minimum set of requirements, you are unlikely to realize later that you did not take into account something.
• Purchase goods at trusted points of sale and always ask for certificates. Everyone has heard about the dangers of modern materials, and the same MDF and wood are perceived as environmentally friendly, but do not forget about varnish, which can also be toxic. In addition, cunning sellers are able to pass off cheap and low-quality chipboard for the more demanded and expensive MDF.

It is hardly necessary to tell what a typical modern wardrobe looks like - it is another matter if you want to embody some non-trivial idea in your interior.

The photo shows a vivid example of furniture that fits the concept of the Art Deco style. It is not just a functional unit, but a real work of art. The question of the spaciousness of such a cabinet remains open, but it cannot be denied at least in compactness, and also in the ability to be a highlight of any room, wherever you put it.

In this example, only at first glance it is the same - although the concept as a whole is similar, it is already sheer minimalism. The product seems bright and colorful, but in fact, all these iridescent highlights are just reflections of hanging clothes. The unusual shape and glossy surface make it possible to fit such a solution into a high-tech style apartment.

If the classics are not alien to you, you can give preference to the familiar wooden cabinet. However, its complete set with shelves no longer allows you to call it ordinary, besides, you can place a lot of useful small things and accessories on them.

Next, see the video with tips for choosing a closet for a narrow hallway.