Wardrobes & Armoires (Storage & Shelving)

A wardrobe is a freestanding cabinet tall enough to hang clothes inside, with doors and usually a drawer or two at the base. Armoire is the older word for the same object and usually implies more decoration and more drawers. Self-sufficiency defines it: the piece supplies the walls, the rail and the doors, so it works in a bedroom, an alcove or a hallway with no closet anywhere near.

Depth decides whether it functions. Hanging a shirt front to back needs roughly 21 to 24 inches of interior depth. Anything shallower has to hang clothes sideways on a pull-out rod, which halves the capacity and adds a moving part that wears. Doors need somewhere to go, since a hinged pair sweeps a foot and a half into the room and that arc has to clear the bed. Sliding doors take no swing and cost you access to half the opening at a time. Tall, narrow and top-heavy once loaded, a wardrobe needs an anti-tip strap into the wall rather than trust.

The direct comparison is a closet system, which fits out space you already have for less per foot and stays with the house. A wardrobe costs more and moves with you, which is the entire point for renters. Against a dresser you get hanging instead of folding, so the two are usually bought together rather than instead of each other. Bookcases and shelving units are shallower and carry no rail, so they cannot take a hanger at all.

Old houses and apartments built before built-in closets became standard are the natural home for one, along with bedrooms where the existing closet is already full and rentals where you cannot screw a system into someone else's wall. It also solves the guest room that needs somewhere for a visitor to hang a suit. In a small bedroom, though, the footprint plus the door swing eats the walking space, and flat-pack versions rarely survive a second disassembly if you move often.

Open both doors and pull down on the rail. It should be metal, supported in the middle on any span past about three feet, and mounted into the side panels rather than screwed to a thin back. The back panel keeps the case square: full plywood holds a loaded wardrobe straight. By comparison, a thin stapled sheet lets it lean over a few years. Wipe the interior twice a year and leave a small gap behind the piece so air moves, since a wardrobe pressed against a cold exterior wall grows mildew on the back of the clothes.