Advantages of Fitted Wardrobes over Free Standing Wardrobes

Regardless of why you are in the market for new wardrobes, there are certain things to consider before you actually make your purchase. Here are just a few ways in which fitted wardrobes hold an advantage over the free standing variety.

Adding value – If you are a home owner then you will know how important it is to make improvements and upgrades to the property, so that if you ever need to sell, the upgrades you have made will actually increase the value of your home. Along with up to date kitchens and modern bathrooms, fitted wardrobes are one of the main attractions for potential buyers.

Size does matter – It cannot be underestimated just how important it is to get the size of the wardrobes just right for each room. Space is already at a premium in a bedroom and wardrobes are required to fit into a certain area, which, unless you plan some restructuring, will be of limited space. Fitted wardrobes do what they say on the tin, they are tailored specifically to “fit” into your available space, so size really does matter.

Saving Space – Fitted wardrobes are suitable for most, if not all bedrooms and regardless of the size of the room, will always help to maximise the available space. Shelves and drawers can be built into the wardrobe, which in turn can free up other areas around the room. Sliding door wardrobes are better still because you can effectively put furniture right next to them and still open them easily (left/right).

Flexibility – No two rooms are exactly the same and have their own quirks and curiosities, such as sloping ceilings or walls that have strange angles. Fitted wardrobes can overcome challenges such as these and can even help to disguise the problem area once installed.

Storage, Storage, Storage – Already hinted at in “saving space”, perhaps the biggest benefit of having fitted wardrobes is the complete storage solution they create. Racks, rails, drawers and shoe holders can all be built in and you could still have left over space for boxes or other items.

Style and Substance – We’ve already seen how practical in design they are but they can also add great elements of style to your bedroom. Just as the size can be specifically tailored, so too, can pretty much every other aspect of the wardrobe such as colours and finishes. You can literally design your wardrobes to complement the rest of your decor.

Spick and Span –Most fitted wardrobes are built from floor to ceiling and often span the length of an entire wall. This means that there are very few nooks and crannies for dust to accumulate. They are very easy to clean so keeping the bedroom constantly fresh is also much easier.

To see our full range of sliding wardrobe doors, please feel free to visit the website at Slide Wardrobes Direct.

Customising Your Bedroom Furniture Including Sliding Wardrobes

It’s important to have a sense of what you want to achieve when customising your bedroom furniture. What sort of final look are you going for? What will you need to accomplish the task? It’s also a good idea to research ideas and techniques before you begin.

Whether you have decided on a modern direction or have opted to take a more traditional route, it’s important to ensure that all of your bedroom furniture will be able to blend in with your new scheme. A piece of furniture that doesn't quite match can potentially ruin the whole theme.

There’s also the general kind of furniture to take into consideration. There are pieces of large and small free-standing furniture that are popular.  Alternatively, some prefer the uniform nature of made to measure fitted furniture. How you customise will depend very much on the kind of furniture you are dealing with.

It might be a good idea to consult furniture specialists who are experts in making pieces of furniture that specifically fit into certain locations. They can also advise on colour schemes and styles and let you know the pros and cons of each.

Sliding door wardrobes – Wardrobes with sliding doors are perfect for customisation and can really help with specific storage needs. You can decide how many shelves and drawers you would like and how you would like the interior of the wardrobe to function to suit your requirements in the best way possible.

Beds - Beds too can be custom made and made to measure and once more, you should consult specialists before making decisions regarding sizes and styles.

Above, we have mentioned some of the more expensive items of bedroom furniture that are customisable but if your budget is smaller, there are still things you can do to customise your room

Headboards – The easiest way to customise your existing bed is to either buy a new headboard or even revamp the existing one! Cushioned headboards are really popular at the moment and are sure to look modern. If you want to customise your existing one, you can do so fairly easily with some wadding, buttons and some suede fabric.

Handles – By removing all of the handles from your doors, wardrobes and draws, you can spray them a completely different colour to match your new theme. If your budget is slightly larger, a new set of handles can also help to transform each piece of furniture.

Painting – Sanding down existing pieces of furniture and painting them in a colour to complement your planned décor  is a great way to make big changes for little money. Give each surface a couple of coats of spray varnish (on top of the paint) to help prevent scratches. Once the re-done handles are also attached, you will have furniture that has been really nicely customised and works well with your interior design project.

For more information about the benefits of sliding wardrobe doors in your bedroom, please visit the website at Slide Wardrobes Direct.

How to Customise Your Wardrobe

Has your existing wardrobe been driving you crazy? It’s not big enough! It’s not wide enough! I can’t get enough in it! Sound familiar? Well, regardless of the size of your budget, there are things you can do to both its interior and exterior to make it look better and work better!

If your budget has no boundary, your fist port of call should be to invest in some made to measure sliding door wardrobes. They are versatile and bedroom friendly and can make a massive difference to the whole bedroom. From a storage point of view, there’s so much you can do with them, with personalised drawers, shelving and rails adding a new dimension. The personal touch can be extended to the overall design, so you can choose something that works perfectly for your room.

Your budget may be limited but there are still things you can do to transform your existing wardrobes before giving up on them!

Wardrobe Exterior – If you are sick of how your wardrobes look, then whether you are dealing with free-standing units or something fitted, there are ways to address the problem.

If your wardrobes have a wooden beading on the outside, you can very carefully remove it using a screwdriver and a small hammer.

Sand the doors down to give you a working base.

If handles are in the way, you can usually unscrew these from the inside before sanding.

Painting the doors is straightforward, give them a couple of coats of primer to help the paint stick and then apply a couple of coats of your chosen paint. You can then do the same with varnish to protect the painted surface.

Now you are ready to become really creative! Instead of putting the old handles back on, why not spend a few pounds and put a completely new set back on? They can make a real difference to the overall appearance.

Wardrobe Interior – There are also ways in which you can improve the inside of your wardrobe, making it more stylish and user friendly in the process.

Empty the wardrobe completely – be ruthless and throw things out that you won’t ever wear again!

Work out what you need the most and reshuffle accordingly, more hanging space, more shelving or more drawers?

Drawers – Why not use a small free-standing chest of draws and actually place it inside the wardrobe? If you don’t have one, charity shops and second hand furniture shops are places you can pick one up cheaply.

Shelves – Using the same theory you used for drawers, place a small set of bookshelves inside the wardrobe.

Rails/Hanging Space – If you have created more hanging space from your clear out but don’t have any rails, you can easily pick them up from DIY stores (measure up carefully).

You can apply the same theory for shoe holders and clothes dividers to complete your wardrobe customisation.

For much more information about sliding wardrobe doors, please visit our main site at Slide Wardrobes Direct

Shaker fineline sliding wardrobe doors | Slide Wardrobes Direct

Shaker fineline sliding wardrobe doors | Slide Wardrobes Direct
Due to popular demand, we have just launched our fineline range of Shaker sliding wardrobe doors.
The door itself is a three panel door where the center panel (fineline) is 300mm high, which gives the door a very contemporary look. Perfect to showcase accents of colour, compliment textiles in the room or simply breaking up natural or block colour combinations.
20 safety glass colours to choose from and 4 contemporary woodgrain colours. Only available at Slide Wardrobes Direct
As always, our Made to Measure doors are manufactured in our factory in Newark and all systems come complete with matching track sets, wall and bottom framing and softcloses for every door. You order online, and we deliver to your door FREE!

Shaker Fineline sliding wardrobe doors Walnut frame/ black top & bottom panel and soft white Fineline center panel, Exclusive to Slide Wardrobes Direct

Saving Space with Sliding Wardrobes

If our bedrooms are cluttered with piles of clothes, both clean and dirty and other things we might have acquired over the years, it can be really hard to convince yourself that this room is meant to be the most tranquil and relaxed place in the home! You would love to light a candle and read a good book and spend some time just chilling out on your bed but you can’t find a space for your feet, let alone the candle!

It’s become quite clear that you need to come up with a solution to create more space in your bedroom, so that you can turn it into a sanctuary of calm and rest.

The great news is that an easy solution is at hand in the form of sliding door wardrobes. It really cannot be underestimated what a transformation they can produce in your bedroom. Let’s have a little look at why:

Wider – The majority of sliding wardrobes tend to run from one end of a wall to the other meaning that in general, they are much wider than your average free standing wardrobes. This means you now have enough storage space for all those piles of clothes around the room and the knock on result is more space in your room.

Doors – One of the biggest advantages of sliding door wardrobes is the doors themselves. They are single-handedly responsible for creating much of the extra space in your room. Because they slide from left to right or right to left they don’t use any “room” space when being opened. This means that some of your furniture can be really close to your wardrobes without you having to worry about moving it all when you want to get inside.

Illusions of even more space – Most sliding wardrobes are built from floor to ceiling so they help to create the illusion of space. If you go for doors with a mirrored glass finish, then this illusion will be enhanced even further.

More – These are not just wardrobes with a bit of hanging space; they can actually be a complete bedroom storage solution. You can get them built and made to measure and specify exactly what kind of storage facilities you want to find in them. So, you can decide to have some drawers and shelving to go along with all that great hanging space. You’re really only limited by the dimensions of your room and your imagination.

And less – With pretty much everything now safely tucked away in your purpose built sliding door wardrobes, it stands to reason that there is now considerably less clutter and less furniture in the rest of your bedroom! Perhaps all that extra space has allowed you some room for a comfy chair in one corner, where you can finally sit and relax with your book.

Most Popular Bedroom Storage Solutions

If there’s one thing that always seems to be at a premium in the bedroom, it’s free space! Sometimes we need to be creative in order to find those extra few inches of storage space that could make all the difference. Let’s take a quick look at some popular bedroom storage solutions.

Under the bed storage – This is often wasted space but you can fit a huge array of containers, air tight bags and even mobile drawer units under the bed. This sort of storage is ideal for summer/winter clothes when they are out of use or if it’s a child’s bedroom it can be really useful for putting toys safely out of the way.

Bed settee/Fold down bed – When the bed is in its “up” position, there is immediately more floor space and therefore more storage space and we have already highlighted the possibilities for storing things underneath the bed.

Fitted sliding door wardrobes – Perhaps currently the most popular storage solution for the bedroom, they are so versatile and are able to store a multitude of things, often at the same time! Tailor made to a particular space, these wardrobes really are an asset to any bedroom.

Shelving – Shelving is another really versatile form of storage. Shelves can be fully visible on your walls or can be neatly tucked away inside your wardrobes, and you can have as many of them as your space will allow. Containers and baskets work really well with shelf storage too.

Light stands – Instead of having space consuming stands either side of the bed, that serve no other purpose than to provide you with light, why not use a small set of chest of draws on either side, so you still get the light you need but you get extra room to put things as well.

Bunk beds – Especially suited for the kids’ room, bunk beds have evolved a lot over the years and many of them are now packed full of storage opportunities, including drawers, cupboards and even desks with their own drawer units. This can certainly be a good way of freeing up some floor space.

Ottomans – A resurgence in popularity means that the ottoman makes our list of effective bedroom storage solutions. Typically placed at the end of the bed, concealed storage capacity can actually be quite generous and of course it can double up as a seat when required. Modern designs mean they can look good in any bedroom and they can be a great place to put your extra duvets, pillows and other bedding.

Top 5 Things to Consider When Redesigning your Bedroom

There are probably a lot more than 5 things to consider when redesigning your bedroom, but the 5 listed here are perhaps the most obvious ones.

Budget – This is a really good place to start because everyone will be working under the restraints of their own budget. The size of your budget will inevitably dictate the scale of your redesign. If it’s something you have been planning for a while, then you may have been putting some money aside each month, which will really help when you get started. If you have decided on a whim that you simply must redesign, then your budget may be smaller and the amount you can achieve likewise. It might be worth pricing up all the things you would like to do beforehand and set your targets accordingly.

Time and Preparation – This could be a redesign that has no deadline attached to it and therefore you can take your time and do a little bit whenever you want. However, it might be that your project is in preparation for a special event, in which case you have a definitive completion date to meet. If this is the case, then preparation is crucial! What equipment and materials will you need to get the job done quickly? Knowing exactly what you need, will make the process much smoother, so work out what tools, paints, wallpapers etc, you will need ahead of time. Making last minutes decisions about colours and accessories could lead to disaster, so manage your time carefully.

Design Plans – This should be part and parcel of the preparation phase but it’s an element that needs attention. Will your theme be modern, traditional, minimalist or something completely unique? This will dictate the furniture you use, the lighting, the colours and the accessories. The more prepared you are, the easier the job will seem when you start.

Recycling and Reusing – If you are on a tight budget or you just don’t like throwing old things away, with careful planning, you may well be able to recycle things you have used before into your new scheme. Sometimes a quick paint job and a furniture reshuffle is as good as a complete overhaul! Painting existing furniture is another way to save money and yet still make changes. If you only have a few pounds spare, it’s amazing how a handful of new accessories can transform an old bedroom.

Storage – It’s possible that your bedroom itself doesn’t actually need a major redesign; it might simply be a case of improving your storage solution. Perhaps you have an ancient, bulky, freestanding wardrobe in a corner. The wardrobe itself seems to take up half the room and the space inside it has long since been filled. It could be time to consider installing fitted wardrobes along one wall, with sliding doors to save even more space with all that extra storage room inside.

By Slide Wardrobes Direct

Manufacturer of made to measure 

Sliding Wardrobe Doors and Wardrobe storage