Words Vicki Ravlich-Horan Images Ashlee DeCaires
Last year we moved house and embarked on a new renovation project. We had totally renovated our previous 1940s cottage, that when we began had no storage, not even a linen cupboard! Every bedroom had to have wardrobes built in. Once we had the structure in place we always called in Waikato Wardrobes to make the most of the space we had created.
Storage is not a problem in our new house, which has a linen cupboard larger than my old laundry. The majority of the bedrooms have built in wardrobes, drawers and cupboards. And the master has a walk-in wardrobe, so I thought I had hit the jackpot.
I was surprised then to find out we couldn’t fit all our clothes in our walk-in wardrobe. Nadine Waterson from Waikato Wardrobes says this is a common misconception, a walk-in wardrobe doesn’t always mean the wardrobe will provide more storage. “In some cases,” Nadine points out, “a full height and length reach in wardrobes can in fact provide more efficient storage.”
To fix this, Nadine and designer Tivania came for a visit, measure up and chat. Impediments like the annoying sloping roof, and where and how the door opens were noted down as Tivania measured the space.
At the same time Nadine dug for information on how we used the wardrobe. Do I have a huge shoe collection? – No. What about handbags? Do I prefer to hang or fold my clothes? Do you wear more dresses or tops/bottoms? Height wise, can I reach the top double hanging rail? Is the wardrobe the only storage and therefore are drawers needed?
Then with the deep personal questions over she asked even more difficult ones: what colour or finish did I want? Soft close drawers or not?
Tivania recorded all this information and within a few days we were presented with design layout options to consider. And once we’d decided (possibly the longest part of the process), the Waikato Wardrobes team jumped into action manufacturing our wardrobe for us.
The final stage was installation day and putting all our clothes back in. I admit I took the chance to declutter and donate a few prized/rarely worn pieces, before letting our 10-year old (and compulsive colour coder and family organiser) at the task of putting our clothes back in.
With room to spare, the wardrobe from the guest room was emptied, proving we now had a much better space to play with and the wardrobe is now definitely the big tick I thought it would be when we first viewed the house.
