A St John’s Wood Wardrobe
St John’s Wood, NW8
Decluttering and organising to create a cohesive wardrobe space across two rooms
or call +44 (0)20 8673 1653
Originally from the States, our client had moved to the UK with her new husband and was renting a beautiful, light apartment in St John’s Wood. Unfortunately, her home didn’t have as much storage as she’d had previously and, with wardrobes split across the master and guest rooms, she was struggling to make the spaces work.
Our client was a keen and regular declutterer, but with limited space in her new apartment, she knew she needed to reduce her wardrobe a little more.
The biggest frustration, however, came from the feeling that she couldn’t keep the spaces tidy. The drawers seemed to be straining with clothes, and there were always shoes, bags and laundry that didn’t have anywhere to go.
Our client wanted to be able to create a logical wardrobe system and have space in the guest room for guests to unpack and feel comfortable.
In our planning meeting before our organising session, we reviewed the existing set-up across both rooms. Whilst there was a basic system in place, the categories of clothes were mixed across the different spaces, and the chest of drawers was over-stuffed making it difficult to use.
We had a good chat about editing with the client and by diving into the drawers and cupboards, got a sense of how much the client wanted to let go of. With this information, we designed a layout that felt natural and simple, despite being spread across two rooms.
The client’s more frequently worn clothes were kept in her bedroom, whilst accessories, shoes, gym and formal or party clothes were laid out in the guest room.
We wanted to create a greater sense of space in the guest room, and offer the possibility of adding a desk at a later date, so we rearranged the layout to move a large chest of drawers and create a perfect little nook for a desk.
The wardrobes in the master bedroom were large, but weren’t designed with the most practical layout for our client’s clothes. There were some lovely pull out shoe drawers, but as we were moving the shoes from this room, they were a bit redundant for that purpose. There were also some very small, deep shelves that our client struggled with.
We decided to use baskets in the deep shelves to make the space more accessible, even right at the back. And we added a new shelf (easily removable in this rental apartment), to create more practical storage for trousers and jumpers. Despite only a light edit, we were able to arrange the clothes across each space in a logical, and intuitive way that felt much more spacious and easy to use.
