One of the things that people find really important when exploring new home designs on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast is the wardrobes. For every house, this can be a debatable issue. Should you include a walk-in wardrobe or a simple cupboard in your house plans and designs? Let’s figure it out together what are the different types of built-in storage.

Types of Built-in Storage: Walk-in Robes

A built in walk-in wardrobe is often an entire room dedicated just for your clothes, shoes, and other accessories.

Pros:

• Wider space to accommodate more stuff
• Better organization in separating different items
• Better modes of classifying items in a walk-in wardrobe
• Multi-purpose function since it serves as a more private dressing room and a place for more belongings other than just clothes and shoes
• Can also serve as your post laundry room where you can fold and iron your clothes
• It can be converted into a small office or other functions if not needed anymore
  

Cons:

• Consumes lots of space
• Not entirely economical for a house that wishes to conserve energy as walk-in wardrobes often include electrical outlets, special lighting, and heating
• More expensive to both include in the house design and maintain
• The need to buy other unnecessary items like extra bins, tables, baskets and racks
• Promotes hoarding of unnecessary items

Built in Wardrobes or Cupboards and Drawers

Cupboards are either permanently built-in while building the house or bought separately. They are often built on one side of the wall. They allow quick and immediate access to the homeowners. Built in drawers also work really well with built in furniture.

Pros:

• Takes up a smaller space
• Allows you to be more conservative and minimalistic in keeping more special items
• Easier to clean and maintain especially in decluttering the closet
• Very flexible to make since you can easily make adjustments according to the original house plans and designs
• Fully customizable to match your needs and lifestyle
• Made for efficiency and quick storage
  

Cons:

• Consumes lots of space
• Limited space gives way to fewer belongings
• Makes you buy other forms of additional storage especially since fitted wardrobes often cannot completely contain bigger items or materials
• Stuffing of items in drawers, cabinets and other items
• Separate wardrobes may not be ideal since they would not be needed in homes that already contain built-in robes. This is especially so, for renters, and homeowners who move a lot
• Minimalist lifestyle does not fit every household

Built in Reach-in Wardrobe

This is one of the types of built-in storage which a smaller version of a walk-in robe. It’s like a smaller dedicated room filled with drawers, hanging space and shelves and can be opened by a door, a divider, or sliders.

Pros:

• Takes up a greater space than cupboards or cabinets
• Doesn’t consume as much space as a walk-in closet
• Offers greater space for storage both for clothes, belongings and other things–even bigger objects like your surfboard
• Made to fill-in spaces but not take too much space unlike a walk-in closet
• Highly customizable and adjustable to fit your needs and lifestyle
  

Cons:

• Still offers limited room
• Will also be required to be put in every bedroom
• Will also promote stuffing of your things in a limited space or area
• You may have the need to purchase other necessary storage
• Size and space of a reach-in robe can be too minimal for modern house designs
• Room rearrangement or renovation may be harder for a reach-in since it is harder to take it down and replace

Choosing from these types of built-in storage purely depends on so many factors needed by you and the rest of your household. We recommend that if you want to save space for a more family friendly home, you can make use of a walk-in to keep all of your family’s clothes and other stuff.

However, if you are building a bachelor’s pad, you may have to simply go for cupboards and drawers. Cupboards and drawers are also ideal for children’s bedrooms or homes with pets since your things will be kept from your kids or pets reach. Adding any of these types of built-in storage in your house design plans really depends on your need and preference.