Riviera Reporter
Riviera Reporter
THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE
THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE

Home Style: Great storage ideas come out of the closet for fancy dressing

Dressing Room

What started out as cupboard love has turned into a full-blown passion when it comes to keeping our clothes neat and accessible.

Home storage is a very flat and boring way to describe the beautiful spaces now available in this specialist area. At Home Store you won’t find too many ready-made wardrobes and cupboards. The recent trend has been towards the “made-to-measure” solution tailored to an individual’s space and taste.

“It seems when it comes to creating the perfect dressing, no one is exactly the same,” says Eric Guillermain, the man with all the answers in this area at Home Store.

“A businessman will want an efficient system so he can instantly select what is required from the various drawers and cupboards, for instance, when he is called away suddenly to an overseas meeting and has to pack in the shortest possible time.

“The lady of the house may want a lot of hanging space in one area so that she can have the widest possible choice of outfits.”

Dressing DrawersEric proudly displays the alternatives available for the space-hunter. At the true luxury end are what seem like spare rooms converted into dressing spaces with any number of permutations of ingenious devices that hang, slide, rise and fall. Here you will find units made of the finest solid oak, complete with the very best of finishings, including drawers lined with leather.

These deluxe dressing rooms are in actuality smaller then they look; artful design maximising the appearance of space, some of them with sliding doors in etched glass, giving a real touch of class. However, they would probably work best if incorporated in a new-build or an extension.

More accessible to the average family are the walk-in wardrobes that can be easily integrated into an existing home. Impressive space-saving technology abounds. A hanging space with just one rail will appear just so yesterday as you try out the double-decker track system that with a simple pull of a handle brings the out-of-reach upper level down to hand height. There’s no more rummaging about in dark nooks and crannies for that missing sock – LEDs shed light when the drawer is opened.

For those customers with big ideas but very limited space, Eric has some tips that will get you out of a tight corner.

“Say there is a deep alcove to be fitted out with wardrobes. If the ones nearest the entrance are at right-angles – which would inevitably happen if ready-made units were purchased – then the effect is to block the line of sight and to make the alcove area seem cramped and ‘overcrowded’.

“Our solution is to construct units with subtle, corner-eliminating angles to guide the eye into the space available.”

Something would be missing from this brave new world of what once we called “wardrobes” if the kids weren’t catered for. Eric and his Home Store team break away from the grey and taupe currently so fashionable for grown-up rangements when it comes to kitting out a nursery or playroom.

It’s a safe bet that the little ’uns will always want to put their toys away neatly in their own special, brightly-coloured draws and cupboards.

Just another way that modern furniture can enhance a better home life.

Products can be found at Home Store: www.homestore.fr


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