What to do with old fashioned built in wardrobes?

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Our house has original 1960s teak built in wardrobes with overhead storage and a unit of shelving to the side. They are about 2 ft deep, making the shelving nigh on useless unless you are prepared to take out the clothes at the front to get to the ones at the back. The overhead cupboards are equally inaccessible and infuriating :rolleyes:

I have tried a number of things to make them more usable but nothing has worked. Would love to rip the whole lot out and replace with sliding door units but they are fairly pricey from what I can see. Is there any middle ground? How can I turn these monstrosities into functional furniture?

Dial Hard

Brooks Straight Amphibian wrote:

I have tried a number of things to make them more use able but nothing has worked. Would love to rip the whole lot out and replace with sliding door units but they are fairly pricey from what I can see. Is there any middle ground? How can I turn these monstrosities into functional furniture?

Replace the doors if they're ugly and only use the front shelf space?

fro9etb8j5qsl2

The doors don't bother me at all, it's just that the units themselves are so awkward and impractical. Such a terrible use of space. Only using the front of the shelves isn't an option as we desperately need the storage and they are only 30x30cm long and wide. We are willing to spend some money on them, just not the 10k it would cost for sliderobes.

Dial Hard

Brooks Straight Amphibian wrote:

Only using the front of the shelves isn't an option as we desperately need the storage and they are only 30x30cm long and wide. We are willing to spend some money on them, just not the 10k it would cost for sliderobes.

Might be worth getting a few quotes from carpenters/wardrobe fitters to reconfigure the internal space, so. I've used QK Living for something similar before (building a pantry in a weird kitchen alcove) and they were good. But if you've a chippy in the family they might be able to come up with something for you. Might be as simple as just putting a raised shelf at the back of the existing cubbies so you have two levels in each.

accordingtoger

There is a great facebook group called 'Make a house a home' and some of the upcycling people have shown is incredible. I've discovered there is a special paint for painting leather!! Anyhow, if you're on Facebook you could get some ideas on there or share a picture of the wardrobes and some creative type might give you some inspiration!

Addle

Insert drawers?
Items can be accessed easier when you pull the drawers out.

shel64

Sorry but if they don't do what you want them to do then they are not worth the trouble, put the skip, get a chippie to build you a frame and buy doors from Ikea or such shop, you can even buy a chest of drawers to fit inside for storage too, look at images online of fitted wardrobes to see what suits your needs,, sometimes we spend money tarting up what still dosn't work for us, been there done it,,,

antoinolachtnai

The ikea wardrobes might do the job for you. Not that expensive.

Are they actually teak or is it a veneer? (More likely.)

sdanseo

Brooks Straight Amphibian wrote: »

Our house has original 1960s teak built in wardrobes with overhead storage and a unit of shelving to the side. They are about 2 ft deep, making the shelving nigh on useless unless you are prepared to take out the clothes at the front to get to the ones at the back. The overhead cupboards are equally inaccessible and infuriating :rolleyes:

I have tried a number of things to make them more usable but nothing has worked. Would love to rip the whole lot out and replace with sliding door units but they are fairly pricey from what I can see. Is there any middle ground? How can I turn these monstrosities into functional furniture?

I took a claw hammer and nothing else to the built in wardrobes. Pretty effective actually.

They're ****, cheap and useless - and probably don't close properly. Ikea wardrobes all the way now.

Addle

I love built in wardrobes.
They're what I grew up with and they suit my home now.

You could get those attachments that hang clothes in the way and pull out, rather across the way.