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Johannesburg - There’s a scene that Sex and the City fans will never forget, the walk-in closet.
It’s where Mr Big leads Carrie into the surprise remodelling job he’s had done on the wardrobe of their new apartment, a gleaming white enclave flanked by glass-enclosed closets, and with a lit-up ladder of shoe-racks at the end where she sets down her pair of Manolo Blahniks.
If only we could have one of those… Then our envy grew when Kimora Lee Simmons showed off the fabulous walk-in cupboard on her TV reality TV show Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, complete with mini bar and flatscreen TV.
We’ve seen the killer walk-in cupboard, with hundreds of designer clothes and shoes, of each of the Kardashian sisters and their mom, but Khloe has taken the cake – she recently unveiled a room just for her workout clothes.
Many Hollywood celebrities have separate rooms for clothes and then shoes and bags, organised either by colour, category or designer. They will knock down walls and use up two or more rooms of their homes to house their designer collections.
But this closet glory is not only for the famous. Among us are women, and men for that matter, who wake up every morning and step into a room commissioned for just clothes, shoes, bags and hats, muddling around in there for a long while before emerging, looking like a new pin and ready for the day.
Among well-known South Africans who enjoy these rarefied spaces in their homes are former TV actress and founder of 67 Blankets for Mandela Day, Carolyn Steyn. Steyn’s dressing room is the work of interior designer Stephen Falcke, who says he made a wardrobe for a “beautifully dressed woman, who attends lots of functions and really loves and takes care of her clothes and accessories”.
Falcke says: “I sit down with every client to find out what they have and how they like to store it. Some people like to fold all their shirts, others like to hang them. Some people have a lot of belts, bags and shoes which need to be properly pigeon-holed. I believe cupboards are important, because clothes and accessories are so expensive these days and need to be housed properly.
“Also, I like cupboards to be open, so you can see the variety of what you have. When it comes to shoes, some people like them stacked on racks, others prefer to have them on pull-out shelves. So it’s really about getting a good idea of the client’s clothing lifestyle,” says Falcke.
His creation was gratefully received. “I love the space, the chandeliers, the furnishings, the sheer elegance,” says Steyn.
“One cannot but feel like a fairy princess in such a dressing room. I was in such awe when I first set foot in my dressing room that I told everyone that I was ‘never going to come out of the closet’.”
In Cape Town, walk-in wardrobe princes and princesses are loving the installations of Espresso Design, a UK-based interior design company that works with contemporary Italian-style furniture. “Clients with the luxury of space often consider walk-in wardrobes, although a completely open wardrobe is not to everybody’s taste and styles,” says ED designer Mariaan van Zyl.
“Some clients don’t like the idea of having everything visible as you enter, as not everybody is as neat as the images in the brochures. Most clients like a combination of some open sections with the option of closed wardrobes.”
Van Zyl adds that her clientele is comprised of men and women. “You’d be surprised how many men have more clothes than their wives.”
For her high-spec walk-in wardrobes, with all the bells and whistles, Van Zyl works with budgets in the range of R250 000 to R300 000.
You can get a beautiful walk-in wardrobe for substantially less, however, with some clever planning. For about R50 000, Keith Snyman, of Vanilla Rose Interiors in Germiston, designs a “small walk-in cupboard without the extra gimmicks”.
“I like to do shoe shelving at an angle, for easy access to shoes, double hanging areas, and a centre drawer unit, which becomes a lovely feature in the room,” he says.
His best work is white, similar to Carrie Bradshaw’s wardrobe, achieved with a paint technique and decorative moulding on the doors.
“There’s definitely an increase in demand for walk-in wardrobes, and it’s from women and men,” says Snyman.
“We recently had a male client who wanted revolving tie and belt racks. Most clients want plenty of hanging and shelving area, especially for shoes.”
Allowing in enough natural light can be a challenge with walk-in cupboards, but Tshwane architect Thomas Gouws came up with a great solution.
“Instead of building a wall, I used a white glass fixed panel and pivot door to separate the cupboard visually from the bathroom, but to still allow lots of natural light into the small space.
“The rails and shelves were designed to display the clothes the way they’re displayed in a clothing shop, and to enhance this effect I used industrial spotlights focused on the clothes rather than the space and fittings,” he says.
Who by now isn’t dreaming of turning their spare bedroom into a sumptuous home for their threads?
Helen Grange, The Star
Pictures: Supplied