An open wardrobe is most often covered with a curtain on a track or slim pole, a roller or roman blind fitted to the top of the opening, folding screen panels, or a sliding panel running on a simple track. Curtains are the quickest and least expensive, blinds give the cleanest line, folding screens suit a wide alcove, and a sliding panel comes closest to looking like a proper door. All four can be fitted without altering the wardrobe carcass, which makes them practical for rentals as well as owned homes.
Which one suits you depends on the opening size, the ceiling height, whether you can fix into the wall or ceiling, and how often you need access. A wardrobe you open twice a day wants something that moves easily; a spare room alcove can carry a heavier, more decorative solution.
Measure the width of the opening and the height from the floor to the point where you can fix, whether that is the top of the carcass, the wall above, or the ceiling. Check whether the floor is level across the opening, because a curtain that hangs correctly at one end and drags at the other looks unfinished.
Note what you can fix into. A plasterboard wall needs suitable fixings for anything carrying weight. A solid lintel or timber head above the opening is ideal. If you have nothing to fix into above, a tension rod inside the opening or a freestanding screen becomes the sensible route.
Consider what sits either side. A curtain gathers to one side when open, and it needs somewhere to go. If a chest of drawers or a doorway sits immediately alongside, a blind or a sliding panel that stays within the opening will work better.
A floor length curtain is the default for good reason. It is inexpensive, hides everything, softens a hard edged bedroom, and can be changed in an afternoon when you tire of it.
Fit a slim ceiling track rather than a chunky pole where you want the covering to read as architecture rather than a window treatment. A track set into the ceiling line makes the curtain appear to drop from nowhere, which looks considerably more deliberate than a visible pole with finials.
Fabric weight is what separates a good result from a limp one. Lightweight cotton and voile will not hang straight over a wide opening. Medium weight linen, cotton canvas, wool blend or a lined curtain has enough body to hold vertical folds. Lining also blocks light, which matters if the wardrobe is opposite a window and you are trying to hide the contents rather than filter them.
Allow around one and a half to two times the opening width in fabric so the curtain has fullness. A flat panel exactly the width of the opening looks like a sheet pinned across a hole.
Length matters too. Finish the curtain just clear of the floor, around a centimetre above, so it does not collect dust or catch underfoot. A slight break on the floor looks luxurious on a window but gets in the way on something you open daily.
A roller or roman blind fitted at the top of the opening gives a crisper, more contemporary result than a curtain. Nothing gathers to the side, so it suits openings hemmed in by other furniture.
Roller blinds are the simplest: flat, minimal, and available in blackout fabrics that completely conceal the interior. Roman blinds fold into soft horizontal pleats when raised, which adds texture and works well in a room with other soft furnishings.
The drawback is access. A blind must be raised fully to reach the whole wardrobe, which is fine for a small opening and tedious on a wide one. For anything wider than about a metre and a half, consider two blinds side by side so you can open only the half you need.
Fit the blind so it sits just inside or just above the opening, and check the roll or the folded stack does not block the top shelf. On a full height wardrobe, a raised blind can eat fifteen centimetres of usable height.
A folding screen sits in front of the opening rather than being fixed to it, which makes it the only genuinely no fixing option. It suits wide alcoves, period rooms, and anywhere drilling is not possible.
Screens work best where there is a little floor space in front, because they need depth to stand. In a narrow bedroom they can protrude awkwardly and become something to walk around. Rattan, slatted timber and fabric panelled screens all suit bedrooms; heavier lacquered screens can overwhelm a small room.
Fixed panels hinged to the sides of the opening are a middle route: essentially bifold doors made from thin panels, hinged so they fold back against the wall. This needs a little joinery but the result is close to a proper door at much lower cost.
If you find yourself planning hinges, panels and handles, it may be simpler to buy a unit with doors already fitted. Our modern wardrobes UK sale range covers most standard bedroom wall widths and removes the fitting work entirely.
A sliding panel on a top track is the closest you will get to a factory door without building one. Thin MDF, plywood, fluted panelling or even a framed fabric panel can be hung from a lightweight barn style or bypass track.
The advantage is that it needs no swing space and it looks intentional. The requirement is a level, well fixed track, because a track even slightly out of level will let the panel drift open on its own.
Keep the panel light. Domestic sliding hardware is rated for a specific weight, and a heavy panel wears the rollers quickly and runs stiffly. Thin sheet material with a slim frame is the right approach.
For a wide opening, two panels bypassing each other cover twice the width, though as with any sliding arrangement you can only see half the interior at once.
Whatever you fit, the covering will be open some of the time, and an open wardrobe on show needs the interior to be reasonably ordered.
Matching hangers make the biggest visual difference for the least effort. A rail of mismatched wire, plastic and wooden hangers looks chaotic regardless of how neatly the clothes are hung.
Contain everything that is not hanging. Fabric boxes and open baskets on shelves turn loose piles into blocks, and a shelf of uniform boxes reads as considered rather than crammed. Keep folded stacks to four or five items so they stay upright.
Deal with the base. Shoes on the floor of an open wardrobe are the first thing you see when the curtain moves. A low rack keeps them ordered, or move them out of the bedroom entirely to a unit from our modern shoe storage cabinets UK sale range near the front door.
Add light. Open wardrobes are usually darker than the room, and a shadowy recess behind a curtain looks like a hole. A battery strip light under the top shelf costs very little and changes how the whole thing reads.
The difference between a covered opening that looks designed and one that looks like a temporary fix is usually in the details.
Take the covering to the ceiling where you can. A curtain or panel that stops short of the ceiling draws attention to the gap and shortens the room visually. Running it full height makes the wardrobe read as part of the architecture.
Match or deliberately contrast the fabric with the room scheme. A curtain in a tone close to the wall colour makes a large opening recede, which helps in a small bedroom. A contrasting tone makes it a feature, which needs the room to have space for one.
Repeat the material somewhere else in the room, even in a small way, so the covering does not read as an isolated element. A cushion, a bench seat or an upholstered piece in a related tone ties it in.
Finally, be honest about longevity. A curtain over an alcove is a genuinely good long term solution in a period property where no standard wardrobe fits. Over a doorless flat pack carcass in a modern bedroom, it is usually a stopgap, and replacing the unit gives a better result. Where a curtain feels too soft for the room, our modern room dividers UK sale options screen an open rail while staying easy to move. At Furniture in Fashion we deliver free to most UK mainland postcodes, and Returns are available up to 30 days.
A curtain on a slim track or tension rod. It requires minimal fixing, hides the contents completely if lined, and can be changed easily. Choose a medium weight fabric, as light fabrics hang poorly over a wide opening.
A curtain if you need frequent access, since you can pull back only the section you want. A blind gives a cleaner line and suits openings boxed in by other furniture, but it has to be raised fully to reach the whole wardrobe.
Around one and a half to two times the width of the opening so the curtain has fullness and hangs in folds. A flat panel cut to the exact opening width looks stretched and improvised.
Yes. A tension rod inside the opening carries a light curtain, and a folding screen placed in front needs no fixings at all. Screens do need some floor space in front, so they suit wider rooms better.
Use matching hangers, contain folded items in boxes or baskets, keep stacks to four or five items, get shoes onto a low rack, and add a battery strip light so the interior is not a dark recess.
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