Cover an open wardrobe with a floor length curtain hung from a ceiling track or a slim tension rod fixed across the front of the unit. This is the simplest, cheapest and most effective method, and it works on almost any open rail or shelving system. Alternatives include a roller blind mounted above the opening, a fabric wardrobe cover fitted over the frame, a folding screen placed in front, or retrofitting doors or panels if you want a permanent solution.<\/p>\n
The choice comes down to what you want the cover to do. If dust and visual clutter are the problem, a curtain solves both immediately. If you also want to slow dust ingress on stored clothing, a fitted cover or doors work better. If the wardrobe is in a rented property, choose a method that needs no drilling.<\/p>\n
Open storage looks appealing in photographs and is genuinely practical to use, since everything is visible and nothing is hidden at the back. Living with it is a different matter. Clothing on an open rail collects airborne dust continuously, and dark garments show it within weeks. Sunlight is the other issue: direct light fades colours on the exposed side of a rail surprisingly quickly, particularly on dyed cotton and linen.<\/p>\n
There is also the visual weight. A wall of mixed colours, patterns and textures is a lot of information in a bedroom, which is a room most people want to feel calm. Covering the storage does not reduce the space you have, it just removes the busyness. In a small UK bedroom where the wardrobe wall is the first thing you see from the doorway, this matters more than it does in a large room.<\/p>\n
Moths are a smaller but real consideration. They prefer undisturbed dark places, so an open rail is not their favourite environment, but a covered rail still needs the same care with clean storage of wool and cashmere.<\/p>\n
A curtain across an open wardrobe achieves the most for the least effort. You have three mounting choices. A ceiling mounted track gives the cleanest result, with fabric falling from ceiling to floor and reading as a soft wall rather than as a curtain over furniture. A slim rod or track fixed to the underside of the wardrobe top panel sits neater against the unit itself. A tension rod wedged between two side walls, in an alcove for example, needs no fixings at all and suits rented homes.<\/p>\n
Fabric choice affects the result considerably. Heavier linen, cotton canvas or a lined curtain hangs with weight and blocks light and dust well. Lightweight voile softens the view without hiding it, which suits a room where you want texture rather than concealment. Solid colours are calmer than patterns on a large expanse, and choosing something close to the wall colour makes the whole wall recede.<\/p>\n
Get the length right. The curtain should just clear the floor, within a centimetre, since a short curtain draws attention to itself and a pooling one collects dust. Allow fabric width of about one and a half to two times the opening so the curtain has fullness when closed rather than looking stretched. Wave or pencil pleat headings both work; a wave heading gives a more contemporary line and stacks more neatly to one side.<\/p>\n
A roller blind mounted above the wardrobe opening pulls down flat and takes almost no depth, which makes it useful where a curtain would brush against the bed or a door. It gives a crisper, more architectural finish than fabric folds, and blackout material offers the best protection from light fading.<\/p>\n
Roman blinds sit between the two, giving fabric softness with a structured stack. They need more depth at the top than a roller, so check the clearance if your wardrobe sits close to a ceiling.<\/p>\n
The limitation with any blind is access. You raise it fully to use the wardrobe and lower it afterward, which is a two step action every time. On a wardrobe you open several times a day, a curtain you push aside is quicker. Blinds suit less frequently used storage, a guest room or a section holding out of season clothing.<\/p>\n
Purpose made covers zip or wrap around a freestanding clothes rail, enclosing it on all four sides. These give the best dust protection of any soft solution because there is no open back or side, and they are inexpensive and need no fixing at all.<\/p>\n
The compromise is appearance. Most read clearly as a temporary storage product rather than as furniture, which is fine in a spare room, a loft or a utility space and less appealing in a main bedroom. Ventilation is worth watching too, since a fully enclosed cover with no breathable panels can trap moisture around the clothing. Choose one with breathable fabric or mesh panels, and never enclose garments that are anything other than completely dry.<\/p>\n
A folding screen placed in front of an open wardrobe conceals it without touching the unit at all, which makes it the most flexible option in a rented home. It also does something a curtain cannot: it creates a sense of a separate zone, which works well in a studio or a room that doubles as a workspace. Our modern room dividers UK sale range covers folding and freestanding designs.<\/p>\n
Screens need floor space, typically 20 to 30cm of depth once they are angled, so they suit rooms with a little room to spare rather than tight ones. They also block access entirely rather than partially, so you move the screen to use the wardrobe.<\/p>\n
An alternative is to change what you are covering. If the open storage is a rail plus shelving, moving folded clothing into a chest of drawers cuts the visible clutter dramatically and leaves only hanging garments to conceal. A modern wooden chest of drawers UK sale piece often reduces the problem to something a single narrow curtain can handle. In some rooms the honest answer is that the open system is not working, and replacing it with a closed unit from our modern wardrobes UK sale range solves the dust, the light and the visual noise in one step.<\/p>\n
If the open wardrobe is an alcove or a built in recess, retrofitting doors is a permanent solution. Sliding doors on a top track are the most practical in a bedroom because they need no clearance in front, and they work well across a wide opening where hinged doors would be unwieldy. Our modern sliding wardrobes UK sale range shows the panel styles this approach uses.<\/p>\n
Hinged doors on a simple timber frame are achievable in a narrower recess, though they need 50 to 60cm of swing space. Lightweight panels, cane fronted frames or slatted doors are a middle ground, giving concealment with airflow, which suits a humid room.<\/p>\n
Whichever route you take, the same rules apply as with any wardrobe door. The opening needs measuring at three heights and three widths, tracks must be level and parallel, and a sloping floor needs packing rather than following.<\/p>\n
The difference between a covered wardrobe that looks deliberate and one that looks like a temporary fix usually comes down to three details. Mount high: taking a curtain or blind up to the ceiling rather than to the top of the unit makes the whole wall read as intentional and adds apparent height to the room.<\/p>\n
Keep the palette quiet. Fabric in a tone close to the wall disappears, while a strong contrast turns the storage into a focal point, which is rarely what you want in a bedroom. If you do want contrast, pick up a colour already present in the room, in the bedding or a rug for instance.<\/p>\n
Finish the edges properly. A curtain that stops short, a rod that is visibly too small for the load, or a blind narrower than the opening all undermine the effect. Adding a mirror on an adjacent wall helps too, bouncing light back into a space that has just gained a large area of fabric, and our modern wall mirrors UK sale range includes sizes suited to that job.<\/p>\n