A wardrobe for a narrow hallway: 5 rules that save space
WardrobesHallwayLayout
A narrow hallway is the sore point of a lot of Almaty flats. How do you fit the unfittable — coats, shoes, the vacuum cleaner and the meter — when the passage is only 1.2 metres wide?
Plenty of people buy a ready-made hallway set and then suffer for it: it sticks out, it gets in the way, and it holds very little. As a furniture production engineer, let me explain how we solve this when we build to order.
1. Depth matters: 40 cm against 60 cm
The standard wardrobe depth is 60 cm, so that hangers sit sideways on the rail. But in a narrow hallway a wardrobe like that eats the whole space.
Our solution: we build the wardrobe 40-45 cm deep.
- So how do the clothes hang? We fit pull-out rails (end-mounted hanging rails). Clothes face you head-on.
- The gain: it saves 20 cm, and in a hallway that is an enormous difference.
2. Door fronts: a mirror is your best friend
An old trick, but it never fails. A sliding-door wardrobe with full-height mirrored doors does three things:
- You can see yourself head to toe before you go out.
- The hallway looks twice as wide.
- Light bounces around, and a dark hallway gets brighter.
Tip: if you are worried about fingerprints, go for a combination: a mirror on one door only, or panels of frosted “Satin” glass.
3. Sliding or hinged?
For narrow spaces the sliding-door wardrobe wins.
- Hinged wardrobe: to open a door you have to step back. In a narrow hallway that blocks the way for everyone else in the family.
- Sliding: the doors move in one plane. You can open the wardrobe and still walk past it in peace.
4. Use the full height
New-build flats in Almaty have high ceilings (2.7 - 3 metres), while ready-made furniture is usually 2.2 metres tall. Do not throw away that half metre!
We design overhead units that run right up to the ceiling. Everything seasonal goes up there:
- Winter coats, in summer;
- Suitcases;
- Shoe boxes;
- The New Year tree and its decorations.
5. “Floating” furniture and an open zone
So that the wardrobe does not end up looking like a bulky coffin, we suggest leaving a small open area with hooks for everyday coats, and a bench.
The on-trend answer: lighting in the plinth (the base), or a wall-hung shoe cabinet. When you can see the floor under the furniture — or it is lit — the room feels bigger.
What does a wardrobe like this cost?
The price depends on the materials (laminated chipboard, MDF, mirror) and on the hardware. You will not find these perfect sizes in a shop; made to order, we work to the millimetre.
Want a price for your own hallway?
Put your approximate dimensions into the calculator, or write to us and we will come back with a quote.