Walk-in cupboards
Walk-in cupboards represent some of the most expansive solutions in the home storage category. Rather than integrating storage within existing rooms, walk-in cupboards are placed in an adjacent auxiliary space. Because walk-in cupboards are in an enclosed space, the storage compartments are often open, allowing a better overview of, and easier access to the stored garments.
Naturally, walk-in cupboards can be more modest-sized affairs as well. Both Franco Mirenzi’s ‘Epomeo’ for Aico Design, a range of minimal sideboards and corresponding shelving modules, and Molteni & C’s wood-panelled ‘Gliss walk-in’ can be adapted into both small and large-scale walk-in cupboards. There are a few subtle differences between the various walk-in cupboards.
Some, like raumplus’s wooden ‘Legno interior closet storage systems’, and metal-frame ‘Cornice interior closet storage system’, the latter designed by Burkhard Hess and Gerhard Bernhold, carry their own weight and provide their own stability. On the other hand, Giuseppe Bavuso’s ‘Dress bold’ walk-in cupboard consists of a wall-mounted structure covered by glass panels, onto which secondary accessories, such as shelves, clothes rails, drawers and trays, are affixed. Poliform’s ‘Ubik’ system of walk-in cupboards uses a similar principle, but with wooden panels instead.
Riva 1920’s ‘Trust’ walk-in cupboard uses traditional wooden craftsmanship and solid cedar wood, which is well known for its moth-repelling properties. LAGRAMA’s ‘Walk-in Wardrobe 1’ and ‘Walk-in Wardrobe 2’ bring a touch of bright colour to this otherwise serious and sober product group. And lastly, Lema’s aptly named ‘Cabina Armadio | Hangar’, a wooden walk-in cupboard system, offers a myriad of modules and the possibility of made-to-order solutions, with a wide range of shelves, drawers, compartments and clothing rails.
Showing the possibility to subvert the conventional typology, Rolf Heide’s and Peter Kräling’s ‘S 07’ for interlübke also shows a possibility for the walk-in cupboard modules to be placed freely in space, enclosing a small changing room within.