Closet
A closet (especially in North American usage) is an enclosed space, a cabinet, or a cupboard in a house or building used for general storage or hanging or storing clothes.
Modern closets can be built into the walls of the house during construction so that they take up no apparent space in the bedroom, or they can be large, free-standing pieces of furniture designed for clothing storage, in which case they are often called wardrobes or armoires. Closets are often built under stairs, thereby using awkward space that would otherwise go unused.
In current British and Pakistan usage, a wardrobe can also be built-in, and the words "cupboard" or "walk-in-wardrobe" can be used to refer to a closet. In Elizabethan and Middle English, closet referred to a larger room in which a person could sit and read in private but now refers to a small room in general.[1] In Indian usage, a closet often refers to a toilet. This probably originated from the word water closet, which refers to a flush toilet.
Types
- Airing cupboard: A closet containing a water heater, with slatted shelves to allow air to circulate around the clothes or linen stored there.
- Broom closet: A closet with top to bottom space used for storing cleaning items, like brooms, mops, vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies, buckets, etc.
- Coat closet: A closet located near the front door. Usually used to store coats, jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, gloves, hats, scarfs, and boots/shoes. This kind of closet sometimes has shelving. It only has a rod and some bottom space used for clothes stored in boxes or drawers. Some may have a top shelf for storage above the rod.
- Linen-press or linen closet: A tall, narrow closet. Typically located in or near bathrooms and/or bedrooms, such a closet contains shelves used to hold items such as toiletries and linens, including towels, washcloths, or sheets.
- Utility closet: A closet most commonly used to house appliances and cleaning supplies
- Walk-in closet: A storage room with enough space for someone to stand in it while accessing stored items. Larger ones used for clothes shade into dressing room.
- Wall closet: A closet in a bedroom that is built into the wall. It may be closed by curtains or folding doors, which clothes can be stored folded on shelves.
- Wardrobe: A small closet used for storing clothes.
- Pantry: A closet or cabinet in a kitchen used for storing food, dishes, linens, and provisions. The closet may have shelves for putting food on.
- Custom closet: A custom-made closet that fits the room in your house.
Closet tax question in colonial America
Though some sources claim that colonial American houses often lacked closets because of a "closet tax" imposed by the British crown,[2] others argue that closets were absent in most houses simply because their residents had few possessions.[3]
Closet organizers
Closet organizers are integrated shelving systems. Different materials have advantages and disadvantages:[4][5]
- Wire shelving: Moderately difficult to install, wire shelves cannot hold much weight without giving in but are cheap.
- Wood shelving: Difficult to install, wood shelving is sturdier and more expensive than wire.
- Tube shelving: Easy to install, tube shelving involves few pieces and requires no cutting or measuring.
See also
- Cubby-hole, one name for the cupboard under the stairs
References
- ↑ AskOxford: closet
- ↑ "Old Stone House". National Park Service.
- ↑ "Stuff and Nonsense". The Journal of the Colonial Williamsburg Association.
- ↑ "Wire Shelving vs Wood Shelving", by Mark J. Donovan, HomeAdditionPlus.com
- ↑ "Choosing the best closet system", from ConsumerReports.org