Before and after: My bedroom wardrobes

Creeking, screeching and a sudden crash... the temporary canvas wardrobe just couldn't cope with the weight of clothes. Then another Argos number took its place. Ultimately the ambition was to get fitted wardrobes, as the sloped ceiling, hot press and pipes couldn't be concealed by an IKEA wardrobe, though I would have loved something like...

Black-brown Pax Wardrobe with four doors (€490)

LIGHTS OUT: The panelled four-door Pax wardrobe from ikea.ie

 

Or... the White Pax Wardrobe with Sliding Doors (€485). 

BRANCH OUT: One of the Pax combinations available from ikea.ie

However, the only option for us what to have something custom-made, so as to hide all the pipes and hot press.

Here's what our 'wardrobe' arrangements used to look like:

THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES: Our previous bedroom storage arrangements

 Note the pipes running across the top left-hand corner and top right-hand corner. The doors to the right cover the hot press. As you can see, the rail in my wardrobe in the middle had long given up the ghost, meaning my clothes were scattered here, there and everywhere.

We went to Bedroom Elegance on Dorset Street, Dublin 1, about two years ago on a fact-finding mission but it wasn't until the likelihood of being crushed by a canvas wardrobe began increasing rapidly that we forced to take action.

Another visit to Bedroom Elegance was required last month to finally decide on a design. A very simple white door with minimal detailing that suits sloped ceiling was chosen, along with 'fridge' handles. I think it looks a bit 1950s, which I like. There was a quick turn-around time, with detailed measurements taken the following week (lasers were involved, important given the uneven old walls) and fitting about a week or two later. Everyone we dealt with from sales to measurements to fitting was very friendly and helpful, excellent customer service.

ALMOST FINISHED: The inside of the wardrobes, with additional shelving to be added

And now we have wardrobes that we're really pleased with and that make the most of the high ceiling.

Now there's just the rest of the room to decorate!