|
Ladies, Look at the SIZE of My Closet!
Large Closet Space a New York Status Symbol
Thu Dec 18, 9:29 AM ET By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - Contrary to popular opinion, New Yorkers don't lust most after power or money or even great sex. They lust after closet space. Whether they live in a shoebox-size studio apartment or a Fifth Avenue mansion, city residents all crave more closets. And closets have become a status symbol the way a flashy car might be in the suburbs. "It's a very talked-about thing," said Andrew Gerringer, managing director at Douglas Elliman real estate agency. "You can't underestimate the importance of a closet," Some people brag about their closets; others know that closet envy is a palpable New York emotion. "If I told you how much closet space I have, you would die," said Alan Hilfer, director of psychology training at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. Lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, he said: "I have more closet space than I can fill." When people visit his Manhattan apartment, he said, "They salivate and they get jealous. So I'll pretend the closets don't exist." New Yorker Daria Winter recently chose an apartment with closets and a view of a brick wall over another apartment with fewer closets and a good view. Even so, she turned the second bedroom into a giant closet for her admittedly extensive collection of clothes and shoes. "Women are jealous," she said, "and all the guys laugh at me. Then they blame me for causing their wives and girlfriends to decide to turn their den into a closet." Even New York's premier address -- the mayor's Gracie Mansion -- has just a handful of closets, having been built in 1799 when armoires were more in use, according to city history. Real estate broker Jill Sloane of the Halstead company said in New York, one hall closet and one bedroom closet are "a lot of closet space." She added that not long ago she sold an apartment without a single closet. "You had to use your imagination," she said. Those without enough closet space -- that would be just about everyone -- have been known to impose on friends with suburban attics, cram more things under the bed than would seem possible or pay extra for basement storage space in their building. Manhattan building contractor Dominique Perret recently built a 30-foot long closet -- with 10 doors -- for a client in a high-end Manhattan apartment. But for his own possessions that don't fit in his closet-challenged Greenwich Village apartment, Perret rents two storage closets in a warehouse four blocks from home and visits them almost every day. One space is filled to the brim with furniture. "We dream about a house in the country. We have it all furnished already," he said. "We just don't have the house. More than one New Yorker makes the best of the city's closet shortage. Workers at City Closet Storage will arrive at the door with a six-foot by six-foot (two meter by two meter) closet, fill it up with clothing and haul it away. They'll bring it back with the change of seasons, ready to deposit fresh clothes and leave with the out-of season frocks. For $225, a company called Garde Robe will take up to 50 items, dry clean them, mend them, store them and post their photographs on an Internet site. Clients then can go online, click on the item they want and have it delivered within 90 minutes -- twenty-four hours a day. But some New Yorkers claim closets are over-rated. "I don't have a closet. It's great not having a closet," said Stephen Larkin, of the Corcoran Group real estate. "They're nothing but big messes. "I'm very streamlined," he said. "I have a whole wall that I wouldn't have otherwise." Closets tell us a lot about ourselves, Hilfer said. People always think they will find time to make order of their possessions, and they hang onto things to stay in touch with the past, he said. "I still have my tie-dyed shirts," he said. "I don't wear them anymore. But every once in a while when I'm rummaging through the closets, I see them and I kind of smile." |
Garde Robe
I read about them on NewYorkSocialDiary.com. Neat service for those who have the $$$. I don't, so I just use the good' ol self-storage w/o all the bells and whistles.:p
|
I just started cleaning out my walk in closet which has essentially become a shove-all-the-stuff-that-I-don't-have-a-place-for closet. This will take hours because there is so much stuff in there that I haven't seen in years. I am looking forward to being able to walk into my walk in closet. :)
|
I have 7 closets in my one bedroom apt. 3 of them are walk-ins. I may never move. lol
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
I have five closets in my place: one walk-in in my living room, one coat closet, one linen closet, and one closet in each of the two bedrooms. My mother has seven closets, also. Eight, if you include the room that was my childhood bedroom. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
When I have my own house, I want a closet like Vera Wang's... it's huge, I think there was a pic of it in In Style a while ago.
|
In the city, I had two closets: one in my bedroom and, for some odd reason, one in my kitchen (I think it was a passageway to another room at one point but was made into a closet when the brownstone was converted to apartments). I felt very fortunate indeed!
|
haha, my bedroom in my apt is a closet - i barely fit my bed and computer desk in there! yikes
|
I think my mother must be from New York, no matter what her southern accent might suggest.
|
Closet space is important no matter where you are. I live in a pretty spacious 4/2.5 in the 'burbs. We're not hurting for closet space, but the closet in my room is way too small. The master bedroom has his and hers walk in closets and I've claimed the one that my mom isn't using.
FI is buying a condo next month and I've informed him that once I move in, I'll need most of the walk in closet in the master, and probably all of the guest room closet. Our next house WILL have the his/hers walk-in closets in the master. |
I will admit that I am spoiled by my closet. I just recently installed new closet organization stuff and it's just perfect. Now I have a place for everything and everything in it's place. :)
I don't know what I am going to do if I move out. :( |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:28 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.