Closets and Their History

The closet is a place we hang our clothes and store our shoes. But the closet hasn’t always been called the closet and for that matter the places we store our clothing has had other uses as well as names.

Armoire - This term comes from an early French term meaning a tall cabinet, wardrobe or closet. The armoire originally was used for storing weaponry in medieval times rather than clothing. Armoires typically come with double doors, which hide the interior shelves or space for hanging items.

Wardrobe - Because homes didn’t have built in closets in the early days, the first wardrobes were patterned after the armor bearing closets known as armoires. The wardrobe usually has double doors, carried to the floor and usually covering the drawers at the base. Inside the wardrobe may be hanging rods as well as sliding shelves and some had mirrors. The British sometimes call the wardrobe an oakley as they were typically made from oak. Some wardrobes are large walk-in rooms lined with oak and shelving. Others are still simply large ornate cabinets.  

Cheffonier or Chiffonier - The French translation of Chiffonier means “rag-gatherer” or “rag-picker”, suggesting that it was originally built to receive odds and ends that had no other storage place in the home.  A glorified junk drawer! Cheffoniers date from the Empire style of furniture in England and were built of the favorite wood of that era, the rosewood.  To define the look of a chiffonier varies. Some it was a tall set of drawers while others say it is a piece of furniture that is smaller than a sideboard with the whole of the front enclosed by doors. The Chiffonier typically sits wide and low; a sort of buffet. The doors were usually paneled and even edged with brass-beading. The chiffoniers feet were either padded or had claws and even gilded sphinxes.


Chifferobe or Chifforobe – A hybrid piece of furniture built to function as a closet in the twentieth century. Popular more in the southern United States than anywhere else, chifferobes were first seen advertised in the 1908 Sears and Roebucks Catalogue. The product description described the chifferobe as a modern invention. Many passages of popular southern literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, Wise Blood and The Ballad of Sad Café, to mention a few) use the furniture known as a chifferobe in their settings. The name chifforobe came from blending the words chiffonier and wardrobe.

Traditionally the chifferobe combines both a long space for hanging clothes like a wardrobe along with a set of drawers like a chest of drawers. Most designs host a side-by-side function, with closet down one and the drawers on the other.

The Reach-In Closet - The most common type of clothes storage today is the reach-in closet. These closets are wide in variety and typically come with a wooden rod for hangers to hang clothes on.  Reach-in closets vary in size and door types. There is sliding doors, the bifold door and the regular pull open door.
The Walk-In Closet - Moving beyond the average reach-in closet, the modern home style is that the larger master suite closets are big enough to house a chest of drawers and other furniture, which saves room in the master bedroom. It is common for people to cut down on furniture in the master bedroom and relocate it to the master bedroom closet.

Today's walk-in closets are very elaborate and often allow virtually all items stored in the closet to be visible in a glance through open shelving. It is also common to have an island centered in the master closet to hold items such as tilt-out hampers, sliding belt racks and tie racks, lockable jewelry trays, shoe cubbies, shoe racks and shelves, among other things. Some islands also store luggage and fold away ironing boards.

Yes, the way we store our clothing, shoes and accessories has evolved and changed over history as has the amount of clothing, shoes and accessories we own. Now you know the history of the closet.