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Floor vs Wall mounted closets: What goes up must come down?
Neil Rohrbacker • June 6, 2019
When it comes to closet organizers, some closet systems
are wall mounted while others are floor mounted. Some manufacturers offer only wall mounted closets, others have only floor mounted, while still others offer both. Which type should you choose? Well, the answer is, as usual, it depends. First, don’t get swayed with a hardball sell one way or another just because that particular company only offers one or the other. You need to look at the merits of each, your particular situation, needs and of course design style.
OK, so what are the reasons for one vs. the other you ask, well here goes.
In this corner weighing in at 225 lbs., Wall Mounted closets:
Floor mounted sales people will always say, “Floor mounted systems never fall off the wall!” Wow, that’s sounds scary! Who wants a cabinet mounted on the wall with all sorts of shoes, clothes and the like crashing down on them? Not me! God forbid if little Toto happens to be in the room too.
OK, so out with wall mounted closets and long live the floor mount! Not so fast. Have you ever looked at your kitchen cabinets, the upper ones? You know, the ones that have hundreds of pounds of dishes, bowls, glasses, you name it, you‘ve put it up there. Sometimes even WAY up there if you have tall upper cabinets.
So, my question is, how many times have you seen those cabinets fall off the wall? Well, to be absolutely honest, I have seen one cabinet start to pull off the wall, but never one actually falling completely off the wall. It would be such an event that I am sure I would have heard that sad story if it actually happened.
What do kitchen cabinets have to do with closets you say? They are both screwed to the studs in the wall, that’s why. It really comes down to proper installation by a professional in either case. Make sure the closet company you hire has come from a reputable referral, has qualified installers, is insured, and licensed where applicable. Also, good online reviews from multiple sources.
Why else would one choose wall mounted? Some builders are in a hurry to get the project completed as quickly as possible. They will ask the closet installation company to come in before the carpet installers so that they don’t have to make all those cuts around the closet cabinetry. Ok, that sounds reasonable.
Another reason is the floating design aesthetic of the wall mounted system. In a contemporary home, wall mounted closets floating above the floor can lend itself to a more contemporary look with the right finish and hardware selection.
Lastly, a wall mount works well if you have an older home with very uneven floors which can make fitting a floor mount more challenging. One might also have floor registers, or baseboard heating, which would make installing a floor mount system cost prohibitive.
OK, so wall mounted closets are not so bad after all, but what about those floor mounted closets? They have their own set of unique qualities and we will discuss those now.
And in this corner weighing in at 243 lbs., Floor Mounted closets:
Floor mounted systems work well in both traditional and contemporary homes, especially when accented with the appropriate base and crown molding. It really gives the whole unit a nice finished look. You might not include base molding in a smaller closet, but the bigger the closet, the bigger the statement and molding makes that statement.
Many newer homes have higher than average ceiling heights (9’ and greater), which allows for use of taller closet units to take advantage of that extra space. You can even double stack closet units and get triple hang space with the addition of a wardrobe lift. This is a device which allows you to store off season clothes on the third uppermost closet pole. A very ingenious feature if you have very tall ceilings.
You have a contemporary home design theme and like the ‘floating on air’ look, but want a floor mounted system. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, such as a recessed toe kick with black molding. A good, experienced designer should be able to help you through this during the design process.
Well, lastly, a floor mounted system is resting on terra firma, so for those of you who just won’t sleep well at night knowing your closet is not installed securely on the floor, there is nothing wrong with that either. For what it’s worth, you can also be comforted to know that the latest trend is more towards floor mounted. Not right or wrong, just a trend.
I hope that I was able to shed more light on a topic that one does not think about very often, except when researching for a new custom closet. Whichever way you go, you will love your new custom closet and all the valuable space that you are now able to use.
So, in the end, maybe everything that does go up, doesn’t’ come down, and just maybe we’ve changed the laws of physics. I am not sure my high school physics teacher would agree with that, so I won’t ask him (it’ll be our little secret)..