A wardrobe is a piece of furniture that is found in every home. In the hallway, living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen - the presence of a storage system is necessary in any room. Hanging clothes, laying out documents and books, arranging kitchen utensils and dishes - a combination of shelves and hanging elements will help you do all this. In this article we will tell you what cabinets are made of today, and also look at the pros and cons of each material.
How do you like MDF?
wardrobes made of MDF
The front part of the sliding wardrobe can be made of MDF (fibreboard), which is made from sawdust.
The material is distinguished by high strength and ductility. This is a new material that appeared in the early 2000s. It is the most environmentally friendly, which is why it costs more. Its facades bend and are milled well, which allows you to create a reliable and beautiful model. The material is obtained by gluing dried wood fibers with polymer substances. It is very durable and does not absorb moisture, and therefore is used for making furniture.
Built-in materials
Selecting them is the first stage of preparatory work. The range of potential materials for assembling such cabinets is no different from those that are usually used to make any furniture.
- Wood is a traditional material: environmentally friendly, prestigious, beautiful, easy to process. However, do-it-yourself built-in wardrobes are rarely made from it. The reason for its unpopularity is humidity, which is always higher in niches. It is its fluctuations when opening the cabinet that are the main threat to wood used for cabinet furniture. If the owners have chosen wood, then the material must be found to be impeccable: it should not have any defects - curls, knots or cracks. Impregnation with a water-polymer emulsion or hot drying oil is required.
- Chipboard is the most common raw material. These boards are made from pressed chips using formaldehyde resins as a binder. Laminated chipboard is a more suitable material; it is a constant favorite of the best companies producing this type of furniture. The disadvantage for self-production is that the fine processing is quite heavy, so chipboard or laminated chipboard are only suitable for creating simple structures.
- Fiberboard is another pressed board representative made from steamed wood fibers. Its use depends on the type of material: semi-solid fiberboard is used to make drawers and back walls of cabinet structures, hard and super-hard varieties are already used to create furniture. For built-in cabinets, low-density material is not the best material, even for the bottom of the drawers. The reason is the same - humidity.
- MDF (fine fraction) is the best candidate, as these boards are more environmentally friendly, moisture resistant and dense, because they are made from wood dust, which is compressed at the highest possible temperature. The result of such heating, which ensures excellent quality and complete safety of MDF, is the release of natural resin - lignin, which reliably binds particles.
There are other materials too. The first contender is plywood, which is more often used to create built-in cabinets intended for storage rooms, or sent “in exile” to the country. For the same Cinderella structures, furniture panels are often chosen. Drywall is the black sheep on this list because, due to its low strength and fragility, the material cannot be used as a load-bearing structure. It needs a serious metal frame.
The best option
Chipboard, which is used for the production of sliding wardrobes, is characterized by a wide range of panel colors, thickness and edge processing methods. Upon request, you will be offered the same object, but in several versions: from chipboard produced in EU countries, Eastern European countries or domestically produced. Options may vary in price and quality. The inside of the wardrobe is made of chipboard panels and metal honeycomb parts. Manufacturers use similar honeycomb elements (shelves, baskets, etc.). The level of complexity of the design and the degree of quality of the cabinet depend both on the level of the brand, and on the experience of the designers and the professionalism of the assemblers.
Russian manufacturers purchase materials and fittings from imported manufacturers to make cabinets. But the product in this case is still not cheap.
It is worth noting that cabinets of very decent quality are produced by large Russian manufacturers. Here you have the choice of the most suitable option: free-standing or built-in wardrobe.
Cabinets are installed as furniture in the hallway, bedroom, kitchen or office. For example, a free-standing cabinet will be equipped with all the standard elements of cabinet furniture: base, floor, ceiling and walls.
The built-in version uses walls, floor and ceiling as its elements. Once you install such a wardrobe, you won’t be able to move it anywhere. And when you get tired of it, rearranging it will be accompanied by the risk of repairing a subsequently damaged wall.
But, still, the option of a separate cabinet is much more effective. It can be easily moved to a new location. For these purposes, when ordering a cabinet, you should provide an option with adjustable legs.
The interior of the cabinet is designed according to the client's whim. There may be regular shelves and drawers. If you plan to store something in a closet, then the drawers can be made like pull-out ones. In addition to shelves, you can mount mesh baskets moving on special rollers.
Mezzanines can be installed on top. If short items are stored in the closet, then they can be arranged in more than one row. Ordering and installing a mini elevator is now very expensive. There are good options with overhead shelves for storing things.
There is a unique opportunity to build a refrigerator into the cabinet, for which it is necessary to indicate this point in the project in advance, because it is necessary to make a support for it with increased load-bearing capacity. Some people will like to integrate consumer electronics or organize a work station with a computer.
The most popular option for a wardrobe is a model with drawers and shelves made of chipboard. When ordering a cabinet with individual parameters and design, you can count on the manufacturer to combine existing standards with the client’s requirements.
The interior decoration of a modern closet is based on three standard components, namely: honeycomb baskets or shelves, hangers and racks. Cellular metal baskets are combined into modules with the ability to transform or move freely inside the cabinet. This promotes good air circulation inside.
In addition to regular shelves and drawers, there are special devices for storing things. Escalator-type shoe shelves or carousel platforms spinning shoes in front of your face, as well as elevator hangers for placing clothes, will surprise the most demanding customers.
wardrobe lighting
An effective built-in lighting system is an integral part of a fashionable wardrobe. Lamps are located everywhere: on cornices or shelves and panels. Buyers have the privilege to choose mortise, wall-mounted or surface-mounted models of lighting elements. The backlight mechanism can be automatic or forced.
Why are partitions needed?
A wardrobe up to 6m long can be ordered without partitions, since the guides are made to that length. Even if you want it, then with such a length there will be many doors in the closet, and behind them there will be a space without partitions. It's not aesthetically pleasing. It is impossible to create a wardrobe of this type in an ordinary apartment, due to the fact that with a six-meter guide you will not be able to turn around either on the landing or in the apartment. Therefore, the cabinet, or rather the guide, must be divided into 2 parts. A vertical partition appears at their junction.
Determining the number of doors
A mandatory step will be to calculate the wardrobe doors. But in order to accurately determine the dimensions, you need to take measurements from the opening where the canvases will be located. Indicators of its height, width, depth are taken.
During all measurements and calculations, certain rules must be observed:
- It is better to take measurements in several areas, because there are differences;
- There may be an error of one and a half centimeters between measurements;
- the height indicator should be 4 cm less than the same opening value;
- When performing calculations, it is imperative to maintain accuracy;
- When measuring doors, it is recommended to take into account an important factor - the possibility of passing these elements through the openings of a living space.
For comfortable opening of the wardrobe, it is recommended to use a design with two doors. Products with three doors are often found on sale; they are quite wide and take up a lot of space. When choosing products, first consider the space available in your living space.
Options for compartment door locations
Design features of the wardrobe
- The product is made of chipboard with a laminated coating.
- The thickness of the slabs ranges from 8 to 28mm.
- The back wall is made of chipboard, with a thickness of 8 to 16 mm and is secured with plastic elements.
- The drawers are made of slabs with a thickness of 16mm.
- The shelves are secured using plastic elements.
- The canopy for mounting the lighting is made of a plate with a “Soft” edge, and the lighting uses 12V lamps powered by a standard household electrical outlet.
Selection of manufacturer and materials
Many manufacturers have different doors with their own characteristics. There are door options in two standard sizes - 76 or 91 cm. The panels are also made in certain standard sizes. When choosing a supplier, you need to compare prices for identical products manufactured by different companies. The presence of the central office of the manufacturing company is an important aspect. The price you are promised over the phone may not include on-site delivery and assembly. Check the availability and duration of the warranty immediately.
Be sure to ask the seller about the availability of his production. If this is the case, then ask a leading question, for example, what edge is used to process the panels. If you are offered an overlay or mortise edge as an answer, then refuse this order. The use of such elements indicates low quality or garage manufacturing. Reputable manufacturing companies have long since converted their facilities to the mechanical method of producing edges. You should definitely find out the thickness of the chipboard panels that will be used to complete the façade of your cabinet.
Slabs with a thickness of up to 10 mm are not produced here, but only imported. Many enterprising companies use milling of domestic slabs 16 mm thick to 10 mm and insert them into the door facade.
Don't forget to inquire about the thickness of the side walls of the product. If it turns out to be 18mm, then the panels from which your cabinet is made are of imported origin. Plates with a thickness of 16mm are of domestic origin, which is characterized by the likelihood of selling you domestic material covered with imported film.
Take the time to check the number of measuring engineers in the company. It is unacceptable for the loader to be a measuring engineer, and the head of the production cycle to be an installer. Unscrupulous manufacturers of this type of product sometimes deceive buyers on this point.
laminated chipboard
Laminated particle board is the most used material in furniture production. Chipboard is cheaper than wood and MDF. Using a laminating coating on laminated chipboard sheets, an imitation of any natural materials is created.
To assemble furniture frames, sheets with a thickness of 16-18 mm are usually used. Solid sliding doors can also be made from them. To fill frame doors, sheets 8-10 mm thick are often used.
The disadvantages of laminated chipboard sheets include the fact that they are not intended for milling and quickly deteriorate from moisture. Another disadvantage is that they are less durable than wood.
But if the cabinet is placed in a dry room and the plan is not to store bricks and weights, then its body can serve for decades.
Wardrobe care requirements
Due to the fact that the cabinets are made from pressed wood, their surfaces do not tolerate moisture well. If it does get on the surface of the product, it must be removed with a dry cloth. Dirty panels should be wiped with a soft cloth to avoid scratches on the laminated layer.
Laminated panels must be frequently treated with special polishes. Mirror surfaces of cabinet doors should be wiped with special products.
It is advisable to lubricate creaking doors with paraffin or a similar product. The wheel guides must be cleaned of dirt and deposits.
