Wardrobe Wars: Are Irish Couples Capable of Evenly Splitting Shared Spaces?

A couple’s battle for space is one for the ages. From balancing at the boundary of the bed to choosing corners of the couch, there’s always a battle raging. But let’s not forget the jewel in the crown: the shared wardrobe. For Drumm Carpentry, Kitchens & Wardrobes, fitted wardrobes are their speciality, although deciding who gets the majority of rail space is out of their hands…

Homeowners and renters know the feeling. One moment you have plenty of room for furniture, family photos and a coffee table, and the next you’re wondering where the shoe rack and jigsaws can go. While it’s often an appliance cupboard or overworked bookcase that takes the brunt, the bedroom wardrobe is another entity completely.

Fitted wardrobes are great for many reasons. When expertly crafted, they’re aesthetically pleasing, functional and neat. But when the doors open it’s a different story. People tend to cram clothes along the rack and stack everything from shoeboxes to miscellaneous household objects on shelves. It’s not ideal, especially if one partner has a greater interest in fashion than the other…

Ireland, like most countries, has experienced great changes in its shopping habits in a relatively short time. For instance, supermarkets changed our shopping habits in the mid-20th century by pairing groceries with clothing and household items under one roof. In the 80s and 90s, we saw shopping centres rise in popularity, when suddenly we had a cinema at one end of a building and a supermarket at the other. And when the desktop and internet found their way into Irish homes, we embraced e-commerce.

Recent statistics show that 85% of internet users purchased goods and services online in 2024, with 90% of Ireland’s internet users aged 30 to 44 years of age. Dig a little deeper into the data and you find that clothes, shoes and accessories such as bags make up 69% of total purchases. But who’s hitting the ‘Complete Purchase’ button? Well, it turns out that 86% of female internet users bought clothes online, while 68% of males did likewise, although 28% said they purchased sports clothing. So, how do the statistics transfer into real-world scenarios?

Darren Drumm, founder of bespoke furniture and kitchen designer Drumm Carpentry, Kitchens & Wardrobes, has weighed in with his expert opinion: “We’ve been in business since 2016, and I would say that people are planning their wardrobes, or all their storage, a bit more astutely nowadays. Shopping has changed in recent decades because of the internet and the ability to order things right to your door, while the pandemic must be mentioned, too. As a result, and while it might not be that wardrobes are becoming more elaborate, they’re being designed with the long-term in mind. People might opt for plenty of shelving and drawers and finish their wardrobe with sliding or mirrored doors to get the max return. People might also have a dressing table fitted with more storage overhead, with an entire wall often taken up.”

When asked about wardrobe space, Darren said, “The best thing to do is to get a wardrobe space tailor-made to your needs rather than something off the shelf, like a stock product. Couples need a wardrobe that suits them rather than trying to work with something they didn’t design. At Drumm Carpentry, Kitchens & Wardrobes, we like to give people every option available and tailor make the design to suit their setup, giving them the best product and return.”

When asked for his top five space sharing solutions, Darren said:

Data for this piece was gathered through the Central Statistics Office.