The best his and hers wardrobe gives each person a clearly defined zone, a shared set of practical features and enough hanging space for both. Do that and mornings get easier. The rest is detail: who gets which side, how the hanging, drawers and shoes are divided, and how the whole thing fits your room, whether that is a generous master bedroom, a loft conversion or an awkward alcove.
This guide walks through each decision in the order you will meet it, so you can brief a designer with confidence or plan the layout yourself first.
TL;DR
- Plan by what each person owns and how they use it, not by splitting the wardrobe 50/50 by width.
- Measure the longest items you hang (dresses, coats, trousers on long hangers) and set rail heights from that, with a depth that lets clothes hang without catching the doors.
- Share the features that help both of you: neutral internal lighting, a full-length mirror, soft-close doors and drawers, and a tidy place for shoes.
- Awkward spaces such as alcoves, sloped ceilings and landings can all hold a couple’s wardrobe if the design is made to measure.
- Leave a little spare capacity so the layout still works when your wardrobes grow or your needs change.
Table of Contents
- What a his and hers wardrobe actually is
- Start with an audit, not a layout
- Choosing a layout for two
- Sizing: depth, width and hanging heights
- How to divide the interior fairly
- Shared features that make a couple’s wardrobe easier
- Making it work in awkward spaces
- A worked example
- Fitted, sliding or walk-in: which suits a couple?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Your free design visit
- FAQ
- Sources
What a his and hers wardrobe actually is
A his and hers wardrobe is a shared storage scheme with two clear halves. It can be a single run of fitted wardrobes with a divider, two matching wardrobes on opposite walls, or a full dressing room with a side each. The name is a convenience: the same thinking works for any two people, whatever their clothes or pronouns.
The point is not symmetry. It is that each person can find, reach and put away their things without moving the other person’s. Interior designer Sophie, speaking to House & Garden, puts the principle simply: work out what you need and what you own, then give everything a designated place so it is easy to find and enjoyable to use.
That is why a made-to-measure approach suits couples so well. Off-the-shelf units come in fixed widths and fixed interiors. Two people with different wardrobes rarely fit the same fixed interior.
Start with an audit, not a layout
Before you draw a single line, go through what each of you actually owns. This takes an hour and saves a great deal of money and regret.
For each person, count or measure:
- Long hanging: dresses, long coats, jumpsuits, trousers hung full length.
- Short hanging: shirts, blouses, jackets, suit jackets, folded-over trousers.
- Folded items: knitwear, jeans, T-shirts, gym wear.
- Drawer items: underwear, socks, belts, swimwear, small accessories.
- Shoes: pairs, and the tallest boots.
- Bags, hats and luggage: what needs a shelf and what can go on top.
- Seasonal items: what you only need for a few months of the year.
Write the figures side by side. You will probably find that one of you hangs far more than the other, and the other needs more shelving and drawers. That imbalance is the whole reason an equal split fails. A wardrobe divided down the middle gives one person too much hanging and the other too little.
The same designer’s advice is to focus on removing the small frustrations that build up over a busy morning, which is exactly what an audit exposes. A well-designed small room, she argues, can be as satisfying to use as a large walk-in, provided every centimetre has been considered.
Choosing a layout for two
There are four common ways to arrange a couple’s wardrobe. The right one depends on wall length, door positions and whether you want a dressing room or a bedroom wall.
| Layout | Best for | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| One long run, divided | Bedrooms with one clear wall | A single floor-to-ceiling wardrobe with a divider or change in interior at the midpoint |
| Two wardrobes, opposite walls | Wider rooms | One wardrobe each, facing each other, with a clear walkway between |
| Side-by-side in an alcove pair | Rooms with chimney breasts | A wardrobe in each alcove either side of the chimney breast |
| L-shaped or walk-in | Larger rooms, dressing rooms | Each person has a wall or a leg of the L, with shared centre storage |
One long run with a divider
This is the most popular choice in London bedrooms, and it is where fitted work makes the biggest difference. A floor-to-ceiling fitted wardrobe uses the full height of the wall, including the top shelf zone that freestanding furniture wastes. You decide where the divide sits based on your audit rather than on the door widths. Our fitted wardrobes are designed around your room, so the interior can be planned to the centimetre.
Two wardrobes facing each other
If your room is wide enough, a wardrobe each on opposite walls gives you genuine separation. It works well when one of you gets up earlier or later, because there is no reaching across each other. You need room to open doors and move freely between them. With hinged doors, allow for the swing. With sliding doors, the clearance needed in front is much smaller, which is why sliding wardrobes are often chosen for narrower rooms.
Alcove pairs
Many Victorian and Edwardian homes in Richmond, Chiswick, Fulham and Putney have a chimney breast with an alcove on each side. This is a natural his and hers arrangement: one alcove each, joined by matching fronts across the chimney breast so the room reads as one design. If you want more on this idea, see our page on awkward spaces.
L-shaped and walk-in
If you have a spare box room or a large enough corner, a walk-in or L-shaped dressing area lets each person own a wall. A central island or chest of drawers can be shared. For more on what makes one work, read our guide to walk-in wardrobe design that truly works.
Sizing: depth, width and hanging heights
Three numbers decide whether a wardrobe is comfortable or constantly irritating.
Depth. Clothes on hangers need roughly 550 to 600mm of depth so that the shoulders sit flat and the garments do not press against the doors. Shallower wardrobes can work for particular items, but a standard hanging section needs this depth. If your wall is shorter than you would like, a fitted design lets you make the most of the depth you do have and use the rest of the width cleverly.
Hanging heights. Shirts, jackets and folded trousers hang happily in a short section. Dresses, long coats and maxi skirts need a much taller one. Measure your longest garment from the top of the hanger to the hem and add a few centimetres. A common mistake is to build one tall section where a double-hang rail (two short rails, one above the other) would hold twice as many shirts and jackets.
Width. Couples tend to underestimate the hanging length they need. As a rough guide, if you are sharing one wardrobe, think in terms of a wide run rather than a standard double. A single hung section of about a metre each is a starting point for people with modest wardrobes, and many couples need more. Count your hangers, then add space.
Walkway. Leave a comfortable clear path in front of the wardrobe. Tight bedrooms are where fitted designs earn their keep, because every centimetre taken by the wardrobe is a centimetre of floor you lose.
How to divide the interior fairly
The cleanest method is to treat each person as having a full set of five zones: long hanging, short hanging, shelves, drawers and shoes. Then adjust the proportions to match the audit.
Hanging
Give more hanging to whoever hangs more. If one of you has lots of dresses and the other has mostly shirts and suits, place the tall section on the dress side and a double-hang rail on the other. It is common for the two sections to be different widths, and that is fine. Your wardrobe should reflect how you live.
Shelves
Folded knitwear and jeans need shelves about 30 to 40cm apart, which keeps stacks neat and prevents piles from toppling. Shallow shelves are easier to keep tidy than deep ones, because you can see everything. Adjustable shelving lets you change the layout later.
Drawers
Drawers are the backbone of daily use. Underwear, socks, belts, watches, jewellery and gym wear all live better in drawers than on shelves. Soft-close runners are standard in our wardrobes, so a drawer closes quietly while the other person is still asleep. A shallow top drawer with dividers for small items keeps the clutter off the dressing table.
Shoes
Sophie’s advice in House & Garden is to use pull-out drawers for shoes rather than deep open shelves, because you see the whole collection at once and pairs are easier to retrieve. Tilted shelves and slim pull-outs work well in a shallow space. Tall boots need a dedicated tall section or a lay-flat drawer.
Accessories
Ties, belts, scarves and jewellery are small but numerous. Shallow velvet-lined drawers, pull-out belt racks and valet rods keep them visible. Give each person their own accessory drawer so nothing wanders.
Shared features that make a couple’s wardrobe easier
Some features should be common to both sides, because you will both use them every day.
- Lighting. Inside the wardrobe, light should help you see colours and details accurately. House & Garden reports that the designer favours a fairly neutral light, avoiding anything too white or too yellow, which can distort how clothes look. She also suggests thinking in zones: neutral light inside the wardrobe, even light at a dressing table or mirror with lights on either side, and a warmer ambient glow for the room itself. If you want LED lighting in your wardrobe, we can build it into the design.
- A full-length mirror. On a door, on the end of a run or inside a walk-in, one mirror can serve both of you.
- Soft-close doors and drawers. Quiet closing matters most when one person leaves earlier than the other.
- A valet area. A pull-out rail or hook for the next day’s outfit saves morning decisions.
- A laundry solution. A built-in pull-out basket keeps the floor clear.
- A shared top shelf or loft box zone. Luggage and rarely used items live up high, accessible by steps.
The finish should also match your room. Shaker, flat-panel and wood-effect fronts all suit different styles, and mirrored or painted sliding doors can lighten a smaller bedroom. If you are styling the rest of the room afterwards, nature-inspired home decor ideas can help the finished space feel warm rather than purely functional.
Making it work in awkward spaces
Most London homes do not have a perfect rectangular wall. The good news is that a his and hers scheme is easy to adapt.
Loft conversions and sloped ceilings
Under a sloping ceiling, the tallest part of the wardrobe goes where the ceiling is highest and the lower part takes shelves, drawers and shoes. Each person can have one end. The low zone is also ideal for seasonal storage. Our fitted wardrobes are made to follow the line of the roof, so nothing is wasted.
Alcoves and chimney breasts
Alcoves are rarely the same width, so a standard wardrobe will not fill them. Made-to-measure units sit tight to the walls with no gaps. You can give the wider alcove to the person who hangs more.
Small bedrooms
If the room is small, sliding doors save the swing space, and tall, full-height storage frees the floor. A single carefully planned wardrobe is often better than two bulky pieces. Our guides to small bedroom wardrobe ideas in London homes and fitted wardrobe features for small bedrooms go through the options.
Landings, understairs and spare corners
When the bedroom cannot take two full wardrobes, one of you can have a run on the landing or a spare corner. Understairs space can hold shoes, coats and bags in pull-out units, freeing room in the bedroom for clothes. See our understairs storage page for what is possible.
Planning for change
Your storage needs will not stay the same. A move, a new job, a baby or a change of wardrobe size all affect them. Build in adjustability: movable shelves, rails that can be raised or lowered and a few empty drawers. A good scheme has roughly a tenth of its capacity unused on day one.
A worked example
Imagine a couple in a Putney terrace with a bedroom of about 3.6m by 3.2m and a chimney breast with two alcoves.
One partner owns many dresses and coats, plus a lot of shoes. The other has shirts, suits and a lot of knitwear. The audit shows the first needs two tall hanging sections and a shoe drawer unit. The second needs a double-hang section, a shelf stack and two deep drawers.
The plan puts a tall hanging section and shoe drawers in the left alcove, and the double-hang, shelving and drawers in the right. The two sections are tied together by a shared centre panel with a full-length mirror and a tall slim pull-out for belts and ties. Matching Shaker fronts run across the chimney breast, so the room feels calm and symmetrical even though the insides are completely different.
The result is symmetrical outside and personal inside. That is what a good his and hers wardrobe does.
Our perspective
When couples come to us, the first thing we do is ask what each person owns. The room is only half the brief. A wardrobe that looks beautiful but gives one person two drawers and a short rail is not finished, however good the doors look.
We believe bespoke is the right answer for two people sharing, because two people never have the same wardrobe. A made-to-measure design lets us give one of you a tall hanging section and the other a double-hang, add the right drawers and place shoe storage where it will be used. It also lets us fit around chimney breasts, sloping ceilings and alcoves, which is what most London bedrooms need.
We design with soft-close mechanisms as standard and we install typically within seven days, backed by a 10-year guarantee on workmanship. We will also take away and dispose of your old wardrobe, so the room is ready to use when we leave.
If you want a his and hers scheme that suits you both, start with the audit above and bring it to your free design visit.
Aureliu
Fitted, sliding or walk-in: which suits a couple?
Fitted hinged wardrobes give the most flexible interiors and the cleanest finish when you want a built-in look. They need door swing space.
Sliding wardrobes save floor space and suit narrow rooms or runs where doors would clash with the bed. Each section opens onto only part of the interior, so plan which side holds what you reach for most. Read our guide on whether sliding wardrobes save space for more.
Walk-in wardrobes are the dream for couples, and they do not have to be huge. A small box room or a partitioned corner can become a dressing area. See our walk-in wardrobes page for design ideas.
If you are still deciding, our guide on how to plan fitted wardrobes properly takes you through measuring, door choice and interior planning.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Splitting 50/50. Divide by need, not by width.
- Forgetting the longest garment. Measure before fixing rail heights.
- Too few drawers. Drawers carry more daily use than most people expect.
- No spare capacity. Wardrobes fill up. Plan for growth.
- Poor lighting. Dark interiors make it hard to choose clothes, and the wrong colour of light changes how they look.
- Ignoring door swing. Check that doors do not collide with the bed, radiator or each other.
- Mismatched details. Shared handles, finishes and mirror placement keep the room looking designed.
Your free design visit
We design and build fitted and bespoke wardrobes for homes across West London, including Richmond, Wimbledon, Putney, Chiswick, Fulham, Chelsea, Ealing and Kingston. Every wardrobe is made to measure and designed around your room and your belongings. Installation is typically within seven days, and our work carries a 10-year guarantee.
We visit your home, measure the space, talk through what each of you needs and show you the options. We will also take away and dispose of your old wardrobe. To book, message or call us on 07468 150807 (WhatsApp works too), or visit our fitted wardrobes page to see what we can do. Our studio is at 124 City Road, Kemp House, London, EC1V 2NX.
FAQ
How wide should a his and hers wardrobe be?
It depends on how much each of you hangs, but couples sharing one wardrobe generally need a wide run, not a standard double. Count your hangers and the length of your longest garments, then add some spare room. A made-to-measure design lets you use the exact width of your wall.
How do you split a wardrobe between two people?
Do not split it down the middle. Audit what each person owns, then give the larger share of hanging, shelves or drawers to whoever needs it. Keep shared features, such as lighting, a mirror and a shoe zone, common to both sides.
Can a his and hers wardrobe fit in a small bedroom?
Yes. Sliding doors save door swing space, and full-height fitted units use the whole wall. In a small room, one carefully planned wardrobe with a double-hang section and drawers often works better than two separate pieces.
Is a walk-in wardrobe worth it for a couple?
If you have a spare room or a large enough corner, a walk-in lets each person have their own wall and shared central storage. Even a small dressing area works when the layout is planned well, because the quality of the detail matters more than the size of the room.
Sources
- House & Garden: the perfect dressing room and how to create it
- Nature-inspired home decor ideas for UK homes
