The Client

Beverley and David Hodgson live in Darlington, in a stone-built, four-bedroom detached house that was built in the late 1990s.  With two daughters, age 20 and 17, living at home and a sports-mad husband – who football fans will know from playing professional football in the 1980s for Liverpool Football Club, among other clubs – Beverley knew that storage space was at a premium.  The family installed Sliderobes in three bedrooms, with matching free-standing furniture, over a period of four years. 

 The Brief

Beverley always wanted to revamp the master bedroom, but first she had to makeover her daughters’ rooms.  “I always wanted Sliderobes, but so did my eldest daughter, Brogan, so around four years ago we did her room.  She only had a tiny little wardrobe and a growing collection of clothes, shoes and handbags.  Then my youngest daughter, Alessia , wanted her room done too, so our room was bottom of the list.  The girls come first and we wanted to provide more space for them to put their clothes and accessories as they grow older.  The master bedroom was awful, it was very old-fashioned with units running over the top of the bed, all built-in with cupboards and no drawers.  We wanted to provide proper space for all our clothes – a place for everything and everything in its place, with hanging space, open shelves for my shoes and handbags, a belt and tie rack for my husband and some free standing furniture to go with it.”  The couple opted for a fitted wardrobe in the master bedroom with two five-drawer chests of drawers – one for Beverley and one for David – plus a dressing table.    

 The Space

With it being a modern house, there were no weird angles, sloping roofs or very high ceilings to deal with, such as you’d find in very old houses.  The master bedroom benefits from an en-suite but the decor and layout of the bedroom was quite old-fashioned.  The girls’ rooms were smaller and also in need of some proper storage. 

 The Solution

Brogan’s was the first room to get Sliderobes, around four years ago.  She got a three-door wardrobe with smoked glass and a stainless steel frame, with a chest of drawers inside, hanging space and plenty of room for her shoe collection.  17-year-old Alessia’s room was the next to get done, two years later, with a two-door mirrored wardrobe unit.  When it came to their bedroom, Beverley and David looked on the Sliderobes website and saw a design they liked, with black high-gloss doors.  They worked with designer Steve Healy from the Stockton branch and are full of praise for him.  “We ended up having the black high gloss doors done with a walnut trim.  At first, I had doubts about whether it would work and how it would look with the doors and trim, but Steve was really wonderful.  Nothing was a problem for him and if he hadn’t reassured me I probably wouldn’t have been as brave.  He really made the whole process so easy.  We had the flooring and re-decorating done at the same and got new bedding too, and now it looks like a brand new room.  We’re thrilled.” 

 The Verdict

“I am so happy with the end results,” says Beverley.  “The wardrobes and bedroom furniture look absolutely stunning and I cannot believe it’s the same bedroom.  I have a place for everything and it’s a pleasure to be in the room.  Because we’d had the girls’ rooms done, we knew what to expect from the job.  Everything was done so efficiently.  The Sliderobes team ripped out the old furniture and when they came back to fit the units you wouldn’t even have known they were there, they just closed the door and got on with the job.  The fitting was all done in one day and they kept everything tidy and clean so there was really no mess afterwards.”  Beverley also recommends the Sliderobes free-standing furniture, having previously bought flat-pack furniture when she had the girls’ rooms done.  “The Sliderobes furniture, the two chests of drawers and the dressing table, is so much more sturdy than the flat-pack and there was only around £60 in difference between Sliderobes and the flat-pack anyway.  The quality is fantastic.”