Quilts are displayed in the foyer armoire of the home of Joanne Brownlee in Ooltewah.Uses for armoires• Storage• Display space for collections• Adding height and dimension to the room.• Repaint/repurpose as wet bar, home office, craft space.
For more than 400 years, armoires served as functional cabinets in which to store clothing before built-in closets were introduced in the early 1900s.
But somewhere between the 1980s and '90s, these large, decorative furnishings moved from the anonymity of the master bedroom to centerpiece of the family room.
The armoire's design was a perfect pairing of function with style: two doors that swung open to reveal a space large enough to hold a TV above two or three drawers in its base, which could hold a game console, DVDs or other media. But the armoire as media center -- the signature look of the '90s -- was a shooting star in the design world. What once burned brightly fizzled out quickly with the advent of affordable flat-screen televisions.
"Armoires went completely away because of the importance of the big, flat-screen TVs that people were mounting on their walls or putting over fireplaces and on media chests," explains Marsha Yessick, owner of Yessick's Design Center on Gunbarrel Road.
Now, however, local designers agree the armoire is revving up again. As houses get smaller, especially for baby boomers downsizing into condos, storage is at a premium.
"Armoires are absolutely making a comeback," says Yessick. "We are doing a house that is new construction for a young couple. We have ordered an armoire so he can store his hanging suits in it and take up less space in the master bedroom closet.
"Another reason people are using them is to display treasures, memorabilia and vintage objects. They leave the doors open for guests to enjoy the display or they might hang vintage clothing on the doors."
Christy Forester Pettus of Classic Cabinetry on Broad Street, is using armoires in kitchens and bathrooms.
"They are deeper than wall or base cabinets. We might use them for pantry storage with rollouts in the drawers and baskets behind the doors," she says. "In the bath, they can hold toiletry items, linens and towels in the upper half.
"We have so many older, stately homes around Chattanooga that don't have the storage that new homes have; armoires meet that need," says Pettus.
Decorators agree that a popular way to incorporate armoires into home decor is by repainting or refurbishing an old piece to give it a fresh appeal.
"I've seen them turned into tool cabinets, bars, pantries, craft centers, bath storage pieces, shoe closets, desks and clothes storage," says Kellie Smith, owner of Kellie Smith Design Studio in Dalton, Ga.
Smith adds that DIY enthusiasts aren't just painting the armoires they had in their homes in the '90s, but refurbishing "family pieces from the 1930s and '40s, when homes didn't have the storage they have now."
The trend in rehabbing armoires explains, in part, why local furniture store spokesmen say they aren't seeing the demand for armoires they once did.
"People are going to media cabinets," says Darryl Woodward of Ashley Furniture. "I've got one, maybe two, armoires that are part of entertainment suites. It's hard to find an armoire that will fit a TV because today's screens are too big."
Vicki Runge, designer at The Furniture Shoppe, says they "see a lot of requests for media chests, but I don't see a tremendous request for armoires.
"I joke there should be a whole industry built around what to do with old armoires. I've seen them turned into sewing centers and small home offices."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.