Closet facts for kids
A closet (especially in North American usage) is an enclosed space, a cabinet, or a cupboard in a house or building used for general storage or hanging or storing clothes.
Modern closets can be built into the walls of the house during construction so that they take up no apparent space in the bedroom, or they can be large, free-standing pieces of furniture designed for clothing storage, in which case they are often called wardrobes. Closets are often built under stairs, thereby using awkward space that would otherwise go unused.
In current British and Pakistan usage, a wardrobe can also be built-in, and the words "cupboard" or "walk-in-wardrobe" can be used to refer to a closet.
In Elizabethan and Middle English, closet referred to a larger room in which a person could sit and read in private but now refers to a small room in general.
In Indian usage, a closet often refers to a toilet. This probably originated from the word water closet, which refers to a flush toilet.
Types
- Broom closet: A closet with top to bottom space used for storing cleaning items, like brooms, mops, vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies, buckets, etc.
- Coat closet: A closet located near the front door. Usually used to store coats, jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, gloves, hats, scarfs, and boots/shoes. This kind of closet sometimes has shelving. It only has a rod and some bottom space used for clothes stored in boxes or drawers. Some may have a top shelf for storage above the rod.
- Linen closet: A tall, narrow closet with shelves in a bathroom used for storing towels, sheets, washcloths, and toiletries.
- Utility closet: A closet most commonly used to house appliances and cleaning supplies
- Walk-in closet: A storage room with enough space for someone to stand in it while accessing stored items
- Wall closet: A closet in a bedroom that is built into the wall. It may be closed by curtains or folding doors, which clothes can be stored folded on shelves.
- Wardrobe: A small closet used for storing clothes.
- Pantry: A closet or cabinet in a kitchen used for storing food, dishes, linens, and provisions. The closet may have shelves for putting food on.
- Custom closet: A custom-made closet that fits the room in your house.
Images for kids
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An open closet.
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A typical modern wall-mounted space-saving closet.
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Linen closet.
