The versatile armoire has functioned over the centuries in nearly every room of the house.
It has been called by many names from linen press to chiffarobe to china cabinet. It has housed computers, closeted clothes, hidden Murphy beds, stored linens, safeguarded fine china, showed off crystal goblets. During the last decade it stood center stage as the star of hide-it-all entertainment centers in spaces big and small.
With technology making rapid advances away from bulky television boxes to slender wall-mounted screens, the armoire is losing its purpose as an entertainment center.
“With newer technology and [flat screen] televisions becoming the center, people are shying away from large, heavy pieces,” said Tracy Morris of Tracy Morris design in Washington. “TVs are on walls, in mirrors and in bathrooms. Even DVDs are going away, making all of these huge pieces obsolete.”
Dennese Guadeloupe-Rojas of IA, ETC furnishings in Rockville contends the iconic furniture piece is “still around and will be around. It depends on where you want to put it.”
And what you want to put in it.
Even flat screen televisions.
“Some people like to cover the screen” and the armoire still suits that purpose, she said.
Shifting out of the living room and looking for a place to go, the armoire is competing in the bedroom with walk-in closets. “They are back in the bedroom where they belonged in the first place,” said Caity Lovett, of Shades of Shamrock.
Still, the armoire “represents sophisticated funk for a lot of my clients,” Morris said. They are using the furniture in the kitchen and returning it to its old place in the dining room for dishes and table cloths. In the bedroom it is the perfect centralized storage solution for bulky quilts and bedding.
While its popular purpose as entertainment central is coming to an end, its role as a functional piece in the home is not. Guadeloupe-Rojas is confident the armoire will always have a place. “The question is in what room is it most appropriate.”
