Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Seen while out shopping: If your shop has fallen heir one way or the other to a giant, too-big, too-bulky armoire… and if your shop has no dressing rooms, don’t be

tempted to send customers into the cupboard a la Narnia.

Instead, do what this sharp shop did:

They positioned the armoire about 4 or 4-and-a half feet from a corner. Then they used 3 sturdy tension curtain rods and three luxurious heavy drapes to divide the resulting space into two dressing rooms.

The drapes were heavy enough to stay put and puddled a bit at the bottom to match the feel of the heavy carved armoire.

With the right combination of furniture and fabric, this could go from “Old World Castle” to “Seaside Cottage” in feeling.

Just think: storage and dressing rooms without a carpenter! (And to think the shopkeeper told me her carpenter came up with the idea!)