I think it's silly that the valet and clotheshorse are now obsolete pieces of furniture. For clothes that are not dirty enough to go in the laundry but not clean enough to go back into the dresser, I think most of us could use a more elegant solution than throwing them across a chair.

Recently I've seen two solutions that could serve this purpose, particularly in the liminal space of a hotel room. The first is by France-based industrial designer Camille Ringenbach (we previously looked at her work here):

"Nestor is furniture designed to bring comfort to hotel rooms. Responding to a need for ergonomics, it was designed from a study of gestures related to undressing and offers seating, support, storage space for the customer's clothes and objects."

The second is called Acrobat, by Portugal-based industrial designer João Teixeira (we previously looked at his work here):

"Adopting a tripod solution was key to keep things stylish, dynamic and also sleek. The bended metal tube adds a sense of continuity by welding only on one side, allowing for this gap to be used as a spot to hang scarfs or other. The metal tube tops can also be used to hang clothes or hats without the need of an hanger."

"To add value to such exquisite piece of furniture we opted to increase its functionality by adding openings into the wooden bars allowing the user to easily keep daily accessories such as wallets, glasses or keys without discarding the possibility to hang your cloths using the smooth edges. The mix between wood and metal allows for interesting texture and color contrasts."

While I'm generally not a fan of the lines-going-in-different-directions look, I could certainly see either of these in a boutique hotel, if not a Marriot.

See Also:

Valet Stands, 1

Valet Stands, 2

Hans Wegner's Classic Valet Chair