Fitted wardrobe cost is one of the questions we are asked most often, and the honest answer is that it depends heavily on how you measure the job. Fitted wardrobes are usually priced by the metre run rather than as a flat figure per room, because a 2 metre wall of wardrobes and a 4 metre wall of wardrobes are simply not the same amount of work or material.
This guide explains that per-metre thinking, what door type and carcass material do to the price, and how a bespoke wardrobe wall compares with buying a flat-pack sliding door system and having it fitted. By the end you should be able to work out roughly where your own room sits.
Fitted wardrobes are priced per metre, not per room
Think of a fitted wardrobe wall the same way you would think of a fitted kitchen: the price scales with the length of run, not with the size of the room it sits in. A single wall of fitted wardrobes around 2.5 metres wide typically costs £2,500 to £5,000 supplied and fitted in the south of England, depending on the doors, interior fittings and finish chosen.
That per-metre figure covers the carcass construction, the doors, the internal fittings such as rails and shelves, fitting into the room including scribing to the walls and ceiling, and finishing. It does not scale in a perfectly straight line — a very short run of 1.5 metres has a similar amount of setting-out and end panel work as a longer one, so the cost per metre is often slightly higher on short runs and slightly lower on long ones.
A full wall of wardrobes running the length of a bedroom, or wardrobes built into two facing walls either side of a chimney breast, will naturally sit at the top of the range or above it, simply because there is more carcass, more doors and more fitting time involved.
Sliding doors vs hinged doors
Sliding doors need no clearance to open, which makes them the natural choice for a bedroom where floor space is tight or where a bed sits close to the wardrobe run. They also give you a large flat door face, which suits a mirrored or plain painted finish well. The trade-off is that you can usually only access one section of the wardrobe at a time, because the doors overlap.
Hinged doors give full access to every section at once and suit a more traditional look, particularly where the wardrobes are being built to match painted panelling elsewhere in the room. They need clearance to swing open, which matters in a smaller bedroom.
Cost-wise, neither is consistently cheaper than the other — it depends more on the door material and finish than on hinged versus sliding as a mechanism. Sliding gear does add a fitting on its own, but hinged doors on a long run need more of them, so the two tend to even out.
Carcass materials
The carcass is the box behind the doors, and moisture-resistant MDF or melamine-faced board is the standard, sensible choice for the vast majority of fitted wardrobes. It is stable, takes paint or a factory finish well, and is not something you will ever see once the doors are on.
Where the interior is going to be seen — an open shelving section, or a wardrobe with no doors at all — a better-quality faced board or a painted finish inside matters more, because it is on display rather than hidden.
Loft slopes and chimney breasts add real cost
A straight wall with a flat ceiling is the cheapest wall to fit wardrobes against, because every panel is a simple rectangle. A sloped ceiling in a loft conversion means every carcass along that slope has to be individually scribed, and the wardrobe interior loses usable height at the back, which sometimes calls for a lower hanging rail or extra shelving to make use of the space that is left.
A chimney breast is the other common complication. Wardrobes either side of a chimney breast need two separate runs built to match each other, often with a shallower unit built over the breast itself for extra storage. Both of these situations are completely normal and we deal with them regularly, but they add setting-out time and should be reflected honestly in a quote rather than glossed over.
Interiors and drawers
The interior of a wardrobe is where day-to-day usefulness is won or lost. A single hanging rail and one shelf is the cheapest interior but rarely the most practical — most people are better served by a mix of full-height hanging, double hanging for shorter items, shelving, and at least one bank of drawers.
Drawers are priced individually because each one is effectively a small box built to run smoothly on its own runners. As a guide, internal drawers typically add £120 to £250 each, so a wardrobe with a bank of five drawers will cost noticeably more than the same wardrobe with plain shelving in that space. It is worth deciding early how much drawer storage you actually need, rather than adding drawers everywhere out of habit.
- Full-height hanging for coats, dresses and long items
- Double hanging rail for shirts, folded trousers and shorter garments
- Adjustable shelving for jumpers and folded items
- Drawer banks for underwear, accessories and small items
- A dedicated shoe shelf or slanted shoe rack if space allows
Painting and finish
Factory-finished doors in a melamine or laminate colour are the most cost-effective finish and come in a wide range of woodgrain and plain colours. A painted finish, sprayed to match the room's woodwork or a bespoke colour, costs more but lets the wardrobes disappear into a painted room in a way a factory laminate never quite does.
If the wardrobes are being built alongside panelling elsewhere in the room, painting both to match is usually worth the extra, because the wardrobe doors read as part of the wall rather than as a separate piece of furniture that happens to be the same colour.
Comparing bespoke against a flat-pack sliding wardrobe system
A flat-pack sliding wardrobe system bought from a large retailer and fitted is usually the cheapest way to get wardrobe storage into a room, and for a straightforward rectangular wall it can be a perfectly sensible choice. The doors and carcasses are made to standard widths, so an odd-shaped wall, a sloped ceiling or an alcove either side of a chimney breast will need packing pieces and filler strips to make it fit, which starts to look less neat the more unusual the space is.
Bespoke wardrobes are built to the exact dimensions of your room, so there is no packing, no filler panel, and no wasted space at either end. They also let you specify the interior properly rather than choosing from a limited set of standard inserts. The cost difference between a good flat-pack system and bespoke joinery is real, but it narrows considerably once you compare a flat-pack system fitted into an awkward space against a bespoke wardrobe built for that same space from the outset.
Are fitted wardrobes worth it?
We cannot promise you a resale figure, and any tradesman who does is guessing. What we can say plainly is that fitted wardrobes use the full height and depth of a wall in a way freestanding furniture rarely does, because there is no gap behind, above or beside the unit. A bedroom that looks cramped with a freestanding wardrobe and a chest of drawers often feels considerably bigger with the same storage built into the wall.
They are also a permanent fixture. A well-built fitted wardrobe with a painted or good factory finish should still be sound and looking presentable well over a decade later, and a painted finish can simply be repainted alongside the rest of the room if you want to update the colour.
What actually adds cost — a quick summary
If you take one thing from this guide, it should be this: length of run, door type and finish, number of drawers, and how complicated the wall shape is are the four things that move a fitted wardrobe quote. Everything else is detail on top of those four.
- Longer run of wardrobes = more carcass, doors and fitting time
- Sloped ceilings and chimney breasts = more scribing and setting-out time
- More drawers = more individually built units
- Painted or bespoke finish vs factory laminate = higher material and labour cost
- Awkward access, such as a tight staircase, can add to fitting time
Get a proper measure and a written quote
The only way to get an accurate figure for your own room is to have it measured. Call Bradley directly on 07833 227576, or reach the office on 02380 201687, and we will arrange a visit to measure the wall, talk through door style and interior fittings, and give you a written quote that lists exactly what is included. You can also email info@vipwalls.co.uk with a few photos and rough dimensions to start with.
Common questions
- How much do fitted wardrobes cost?
- A single wall of fitted wardrobes around 2.5 metres wide typically costs £2,500 to £5,000 supplied and fitted, depending on doors, interior fittings and finish.
- How much are fitted wardrobes for a full dressing room?
- A full dressing room fitted out on multiple walls typically starts from around £6,000 upwards, because it involves considerably more carcass, doors and interior fitting than a single wardrobe wall.
- Are fitted wardrobes worth it compared with freestanding furniture?
- Fitted wardrobes use the full height and depth of a wall with no wasted gaps, which usually makes a room feel and function better than the same storage in freestanding units, though the upfront cost is higher.
- Fitted wardrobes vs freestanding — which is cheaper?
- Freestanding furniture is almost always cheaper to buy outright, but it rarely uses the space as efficiently and it moves house with you rather than staying fitted to the wall.
- Do sliding doors cost more than hinged doors?
- Not consistently. The material and finish of the doors usually affects the price more than whether they are hinged or sliding.
- Does a sloped ceiling make fitted wardrobes more expensive?
- Yes. Wardrobes built against a sloped ceiling need every carcass scribed individually to the slope, which adds setting-out and fitting time compared with a flat ceiling.
- How many drawers should a fitted wardrobe have?
- That depends on how you store things day to day, but a mix of hanging space, shelving and one bank of drawers covers most people's needs without adding unnecessary cost.
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