How to Plan Fitted Wardrobes That Actually Fit

Bespoke fitted wardrobes are built to the exact dimensions of your room, so they use awkward alcoves, sloping ceilings, and full wall height that flat-pack units cannot. Plan the inside first (hanging, drawers, shoe storage) around what you actually own, then choose the door style and sprayed colour. Expect roughly £2,000 to £15,000 depending on size and spec, with a free estimate from photos and a £60 home survey for a formal quote.

Why fitted beats freestanding for most rooms

A freestanding wardrobe is built to a standard size, so it rarely matches your room. You lose the strip of space either side, the gap on top gathers dust, and a sloping ceiling or chimney breast is simply written off. A fitted wardrobe is built to the exact dimensions of the wall it sits against, floor to ceiling, so it uses the full height and works around the awkward corners a shop-bought unit cannot. In a bedroom in Harwich or Manningtree with a period feature or a loft slope, that difference is often a whole extra rail of hanging space.

Plan the inside before the outside

The most common mistake is choosing the doors first and worrying about the inside later. It should be the other way round. Start with what you actually own and how you use it, then build the internal layout around that. A few things worth measuring or counting before we talk:

• Long hanging vs short hanging. Dresses and coats need full-height hanging; shirts and folded trousers only need half. Splitting the space into double-stacked short hanging over one section doubles your capacity there.
• Drawers. Internal drawer banks keep folded clothes and smaller items tidy without eating into a chest of drawers elsewhere in the room.
• Shoes. Pull-out shoe racks or angled shelves stop shoes piling up on the floor of the wardrobe.
• Everything else. Ties, belts, bags, and suitcases all have a proper home if you plan for them. Pull-out rails and adjustable shelves make the difference.

Get the inside right and the wardrobe earns its keep every day. Get it wrong and you have a wall of doors hiding wasted space.

Dressing rooms and alcove units

If you have a spare room or a generous landing, the same approach scales up into a full walk-in dressing room: banks of drawers, open shelving, a run of hanging, and a fitted vanity or dressing table. On a smaller scale, a made-to-measure alcove cabinet either side of a chimney breast turns dead space into useful storage that looks built-in because it is.

Choosing doors and colour

Once the inside is settled, the doors are where the wardrobe gets its character. The usual choices:

• Shaker doors. A traditional framed panel that suits most homes, old or new. Sprayed in any colour, matched to high-end suppliers like Farrow & Ball or Little Greene.
• Slab doors. A flat, clean front for a modern look, with the option of handles or a handleless push-to-open finish for a seamless run.
• Timber-framed fronts. Real oak or a timber trim if you want a warmer, natural feel rather than paint.

Every door and drawer front is finished in our own spray booth before it comes to your house, so the colour is even and hard-wearing, without the brush marks you get from painting on site. You see samples before anything is cut, so there are no surprises on fitting day.

What it costs and how it runs

Bespoke wardrobes and cabinetry typically run from around £2,000 for a single fitted run up to £15,000 for a full dressing room, depending on size, internal spec, and finish. Every project starts with a free written estimate from your photos and measurements: the more detail you send, the more accurate it is. If you want a formal quote based on a proper measure-up, that is a £60 home survey and it comes off the final bill. Detailed drawings are included free on projects over £10,000, and £40 on smaller ones, also deducted.

From there it is design, build in the workshop, spray finish, and a clean installation where everything opens, closes, and aligns before we leave. Chris designs, builds, and fits every job personally, so you deal with the same person from the first measure to the last touch-up.