Two wardrobes can look identical in a photograph and behave completely differently after five years of daily use. The difference is in what the door is made of and how the finish is applied. This guide explains the carcase every Metro wardrobe shares and the six door constructions in our door library, so you can choose on more than colour.
Materials, briefly
- Carcase: 18mm moisture-resistant MFC with a solid 18mm back, top and bottom, on every level.
- 5G Vinyl: an 18mm MDF door with the profile machined in, wrapped in one seamless skin. Our widest range of shapes.
- 5-Piece: a true frame-and-panel shaker in 22mm MDF, dowel-jointed.
- Edged: a flat slab with a bonded face and a fused 1mm edge; the route to true high gloss and the hardest-wearing edge.
- MDF Painted: a routed board in a sprayed polyurethane matt paint, 33 colours.
- Timber Painted and Solid Oak: solid ash or oak stiles and rails, hand-finished, repaintable in place.
- Aluminium Framed: toughened glass in slim metal frames over a lit interior.
The carcase: the part you do not see
Every Metro wardrobe, whichever level you buy, is built around an 18mm melamine-faced chipboard carcase with a solid 18mm back, top and bottom. The full back panel matters: it encloses the storage independently of the room's wall, so the carcase stays square and properly supported even on an uneven London wall. Components are cut on a beam saw, drilled on a CNC machine and edged on industrial edge-banding equipment at our Wembley workshop, and the interior comes in ten décors chosen at your design visit. Soft-close hinges are standard.
5G Vinyl: shaped doors from one seamless skin
A 5G Vinyl door starts as an 18mm MDF board. The profile, whether a shaker frame, an arch, a raised panel, grooves or a J-pull handle recess, is machined into the face, and a single vinyl skin is then wrapped over the whole door under vacuum and heat, so there is no joint for paint to crack along. It is the construction behind most shaped doors on the market and our widest range: eight door families in matt, superior matt and woodgrain, with gloss on the plain slabs. Because the face and the edge are one skin, it is easy to keep clean. See the 5G Vinyl collection.
5-Piece: the true shaker
A five-piece door is built the way a joiner builds a door: two stiles, two rails and a floating centre panel, in 22mm MDF, dowel-jointed and finished in a matt microtexture or embossed woodgrain. The frame is a real frame, so the shadow lines are deeper than a routed profile and the door has the weight of period joinery. Stile widths run from 60mm to 105mm. See the 5-Piece collection.
Edged: the hardest-wearing edge and true gloss
An edged door is a flat 18mm board with the face bonded under pressure and a separate 1mm ABS edge fused to all four sides. That edge is harder than the face, so the corners that take the knocks from hangers, vacuum cleaners and children are the toughest part of the door. It is also the only route to a true high-gloss face that stays flat, and it comes in anti-fingerprint superior matt and woodgrain MFC too. See the Edged collection.
MDF Painted: a sprayed finish in 33 colours
Here the profile is routed into a single MDF board and the whole door is primed and sprayed in a polyurethane matt paint. Because the door is one piece there is no joint to crack, and because it is paint you can have any of 33 standard colours, or a match to your walls. Plain shaker, mock in-frame and a flat slab with a fine routed border are the main profiles. See the MDF Painted collection.
Timber Painted and Solid Oak
Solid ash stiles and rails around a veneered centre panel, hand-sanded and painted in 34 colours, or solid oak left natural under oil or lacquer. Timber holds a screw, shrugs off a knock and can be keyed and repainted in place when the colour tires, which is why painted joinery in period homes was always made this way. Hand-painted ash sits at Level 11 of our price guide, £3,480 per metre; Timber Painted Plus, Level 12, is £3,720 per metre. See the Timber Painted collection.
Aluminium Framed glass
Toughened clear, smoked or fluted glass in slim aluminium frames in black, champagne or bronze, hung over a lit walnut or oak interior. No board, no wrap: the wardrobe becomes a display case for what it holds. See the Aluminium Framed collection.
Which finish for which room
- Family bedrooms and children's rooms: 5G Vinyl or Edged in matt: wipe-clean and forgiving.
- Main bedroom in a period home: 5-Piece shaker or Timber Painted in a heritage colour.
- Contemporary flat: Edged high gloss or an MDF Painted slab in super-matt, handleless.
- Dressing room: Aluminium Framed glass with interior lighting.
Door construction accounts for much of the price difference between our levels: slab doors at Level 3 are the benchmark at £900 per metre, shaker doors sit at Level 6 (£1,860 per metre), and painted, five-piece, curved, aluminium-framed and timber doors run from £2,100 to £3,720 per metre. The price guide shows what each level includes.
Frequently asked questions
What are fitted wardrobes made of?
The carcase is 18mm moisture-resistant MFC with a solid 18mm back, top and bottom. Doors are made in one of six ways: vinyl-wrapped MDF, five-piece shaker in 22mm MDF, edged slabs with a fused 1mm edge, sprayed painted MDF, solid ash or oak, or toughened glass in aluminium frames.
Is MDF good for wardrobe doors?
Yes, when it is E1-grade and properly finished. MDF is dimensionally stable, takes a routed profile cleanly and, once wrapped or sprayed, does not move with humidity the way solid timber can. Solid timber suits period rooms and can be repainted in place.
Which wardrobe finish is most durable?
An edged door, because its 1mm fused ABS edge is harder than the face and protects the corners that take the knocks. Super-matt faces also hide fingerprints and fine marks better than gloss.
Can I have high-gloss fitted wardrobes?
Yes. True high gloss comes from the Edged collection, where a gloss face is bonded flat to the board. Some plain vinyl-wrapped slabs are also offered in gloss; shaped doors are not, because gloss shows every ripple.
Explore Metro
Ready to see what your room could hold?
Book a free home design visit. A Metro designer measures the room, brings full-size door and finish samples, and returns a 3D design with an itemised, fixed price within two to three days. No deposit is taken at the visit and there is no obligation. Or see every door style at our Wembley showroom, next to the workshop that makes them.
