"Fitted wardrobe" covers six quite different pieces of furniture. Knowing which one your room needs before a designer visits saves time and usually money. Here is each type, what it is for, the rooms it suits and its starting price, all including VAT and installation.
Six types at a glance
- Hinged: full access, every door style; from £900 per metre.
- Sliding: no swing space, continuous mirror; from £900 per metre, mirror doors from £1,020.
- Walk-in and dressing room: a room of its own; from £900 per metre of run.
- Loft and sloping ceiling: cut to the pitch; from £900 per metre.
- Over-bed: storage bridging the bed; from £900 per metre.
- Alcove and chimney breast: two carcases that read as a pair; priced by the opening.
Hinged wardrobes
The classic. Doors swing open on soft-close hinges and reveal the whole interior at once, and every door style we make is available: slab, shaker, in-frame, raised panel, arched, fluted, grooved, handleless and glass. Hinged wardrobes suit main bedrooms with at least 600mm of clear floor in front of them, and period homes where the doors can be scribed to the cornice and skirting. Hinged wardrobes follow our price guide from £900 per metre with slab doors and £1,860 per metre with shaker doors. See hinged wardrobes.
Sliding wardrobes
Doors run on a track and never project into the room, so the wardrobe can sit close to the bed. Sliding doors are panel-based, holding mirror, glass, woodgrain or painted panels in an aluminium frame, and a full-height mirror run is the fastest way to make a small bedroom feel larger. Sliding wardrobes start from £900 per metre, or £1,020 per metre with mirror doors, so a three-door run about three metres wide from £2,700 to £3,060. See sliding wardrobes and the twelve layout guides.
Walk-in wardrobes and dressing rooms
When there is a spare room, a wide landing or a deep alcove, a walk-in turns storage into a room you use: open hanging, shelves, drawer islands, a dressing table and lighting throughout. Walk-ins are priced per metre of run, from £900 per metre; a dressing room with about six metres of open bays from £5,400. See walk-in wardrobes and our dressing room guide.
Loft and sloping-ceiling wardrobes
Loft conversions add a bedroom and take away half its usable wall. A loft wardrobe is drawn to the pitch: full-height hanging where the ceiling allows, deep drawers and shoe storage in the knee wall, doors stepped to follow the slope so the run meets the ceiling with no gap. Loft wardrobes start from £900 per metre; a three-metre single-wall run from £2,700. See loft wardrobes and the loft guide.
Over-bed wardrobes
A run of wardrobes either side of the bed with cabinets bridging above it turns the bed wall into the storage wall, usually with bedsides built into the towers. It is the answer for a bedroom whose only long wall is the one the bed sits on. Over-bed wardrobes start from £900 per metre; two towers with bridging cabinets across a three-metre wall from £2,700. See over-bed wardrobes.
Alcove and chimney-breast wardrobes
Most London terraces have a chimney breast with an alcove either side, and the two are rarely the same width. Alcove wardrobes are templated and built individually, filled floor to ceiling and wall to chimney breast, so two different carcases read as a matched pair from the doorway. They are priced by the opening and often combine with a media unit or shelving on the breast itself. See our alcove storage guide.
Under the stairs and other spaces
The same made-to-measure approach fits wardrobes into the void under a staircase, into landings and into window bays with seating. See under-stairs storage and window seating.
Frequently asked questions
What are the different types of fitted wardrobe?
Hinged, sliding, walk-in or dressing room, loft or sloping-ceiling, over-bed and alcove wardrobes. Each is made to measure to the same carcase specification; the difference is how the doors open and how the run relates to the room.
Which type of fitted wardrobe is best for a small bedroom?
Usually a sliding wardrobe with a mirror panel, because it needs no swing space and reflects light. Where the bed takes the only long wall, an over-bed wardrobe uses the space above and beside it.
What is the cheapest type of fitted wardrobe?
A made-to-measure hinged wardrobe with slab doors at Level 3, £900 per metre. Our factory-built Essential Collection starts at £600 per unit for practical freestanding storage, with a minimum of three to four units.
Can fitted wardrobes go under a sloping ceiling?
Yes. Loft wardrobes are drawn to the roof pitch, with doors cut to their own heights and the low knee-wall space used for drawers and shoes. They start from £900 per metre.
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.
