Wardrobes with Sliding and Hinged Doors
Every wardrobe here is freestanding, so it goes in, comes out again if you move, and needs no fitting. The first decision is how the doors open, because that is what determines how much room the wardrobe needs in front of it.
Sliding door wardrobes
Sliding doors run along the front of the carcass instead of swinging out, so the wardrobe needs no clearance at all in front. That is the whole point of them, and it matters in a bedroom where the bed sits close to the wardrobe wall, or where a hinged door would catch on the bed frame or the radiator.
The trade-off is access. Only one half of the wardrobe is open at a time, so anything stored at the point where the two doors overlap is always slightly awkward to reach. Put the things you use daily towards the outer ends rather than the middle.
Single, double and triple wardrobes
Width is measured in doors rather than centimetres, and each step adds roughly the same again in hanging space.
A single suits a spare room, a box room, or a second wardrobe for one person's overflow. A double is the standard for one adult's full wardrobe, or a shared one where most things are folded rather than hung. A triple is for two people sharing, and it is the point at which the piece stops being furniture in the room and starts being the wall.
Small and narrow wardrobes
Narrow wardrobes fit the spaces a standard one will not: an alcove, the wall beside a chimney breast, or a room where the door swing takes up half the available floor.
The one measurement that cannot be reduced is depth. A wardrobe needs around 22in (55-60cm) front to back for a coat hanger to sit square, and anything shallower means hanging clothes at an angle or facing forwards. Narrow wardrobes are narrow across the front; they are not shallower.
Wardrobes with drawers
A wardrobe with drawers built into the base does the job of two pieces of furniture, which in a small bedroom can mean not needing a chest of drawers at all.
What you give up is hanging height. The drawers take space from the bottom of the wardrobe, so the rail sits higher and long coats or dresses may not clear the base. If most of what you hang is shirts, jackets and trousers, that is no loss at all.
White, grey and black wardrobes
A wardrobe is the largest object in most bedrooms, so the finish does more to the room than the shape does.
White keeps a small room open and stops a tall piece closing the space in, which is why it is the most-asked-for finish by a wide margin. Grey does much the same with a little more weight to it. Black and the darker finishes go the other way, turning the wardrobe into the thing you see first — which works in a larger room with good light, and can overwhelm a small one.
Oak and wooden wardrobes
Oak is the timber most people ask for, and on a wardrobe the grain does something a flat painted panel cannot: it breaks up a very large surface, so the piece reads as less of a solid block.
Light oak keeps a room open in the way white does, while a darker stain anchors a larger bedroom. Pine is lighter in colour and weight, and is usually the timber under a painted finish.
Flat pack wardrobes
These arrive flat and are built in the room. That is worth knowing in advance, and it is also worth knowing why it is often the only way a wardrobe gets into an upstairs bedroom at all.
A built double wardrobe is around 6ft 6in tall and 3ft wide, and it does not turn on a staircase with a half landing, or through a loft conversion door, or round the top of a narrow Victorian stair. Flat means the panels go up one at a time. Measure the tightest turn on your route before you order anything that comes assembled.
Build it in the room it is staying in, on the flat, and check the carcass is square before fixing the back panel on. A wardrobe built slightly out of true is where sliding doors start to catch.
Wardrobe FAQs
How deep is a wardrobe?
Around 22in (55-60cm) for a standard hanging wardrobe. That is set by the width of a coat hanger, so it does not vary much between makers.
Do sliding door wardrobes need space in front?
No, which is their main advantage. A hinged door needs roughly its own width in clear floor to open fully; a sliding door needs none.
What is the difference between a freestanding and a fitted wardrobe?
A freestanding wardrobe is furniture: it arrives, it stands against the wall, and it leaves with you. A fitted wardrobe is built into the room and stays with the house. Everything here is freestanding.
Should a wardrobe be fixed to the wall?
Yes. A tall wardrobe is top-heavy once it is loaded, and every one should be secured to the wall behind it, particularly in a room a child uses.
Do your wardrobes come assembled?
No, they arrive flat packed and are built in the room. On most staircases that is the only way a full-height wardrobe can get upstairs.