What decides the cost of fitted wardrobes

1 September 2026 · The Home Upgrade Co.

Nobody publishes a real price for fitted wardrobes, and the ones who publish a from price are quoting the cheapest possible version of the cheapest possible run. This guide explains what actually moves the number, so you can read a quote and know what you are looking at.

Why does nobody give you a straight price?

Because a fitted wardrobe is made to your wall, and no two walls are the same. A price without a measure is a guess.

A three metre run in a square room with a flat wall and a two point seven metre run into a corner with a sloped ceiling are completely different jobs, and they are not far apart on paper. Any figure quoted before someone has stood in the room is either a floor price designed to get a foot in the door, or a number picked to sound reasonable.

What you can do is understand the levers, which is what the rest of this is.

The biggest lever is the run, not the room

Cost tracks the linear metres of wardrobe and the height, not the size of the bedroom.

A small bedroom with a four metre run of wardrobe costs more than a large bedroom with two metres of it. That sounds obvious written down and it surprises people constantly, because they expect the room to set the price.

Height matters too. Going floor to ceiling adds material and it also usually adds a second bank of doors, but it is almost always better value per unit of storage than stopping short and losing the top.

Doors are the second lever

Door style, finish and mechanism together are usually the largest single variable after the size of the run.

A flat painted slab, a shaker, a mirrored slider and a glass fronted panel are all doors, and they are not close in price. Sliding gear also costs more than hinges, and good sliding gear costs meaningfully more than poor sliding gear, which is the last place to economise because it is what you touch every day.

Mirror is heavier than board, which pushes the hardware specification up. That is worth knowing when comparing a mirrored quote against a painted one.

Interiors cost more than people expect

Hanging rails are cheap. Drawers, pull outs, soft close runners and internal lighting are not.

An empty carcass with a rail and a shelf is the cheap version and it is what a low quote usually contains. Every drawer is a small piece of cabinetry with its own runners, and drawers are where a lot of the cost hides.

It is also where the daily experience lives. Deciding how many drawers you actually need, rather than accepting a default, is the single most effective way to control the number without gutting the wardrobe.

The room itself changes the price

Sloped ceilings, corners, chimney breasts and out of square walls all add work.

A straight run against a flat wall is the simplest thing to make and fit. A corner needs a solution for the void behind the join. A sloped ceiling means every door is a different height cut to the rake. A chimney breast means two runs, each scribed to its own alcove.

None of that is optional if you want the wardrobe to fit, and it is why an attic wardrobe and a spare room wardrobe of the same size are not the same job. See our attic and sloped ceiling wardrobes page.

How to compare two quotes properly

Ask both for an itemised breakdown, then compare line by line rather than comparing the totals.

Two quotes thousands apart are usually not quoting the same thing. The gap is almost always in the interiors, the door finish and the hardware, and none of that is visible in a single bottom line figure.

Ask specifically: how many drawers, what runners, what is the carcass made of, what is the door finish, is the fitting included, and what happens if something is wrong in a year. A quote that cannot answer those quickly is a quote worth being careful with.

What we do instead of publishing a price

We measure the room, design it in 3D, and give you one complete itemised quote within two working days.

That costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. You see the wardrobe in your own room before anything is made, and you get a quote you can take apart line by line and compare against anyone else's.

Being straight about the other half of it: we are not the cheapest. The work is made to measure and fitted by our own team, and it is priced to that standard. If the cheapest possible run is the goal, we are not the right fit and we will say so early.

Frequently asked questions

Does a bigger bedroom mean a more expensive wardrobe?

No. Cost tracks the linear metres of wardrobe and its height, not the size of the room, so a small bedroom with a long run costs more than a large bedroom with a short one.

What is the most expensive part of a fitted wardrobe?

After the size of the run, it is the doors and the interiors. Drawers, pull outs and soft close runners are each small pieces of cabinetry and they add up faster than people expect.

Are sliding wardrobes more expensive than hinged?

The sliding gear costs more than hinges, and good sliding gear costs meaningfully more than poor gear. It is the last place to economise because it is the part you touch every day.

How do I compare two wardrobe quotes properly?

Ask both for an itemised breakdown and compare line by line rather than comparing totals. Specifically ask how many drawers, what runners, what the carcass is made of and whether fitting is included.