A converted attic has storage nobody can use: the wedge under the slope where the ceiling meets the floor. No freestanding furniture fits it, so it either stays empty or fills with boxes. A wardrobe built to the rake turns that dead volume into the most useful storage in the room.
What can you actually do with the low space under the slope?
Drawers, pull outs and shoe storage at the low end, with hanging kept where the ceiling is high enough to take it.
The rule is simple: hanging needs height, everything else does not. A hanging rail needs somewhere around a metre and a half of clear height for full length clothes, less for shirts and jackets on a double rail. Anything under that is drawer and pull out territory.
Pull outs matter here for the same reason they do under a stairs. A deep low cupboard means crawling in. A drawer on runners brings the contents out to you.
Where should the hanging go?
Along the highest wall, usually the gable or the section above the knee wall where the ceiling has come up to full height.
In most attic conversions there is one wall with usable height and the rest is rake. Putting the hanging there and the drawers under the slope is the arrangement that gets the most out of the room.
Where the room has a dormer, the reveal beside it is often the tallest usable space and worth designing around.
How are doors handled on a sloped ceiling?
Doors are made to the rake, which means each one is a different height and the tops are cut to the angle of the ceiling.
This is why an attic wardrobe cannot be bought. Every door is a different size and the angle has to match the actual slope in your house, which is rarely the angle on the drawing.
Hinged doors handle this far better than sliding, because a sliding track needs a level run at a consistent height. On a rake there usually is not one.
What else should you know before designing an attic wardrobe?
Check where the joists and any water tank are, and check the head height at the point the doors will open.
Attic conversions often keep a tank or pipework in the eaves, and that has to be accessible afterwards. It is much easier to design an access panel in at the start than to cut one later.
Head height at the door position is the other one. Standing room in front of the wardrobe matters as much as the storage behind it.
Everything we make in wood carries a two year warranty against defects.
How it works
Send us photos, a short video and rough sizes of the space and tell us what you want. Our designers draw it in 3D so you see the finished piece in your own room, and you get one complete itemised quote. Nothing is ordered and nothing is charged until you say yes.
One team for this and the rest of the job
The same team that makes this fits it, and we also do kitchens, fitted wardrobes, internal doors and windows. If more than one thing needs doing, it is one contractor, one schedule and one point of contact rather than four. See the rest of our work.
Who our wardrobes are for
Everything we make is premium and made to the highest spec: made to measure, scribed to the walls, designed in 3D and fitted by our own team, and it is priced to that standard. Quality at this level is not a budget purchase, and we would rather say so here than after you have waited for a quote. If you are working to a tight budget, we are honestly not the right fit.
Frequently asked questions
Can you build into the eaves behind a knee wall?
Yes, and it is usually the best use of that space. Access is normally through doors or pull outs in the knee wall itself.
Will it work with a dormer window?
Yes. The reveal beside a dormer is often the tallest usable run in the room and a good place for hanging.
Can you price a sloped ceiling from photos?
Yes. Send photos, a short video, the ceiling height where the slope starts and the lowest height at the wall, and the quote is drawn from them. Slope angles vary house to house, so once you agree the quote we measure them on site before anything is made.
Does a sloped ceiling make a wardrobe more expensive?
Yes, because every carcass and door is cut to the angle of your rake. Nothing is a standard size, so more is made to measure. Every wardrobe we make is premium and made to the highest spec, so it is not a budget purchase.