Fitted Wardrobes Cost

How Much Do Fitted Wardrobes Cost?

Fitted wardrobes are the envy of many, and they really increase the value and aesthetics of any bedroom they are placed in.

The benefits stretch further than just pleasing décor, as fitted bedroom wardrobes (where they are commonly used) make far better use of the space available in your home, giving you ample space to store just about anything.

The price of fitted wardrobes for a typical home can range between £1,500 and £7,000, and the average fitted wardrobe costs around £2,600 to get installed by a specialist. It can take as little as one day to install a fitted wardrobe or up to two weeks for more complex jobs.

However, the cost of fitted wardrobes and the time it takes to install them will ultimately depend on the size and style of the cabinet, as well as the room it's being installed in.

Designers are always introducing new and modernised versions of fitted wardrobes, from interesting door access to stunning aesthetics. However, this variety affects the time it takes to install and the overall difficulty of the job.

Due to the complexity and sheer size of fitted wardrobes, the cost of fitted wardrobes can dramatically vary based on your preferred style, shape, and material.

For example: Mirrored sliding doors are considerably more expensive than more traditional handled doors.

On top of that, fitted wardrobes cost more if you add features like spotlights, shelving units, drawers, TV units, or other features.

Average Fitted Wardrobe Prices

Fitted wardrobe prices are affected by a number of factors, but perhaps the most important are the size and features of your built-in wardrobes.

Our table below looks at fitted wardrobe prices by size and what's included:

Find Tradespeople, compare up to 3 quotes!

It's FREE and there are no obligations

Get started

What Impacts the Cost of Fitted Wardrobes?

Several different factors can affect your fitted wardrobe installation's overall pricing, from location to ease of access and many others. So, we're going to break down the main factors and what you can expect from them.

Type or Size of Wardrobe

The cost of your wardrobe installation will vary greatly depending on the cost of the materials. You have quite a vast array of options for the material for a fitted wardrobe, with uPVC, oak, pine, and some fitted wardrobes are made from MDF.

The customisation available with fitted wardrobes can also hike the price up quite a bit. You can customise your cabinets in any way you wish, and popular choices have been the additions of mirrors, leather padding, and laminate.

Let's take a closer look at how different materials can impact the price of fitted wardrobes.

uPVC Fitted Wardrobe Cost

uPVC fitted wardrobes are popular with homeowners looking for a budget-friendly option. Costing between £1,100 to £2,500 per fitted wardrobe, uPVC can overhaul your bedroom's storage solutions, being both affordable and low-maintenance when compared to real wood fitted wardrobes.

This material is also moisture-resistant, making it a good choice for children's bedrooms where spills and accidents might happen. However, uPVC can sometimes look cheap due to its finish, and it might not suit every person's aesthetic.

Oak Fitted Wardrobe Cost

Moving onto real wood wardrobes, oak is a premium material favoured by many homeowners wanting to achieve a natural, rustic look. Priced at £2,500 to £5,000 depending on the exact size and features, oak is a great choice for people looking for a long-term investment with long-lasting qualities.

However, the appeal comes at a higher price point than uPVC or other types of wood, making it a considered purchase. As fitted wardrobes generally can't be moved from house to house, it's something to bear in mind as you won't be able to take it with you to a new property.

Pine Fitted Wardrobe Cost

Pine is a great option for homeowners wanting an affordable alternative to expensive wood, costing £1,500 to £3,500, making it considerably cheaper than oak. The lower price does come with a caveat, though - pine isn't as hardwearing as oak and can be prone to denting and scratching as it is a softer wood.

With that being said, pine does have its attributes, and it can be easily painted or stained to match your home's interior colour scheme. It is also far more lightweight than oak, making it easier to assemble.

MDF Fitted Wardrobe Cost

MDF is even more affordable than pine, costing between £1,200 to £3,000. It can also be painted like pine, with a smooth surface that requires no preparation.

If you're looking for a premium appearance, MDF isn't going to be your first choice, but if you want something budget-friendly to solve a storage problem quickly, MDF can be a great option.

Mirrored Fitted Wardrobe Cost

Mirrored fitted wardrobes offer practicality in their design while helping to bounce light around your bedroom. Costing between £1,800 to £4,000 depending on the number of panels and precise size, opting for a mirrored surface can enhance your living space and lean into a modern aesthetic.

However, mirrors are prone to smudging and showing up fingermarks, so they mightn't be the best choice for children's rooms. They can also break more easily than other fitted wardrobe material types, and can have a trickier installation process.

Fitted Wardrobe Add-Ons

Choosing your fitted wardrobe material is one choice, but the customisation doesn't end there. You can opt for internal lighting, bespoke shelving, soft-close doors, and more to personalise your wardrobes to your ideal functionality.

Internal LED Lighting

Instead of rummaging around in the dark trying to find your clothes, you can simply have LED lights installed inside your fitted wardrobe to illuminate the interior, costing between £100 to £300 per wardrobe.

Soft-Close Drawers and Door Hinges

While soft-close features don't necessarily enhance the functionality of your wardrobes, they can add to the premium feeling while protecting your doors and drawers from unnecessary force that could lead to damage. Soft-close features cost between £20 to £50 per door or drawer.

Mirrored or Glass Doors

Useful as a retrofit option for fitted wardrobes without mirrored doors, choosing to alter your existing wardrobe design can enhance your bedroom's aesthetic while introducing more light into the room. Mirrored doors cost between £250 to £800 per door, depending on the size, design, and overall style.

Built-In Shelving

It can be overwhelming knowing how to optimise your storage when faced with a large, open space inside your wardrobe. You can have built-in shelving installed to make the most of your space, and these systems can be designed with your functionality in mind, as well as the type of clothes you own and how you like to store them - be that in drawers, in long hanging spaces, or a mix of the two.

Depending on the exact design, built-in shelving can cost in the region of £100 to £500 depending on the size of your wardrobe and the material chosen.

Room/Wardrobe Layout

As well as size, materials, and features, another big factor in determining the cost of your built-in wardrobe installation will be the layout of your room and how you want your wardrobes to fit into it.

In most cases, wardrobes will be fitted against a flat wall. But if you want your wardrobes to fit under eaves, around room corners, or against curved walls and around features like chimney breasts, expect the additional work to be reflected in the cost.

Location in the UK

The most common cost-affecting factor for trades, in general, is the location of your home. If you live in a popular city like Manchester or London, you will pay an inflated price compared to other, quieter places in the country.

This is down to the cost of living in those areas, and the price increases are pretty much spread across all services in these areas.

Ease of Access

This is generally more of an issue for outdoor work like aerial installations or roof cleaning. Still, if the room you're hoping to have a fitted wardrobe installed in has any access issues, you can expect the price to increase in turn.

Some people have oddly shaped rooms, either with the layout of the room, its shape, or even sloped ceilings. Once some installation experts have been out to quote the job, they'll be able to identify any access issues that they may come across.

Ask a Trade

Got a question that only a tradesperson can answer? We have thousands of trades ready to answer any question you may have.

Ask your question

Additional Fitted Wardrobe Costs

Waste Removal Cost

A hidden cost of fitted wardrobe installation, especially if a homeowner is replacing an existing wardrobe, is the cost of waste removal.

The best course of action is usually to hire a skip while the work is being completed. The average cost of skip hire is about £220 — but it can be more or less depending on the amount of waste you're going to need to dispose of.

Measurement Errors

Another (expensive) additional cost is the reordering of materials if the measurements provided weren't accurate.

If you hire a specialist to carry out the work for you, this is of no worry to you at all. However, if you opt to order the materials yourself and don't get the measurements correct to the millimetre, it could greatly increase the total cost of your fitted wardrobe installation.

This further highlights the value of hiring a qualified and experienced wardrobe fitter to handle this all for you.

Other Home Improvement Costs

Once newly fitted wardrobes have been installed, some homeowners often look to other areas of the room that might need some attention — to refresh it or give it a completely new look.

This could include:

• Carpet Fitting — The average cost of fitting a carpet is around £400, but the cost will be higher if you want to use premium materials or have a larger than usual bedroom.
• Bedroom Painting — Refreshing your bedroom's walls with a fresh coat of paint is a great way to help the space feel brand new. For a room that's between 12m² and 15m², you'll be looking about £400 in painting costs. This job should be done before you have your fitted wardrobes installed.
• New Window Blinds — Installing new window blinds costs around £70, which makes them an affordable upgrade you can make when improving a bedroom.
• New Light Fittings — Another low-cost improvement that can upgrade the look and feel of a bedroom is installing new light fixtures. This costs around £100, but can increase as the complexity of the fitting rises.
• New Radiator — The average cost to replace a radiator is about £200, but the price will be higher if you need to move it to somewhere else in the room due to the extra work involved.
• Painting Skirting Boards/Window Sills - Often things like painting skirting boards and window sills should also be considered along with a fitted wardrobe installation. These jobs typically cost around £200.

Benefits of Fitted Wardrobes

Custom Fit

When you pay to have a fitted wardrobe installed in your home, it's a perfect fit for where you want it to be. When you buy a freestanding cabinet, you do your best to pick one that fits the space you have, but you'll be hard-pressed to find one that fits flush to the walls and the ceiling.

Efficient Use of Room Space

With the custom fit of the wardrobe, no space will be left unused. You'll be surprised just how much spare space you have left over, even with a large, fitted wardrobe in the room. If you have mirrored wardrobe doors, the room will look and feel bigger, too!

New Décor

A new fitted wardrobe can revitalise your bedroom space, giving it a new lease of life, while bringing much more light into the room. Many people design their bedrooms around a new fitted wardrobe, so giving your room a fresh lick of paint and adding new furniture can really transform the space.

Choosing Fitted Wardrobes

We've put together a pros and cons list of the most popular fitted wardrobe options to help you choose the wardrobe that best suits your needs.

Sliding Mirror Fitted Wardrobe Cost

These are probably the most popular options with fitted wardrobes. They really add a classy look to whatever room they are installed in, and certainly make the room look like a larger space.

Pros:

• ✔ Mirrored wardrobes can make the room look and feel much bigger
• ✔ Mirrored wardrobes are sleek, modern, and will remain at their best if looked after properly
• ✔ Sliding doors help maximise all the space available in the room, without the need to account for opening doors

Cons:

• ✖ Mirrored wardrobes can look grubby and dirty if they're not cleaned often, especially if there are small children in the house
• ✖ Sliding doors can be difficult to reattach if they are knocked out of their sliding module

Corner Fitted Wardrobe Cost

Corner wardrobes sit snugly in the corner of the room and work with either a handled door or very smart but expensive sliding doors in which the door overlaps the other side of the wardrobe.

While these types of wardrobes are relatively rare, they are an excellent choice for those with limited space, as corners are often written off as lost space.

Pros:

• ✔ Corner wardrobes make use of space that is often overlooked and ignored
• ✔ Corner wardrobes often have a large surface area of space inside, which can be used for larger items like boxes or small units

Cons:

• ✖ Corner wardrobes can be a little tricky to install, making them a little more expensive than other options
• ✖ Limited to few door options

Gloss Fitted Wardrobe Cost

This type of wardrobe has become more popular in recent years due to the lightweight, inexpensive materials and sleek look they provide. The wardrobe doors, either sliding or handled, are covered in glossy plastic.

Pros:

• ✔ Inexpensive when compared to other fitted wardrobe options
• ✔ Very customisable, even after installation, it's pretty easy to remove the glossy covering to change to a different colour
• ✔ Some reflection without using the more expensive mirror

Cons:

• ✖ Can sometimes look a little cheaper than other options
• ✖ Can dull over time after multiple cleans

What's Involved in Installing Fitted Wardrobes?

Here's an overview of what you can expect when you hire a professional to install your fitted wardrobes:

Before the Job Starts

• Reviewing the Space — The installer will review the space where you want your fitted wardrobe to be installed, making marks and notes as to where everything will be while measuring the area to ensure everything has been checked and double-checked for accuracy.
• Preparing the Materials — The next step will vary depending on whether you have bought the materials pre-cut and measured or whether the installer is working with the raw materials at the time of fitting. Either way, the materials will be prepared and ready to be installed.

During the Job

• Building the Frame — The frame of the wardrobe will be built. This sturdy frame will act as the bones of the cabinet and will be fixed to the wall and ceiling to provide the shape and structure of the fitted wardrobe.
• Fixing to the Floor — The frame will be firmly fixed to the floor as well. This can be tricky if you have any flooring other than wooden.
• Attaching the Panels — Once the frame is in place and sturdy, the other panels (made up of whichever material you have chosen) will be attached to the frame. From here, the wardrobe will begin to take shape and start to look like what you had envisioned for your room.
• Adding the Doors — Doors, whether sliding or handled, will be added next. Sometimes sliding doors will be added at an earlier stage, depending on where the sliding fixture is placed on the wardrobes.
• Adding Internal Features — Any internal features will be added and completed before the job is finished.

After the Job

• Final Checks and Finishing Touches — Once your wardrobes have been fitted, the installer will check all the fittings are tight and secure and everything lines up correctly, so the final wardrobes match your original design and specification
• Clean-Up and Review — Your wardrobes and the work area are given a final clean so they're ready to use, and you are provided with any warranties or other documentation.

Can I Install Fitted Wardrobes Myself?

As we've mentioned earlier in the guide, a significant aspect of getting fitted wardrobes right is to ensure that they are installed and prepared to absolute precision. Fitted wardrobes are often very heavy, so if you were to tackle this as a DIY job, you could really do with a few pairs of spare hands to help out.

We would advise you to use a licensed and experienced professional for a job as important as this one, as even a slight miscalculation can throw the entire project into turmoil.

However, if you intend to attempt it yourself, do some research and follow the guides to the letter. It may also be beneficial to try something similar on a small scale to see if you find it trickier or easier than expected. That should give you a good indication as to whether you'll be able to complete a larger job successfully.

If you attempt this as a DIY job, ensure you have all the tools and materials to hand, ensure you use safety precautions when cutting materials and wear gloves throughout the installation to protect your hands from any slips or traps.

How Much Are Fitted Wardrobe Materials?

If you are thinking about tackling a fitted wardrobe project yourself, the materials usually account for around 70% of the overall cost of a complete installation; so you might only make a small saving when you factor in your time.

As we've previously highlighted, there is quite a stark contrast in price depending on the wardrobe's size and whether you want to incorporate any internal features — like shelving, rails, and lighting — in your fitted wardrobe.

Bespoke, custom-built wardrobes you install yourself will obviously be more expensive than a predesigned package from a DIY or specialist shop.

The type of materials used in your built-in wardrobes will also have a big impact on how much they will cost to supply.

Solid woods like oak cost much more than a standard uPVC material. Again, it's all about finding the right balance between quality and cost-efficiency, depending on your budget.

Sourcing the materials yourself is perfectly fine if you know what you're looking for, but the more money you spend on higher quality materials and added features for your wardrobe, the less overall savings you are likely to make by installing them yourself.

If you really want your new buit-in wardrobes to have a high-quality fit and polished look, unless you have extensive cabinetry experience, you will probably want to hire a professional to install them.

Cost of Fitted Wardrobe Removal

Removing a fitted wardrobe is considerably easier than installing one and is certainly a job that can be done DIY if you take it slow and have help. Take the wardrobe apart piece by piece until you get down to the frame. From there, you can look for the fixings and remove them with the necessary tools.

The cost of fitted wardrobe removal is between £100 to £300. However, the exact price you're quoted by a tradesperson to do this will depend on the size of the wardrobe and what it's made from.

However, this typically won't include waste removal costs. To dispose of an old fitted wardrobe, you can either hire a skip to put all the pieces in before it's taken away or you can break it down and take it to your local recycling plant.

You could also ask the tradesperson to include this in their quote if you don't want to handle it. If you're just removing a single fitted wardrobe, they may be happy to dispose of it for no extra cost.

Checklist: Hiring Contractors to Install Fitted Wardrobes in the UK

When considering any tradesmen to carry out work on your home, it's essential to check them over thoroughly before hiring them:

• You should ask them about their experience in installing fitted wardrobes, especially in the style you want and see if they have any photos of past projects that they can show you.
• You can check reviews online from multiple websites like Yell and Google. Good customer reviews are always a good sign.
• It's important to get different quotes from different people to see if anyone is trying to charge too much for the installation.
• You should also ask them about any accreditations that they hold and check them online.

FAQs