Fitting out a custom wardrobe: internals, doors and per-metre pricing
How wardrobe makers price by the metre, what the internals and doors add, and how to commission a robe that fits your room and your things.
A custom wardrobe is one of those upgrades you use every single day and stop noticing within a week — which is exactly the point. A robe built to your room and your things, rather than a flat-pack compromise, quietly makes a bedroom work better forever. The cost comes down to two things: what's inside and what's on the front.
Wardrobe makers price by the metre, which makes quotes easy to line up, but the per-metre figure hides big choices about drawers, shelving and door type. Understanding those choices is how you get the robe you want without paying for fit-out you won't use.
What a wardrobe maker actually does
A wardrobe maker designs and builds a robe to your space — measuring the opening, planning the internal layout of shelves, drawers and hanging space, then fabricating and installing it. A standard bedroom robe is around 2.4 metres wide, and the maker fits it to your ceiling height and the depth available, which off-the-shelf systems can rarely do as neatly.
The work splits into internals and doors. Internals are the shelves, drawers, rails and hanging zones that decide how usable the robe is; doors are the front — sliding, hinged or mirrored. An internals-only upgrade behind your existing doors is the budget path, while a walk-in robe, where every wall gets a fit-out, is the most involved and the most expensive per room.
How the cost works
Wardrobe makers price by the linear metre of wardrobe, with the total driven by what's inside and what's on the front. A standard built-in with sliding doors sits in a mid-range band; the per-metre rate rises with the fit-out — more drawers, soft-close hardware and dedicated shelving all add up, because drawers and hardware are where the cost concentrates.
Door choice is the other lever: plain sliding doors are the affordable option, while mirrored, hinged or custom-profile doors cost more. Internals-only jobs behind existing doors are the cheapest; walk-in robes the priciest because every wall is fitted out. Treat figures as indicative — the metres, the internal layout and the door type produce a real quote once the maker has measured and you've agreed the fit-out.
Choosing a wardrobe maker
Wardrobe making is a cabinetmaking finishing trade, generally unlicensed, so the portfolio and the quote detail are your evidence. Ask to see robes they've built, ideally with the same door type and hardware you're considering, and check what board and hardware brands they use — soft-close runners and quality hinges are what make a robe feel good years in.
Get the internal layout agreed on paper before committing, because the fit-out is where cost and usefulness both live — a drawing showing drawer counts, shelf heights and hanging zones lets you compare quotes fairly and avoid paying for internals you won't use. A deposit is normal for custom joinery since it's made only for you, but it should sit against a written quote with dimensions and materials, not a verbal sketch.
Mistakes to avoid
Wardrobe regrets are almost always about the internals not matching how you actually store things, or a quote that compared unlike fit-outs. Both are solved by pinning down the layout on paper before anyone builds.
- Agreeing a per-metre price without a drawing of the internal layout
- Ordering more drawers or shelving than you'll use, or too few hanging zones
- Comparing quotes with different door types and hardware as if they're the same
- Overlooking soft-close hardware quality, which is what makes a robe last
- Not measuring for ceiling height and depth the maker can actually use
- Paying a deposit against a verbal description instead of a written quote with dimensions
Indicative range only, not a quote — see the full guide for worked scenarios and what moves the price.
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