Cheaper Fitted Wardrobes?
Discussion
Hi guys,
With kitchens it's quite possible to use cheap carcasses with more expensive doors.
I'd like fitted wardrobes. We had them made by a great carpenter, but they were expensive.
I just wondered whether it'd be possible to somehow piece together cheaper carcasses, then get a carpenter to make doors to fit?
Just keen to reduce costs.
Open to any ideas!
Thanks
With kitchens it's quite possible to use cheap carcasses with more expensive doors.
I'd like fitted wardrobes. We had them made by a great carpenter, but they were expensive.
I just wondered whether it'd be possible to somehow piece together cheaper carcasses, then get a carpenter to make doors to fit?
Just keen to reduce costs.
Open to any ideas!
Thanks
Ikea Pax carcasses are relatively cheap in white and available in a lot of different sizes.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/pax-wardrobe-frame-wh...
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/pax-wardrobe-frame-wh...
Found these, anyone used similar?
https://www.online-bedrooms.co.uk/bedrooms/fitted-...
https://www.fittingly.co.uk/
https://www.online-bedrooms.co.uk/bedrooms/fitted-...
https://www.fittingly.co.uk/
Fore Left said:
Ikea Pax carcasses are relatively cheap in white and available in a lot of different sizes.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/pax-wardrobe-frame-wh...
And with a bit of creativity can be adapted to suit a funny shaped roomhttps://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/pax-wardrobe-frame-wh...
I did something similar when fitting out my office. Had a wardrobe made previously and was expensive, but excellent quality. For my office units, I just bought cheap kitchen carcasses and order the worktops and fronts from below in sizes I required. Most local wardrobe fitters use similar companies for MFC wood like Egger range etc. They do a sliding door range too.
https://cworkshop.co.uk/
https://cworkshop.co.uk/
Freshprince said:
I did something similar when fitting out my office. Had a wardrobe made previously and was expensive, but excellent quality. For my office units, I just bought cheap kitchen carcasses and order the worktops and fronts from below in sizes I required. Most local wardrobe fitters use similar companies for MFC wood like Egger range etc. They do a sliding door range too.
https://cworkshop.co.uk/
Can you give any indication of prices? We have three fitted wardrobes we’d like to replace but I’m not paying £10k when the existing ones are as good as when they were installed.https://cworkshop.co.uk/
They have a quote calculator on the site. Select the range/style and add it to cart. It then gives you options to which size you want to cut it to and edge banding options, hole drilling for hinges etc and kicks out a price.
The cost for sheets which are around 2800mmx2010mmx18mm is between £100-£190, cutting is free but edge banding is additional which can get costly. Can even have different edge finishes such as bevelled. You can buy or use existing wardrobe carcasses and just attach the doors. Work out the cost and compare it to ikea etc and decide.
For e.g, I was quoted around £2-3k to build below by carpenter (in height of lockdown when they were probs in demand) but did it myself including the desk (not legs) for £800ish (£350 of that was for kitchen carcasses) with Egger wood. The carpenter quotes would include using good quality wood internally etc but cheap Wickes kitchen carcasses do the same job for 1/4 of price.
Other option is go onto kitchen sites like Definitive kitchens and use kitchen doors in ready made sizes and edge banded.There all the same materials etc, just when you start using custom wardrobe makers it adds couple extra £k! But I see their value too, but when you want VFM it wasn’t an option for me. I did look at online wardrobe makers when i did my wardrobes but wern’t alot cheaper than local carpenter.
The cost for sheets which are around 2800mmx2010mmx18mm is between £100-£190, cutting is free but edge banding is additional which can get costly. Can even have different edge finishes such as bevelled. You can buy or use existing wardrobe carcasses and just attach the doors. Work out the cost and compare it to ikea etc and decide.
For e.g, I was quoted around £2-3k to build below by carpenter (in height of lockdown when they were probs in demand) but did it myself including the desk (not legs) for £800ish (£350 of that was for kitchen carcasses) with Egger wood. The carpenter quotes would include using good quality wood internally etc but cheap Wickes kitchen carcasses do the same job for 1/4 of price.
Other option is go onto kitchen sites like Definitive kitchens and use kitchen doors in ready made sizes and edge banded.There all the same materials etc, just when you start using custom wardrobe makers it adds couple extra £k! But I see their value too, but when you want VFM it wasn’t an option for me. I did look at online wardrobe makers when i did my wardrobes but wern’t alot cheaper than local carpenter.
Ikea pax, 236cm high, sit them on a plinth so the top touches the ceiling, and then finish off the bottom with skirting board to match the room.
Thats what i did in old house, looked as good as anything sharps would have put in, and was about 700 quid all in for a 3m run if i recall.
Thats what i did in old house, looked as good as anything sharps would have put in, and was about 700 quid all in for a 3m run if i recall.
Thanks all
Desk looks great!
I presume that Egger Wood, is a type of veneered wood that you used? One thing is that Kitchen cabinet sizes, I think, are generally narrower than wardrobes. So for full height, I might need to find another source for the carcass.
Freshprince said:
They have a quote calculator on the site. Select the range/style and add it to cart. It then gives you options to which size you want to cut it to and edge banding options, hole drilling for hinges etc and kicks out a price.
The cost for sheets which are around 2800mmx2010mmx18mm is between £100-£190, cutting is free but edge banding is additional which can get costly. Can even have different edge finishes such as bevelled. You can buy or use existing wardrobe carcasses and just attach the doors. Work out the cost and compare it to ikea etc and decide.
For e.g, I was quoted around £2-3k to build below by carpenter (in height of lockdown when they were probs in demand) but did it myself including the desk (not legs) for £800ish (£350 of that was for kitchen carcasses) with Egger wood. The carpenter quotes would include using good quality wood internally etc but cheap Wickes kitchen carcasses do the same job for 1/4 of price.
Other option is go onto kitchen sites like Definitive kitchens and use kitchen doors in ready made sizes and edge banded.There all the same materials etc, just when you start using custom wardrobe makers it adds couple extra £k! But I see their value too, but when you want VFM it wasn’t an option for me. I did look at online wardrobe makers when i did my wardrobes but wern’t alot cheaper than local carpenter.
Looks great. The cost for sheets which are around 2800mmx2010mmx18mm is between £100-£190, cutting is free but edge banding is additional which can get costly. Can even have different edge finishes such as bevelled. You can buy or use existing wardrobe carcasses and just attach the doors. Work out the cost and compare it to ikea etc and decide.
For e.g, I was quoted around £2-3k to build below by carpenter (in height of lockdown when they were probs in demand) but did it myself including the desk (not legs) for £800ish (£350 of that was for kitchen carcasses) with Egger wood. The carpenter quotes would include using good quality wood internally etc but cheap Wickes kitchen carcasses do the same job for 1/4 of price.
Other option is go onto kitchen sites like Definitive kitchens and use kitchen doors in ready made sizes and edge banded.There all the same materials etc, just when you start using custom wardrobe makers it adds couple extra £k! But I see their value too, but when you want VFM it wasn’t an option for me. I did look at online wardrobe makers when i did my wardrobes but wern’t alot cheaper than local carpenter.
Desk looks great!
I presume that Egger Wood, is a type of veneered wood that you used? One thing is that Kitchen cabinet sizes, I think, are generally narrower than wardrobes. So for full height, I might need to find another source for the carcass.
Benrad said:
Good demonstration of IKEA being made to look custom. Thanks. LaurasOtherHalf said:
Are you any good at DIY? Carcasses are simple enough to make and paint, or you can buy pre-faced MDF to use.
Tall units don't half mount up in cost though.
I'm pretty average at DIY, but will likely give it a go. However, there's going to be a fair amount of wardrobes. Probably 10metres in length (around a room) with approx 8-9ft ceilings. Tall units don't half mount up in cost though.
CubanPete said:
Are you filling a recess, or just on a flat wall?
Mainly flat walls. But, one wall has a fire place. I want to create a flat run. So, the carcass will need to be half depth where the chimney breast is. 
rossyl said:
That’s us, all made to measure and we do remote design.
We don’t offer shaker doors or sliding & mirrors but you can order open wardrobes if you want someone to do your more fancy doors
stabbed rat said:
That’s us, all made to measure and we do remote design.
We don’t offer shaker doors or sliding & mirrors but you can order open wardrobes if you want someone to do your more fancy doors
My biggest issue is that the walls aren't straight. The room isn't perfectly square, it's victorian. But, I obviously want a straight finish on the wardrobes.
With measurements do you make to fit uneven rooms?
Also, roughly, how do you compare to stuff like IKEA. I am presuming that you are more expensive, but are we talking double the price?
Thank you
In my 20s for my first flat I picked up second Ikea units for peanuts, junked the doors and cut the carcasses to fit the recess perfectly. I then had hardwood doors made and fitted them myself. The doors were the only thing that cost any money and were the only part I needed to look as high end as they were.
If I were doing a fitted set up again then I would do it the same way. Ikea carcasses and then use a local high end joiner to fabricate perfect doors.
If I were doing a fitted set up again then I would do it the same way. Ikea carcasses and then use a local high end joiner to fabricate perfect doors.
rossyl said:
stabbed rat said:
That’s us, all made to measure and we do remote design.
We don’t offer shaker doors or sliding & mirrors but you can order open wardrobes if you want someone to do your more fancy doors
My biggest issue is that the walls aren't straight. The room isn't perfectly square, it's victorian. But, I obviously want a straight finish on the wardrobes.
With measurements do you make to fit uneven rooms?
Also, roughly, how do you compare to stuff like IKEA. I am presuming that you are more expensive, but are we talking double the price?
Thank you
We usually allow for 50mm each side and 100mm top and bottom in our designs but if you specify that your walls are quite wonky then we cal allow for more.
We recently did a bedroom for someone with a 16th century house and his wall were all over the place. He asked us to massively oversize panels and scribes and he had no issue with fitting.
Pricing wise, we are usually less than half the big name high street fitted bedroom companies. In relation to IKEA, it’s hard to compare as they offer so little range but we would be around 20-30% more at a guess. The difference being that we are a fully fitted product and with IKEA you would have to buy extra material and pay someone extra to make it look fitted.
By all means send us an enquiry on the site and one of our designers will gladly give you a design and price for comparison.
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