A wardrobe should be about 58 to 60cm deep so a hanger sits square inside without the shoulders of your clothes touching the doors, and tall enough to give a clear hanging drop of around 100cm for shirts and jackets or 150cm for coats and long dresses. Width is set by the person, not the room: allow roughly 60 to 90cm of hanging rail per adult as a working minimum, and double that for a couple sharing.
Depth is the figure most people get wrong. A wardrobe under about 55cm deep forces hangers to sit at an angle, which creases shoulders and makes doors catch. If your room cannot spare that depth, a front to back rail arrangement is the answer rather than simply buying something shallower.
Standard clothes hangers measure around 42 to 45cm across. Add the clothing itself, which is bulkier than the hanger, and you need roughly 55cm of internal depth for garments to hang face on without compression. Manufacturers settle on 58 to 60cm external depth for exactly this reason, and it has become the de facto UK standard.
Below that figure, one of two things happens. Either the hangers turn slightly and every shirt develops a shoulder crease, or the doors press against the clothing and never close cleanly. Neither improves with time. Shallow wardrobes around 35 to 40cm deep do exist and can work well, but only when they are designed with a rail running front to back rather than side to side, so garments hang in a row facing sideways.
Remember to account for the door in your room measurement. A wardrobe with a 58cm carcass plus a door and handle can project 62cm or more from the wall, and that is the figure that matters when you are checking clearance to the bed.
Height should be driven by what you hang. A single hanging section for shirts, blouses, jackets and folded trousers needs about 100 to 110cm of clear drop. Long hanging for coats, dresses and full length garments needs 150 to 160cm. If you want both, a wardrobe with a divided interior gives you a long hanging side and a double hung side with two shorter rails stacked.
Add the shelf above the rail, typically 30 to 40cm, plus the carcass thickness, and you arrive at the common wardrobe heights of roughly 180 to 220cm. Taller units make better use of vertical space and give a top shelf for luggage or seasonal bedding, but they need checking against your ceiling.
That check has two parts. The wardrobe must fit standing, and it must be possible to tip it upright, which requires diagonal clearance greater than its height. In a room with a 240cm ceiling, a 220cm wardrobe assembled flat on the floor may not have room to stand up. Older UK properties with high ceilings rarely have a problem, while modern builds with 230 to 240cm ceilings often do.
Width is where personal need meets the wall. Think in terms of linear rail length rather than door count. A reasonable working figure is 60 to 90cm of rail for one adult with a moderate amount of hanging clothing, 100cm or more for someone with a lot, and 150 to 200cm for two people sharing who want separate sections.
Translate that into wardrobe sizes and the pattern becomes clear. A single door unit around 50cm wide suits a child’s room, a guest room or a second wardrobe for overflow, and our modern 1 door wardrobe UK options fit these narrower gaps. A two door wardrobe around 100 to 120cm is the standard choice for most UK bedrooms and one adult, covered by our modern 2 doors wardrobe UK sale range. A three door unit at roughly 150cm gives a couple a workable split, while four doors and above at 180cm or more suits larger rooms and shared storage.
Wider is not automatically better. A wardrobe wider than the wall it stands on looks wrong, and one that blocks a window or a radiator creates problems beyond appearance. Measure the wall, subtract any skirting return and allow a small tolerance so the unit slides in without scraping the plaster.
The wardrobe itself is only part of the calculation. Hinged doors need clear floor in front to open fully, and you need somewhere to stand while they are open. Allow 50 to 60cm as a minimum, and closer to 75cm if you want to stand comfortably and see the interior.
Where that space is not available, and in many compact UK bedrooms it genuinely is not, sliding doors remove the problem entirely because nothing projects into the room. Our modern sliding wardrobes UK sale range is designed for exactly that situation, and it is often the difference between a wardrobe working in a small room and being a daily irritation.
Also think about the gap behind. Pushing a wardrobe flush against a cold external wall traps air and encourages condensation on the back panel. A few centimetres of clearance helps considerably. Leave room to the side of the doors too, since a wardrobe fitted tight into a corner may have a door that cannot open past 90 degrees.
Proportion matters as much as measurement. A wardrobe that fills an entire wall in a small bedroom dominates the space and makes it feel smaller, however useful the storage. Leaving a little breathing room at one end, or choosing a slightly narrower unit with a chest of drawers beside it, usually reads better and gives more flexible storage.
Consider the walking routes. You should be able to move around the bed and open the wardrobe without turning sideways. In a room where the bed sits close to one wall, place the wardrobe on the wall with the most approach space, even if it is not the widest wall.
Ceiling height affects perception too. In a room with a low ceiling, a full height wardrobe can feel oppressive, while in a high ceilinged Victorian bedroom a short wardrobe leaves an awkward band of empty wall above it. Matching wardrobe height roughly to other tall furniture in the room creates a calmer line, which is why buying within a single range often looks more settled.
The internal layout determines how much a given size actually holds. A wardrobe that is all hanging rail wastes space if half your clothes are folded, and one crammed with fixed shelves wastes space if you mostly hang.
Aim for a mix. Hanging for shirts, dresses, jackets and trousers. Shelves for jumpers and knitwear, which lose shape when hung. Drawers or boxes for underwear, socks and accessories. Shoes are better outside the wardrobe, since they bring in dirt and moisture, and a modern shoe storage cabinets UK sale unit in the hallway solves that properly.
Standard internal dimensions help you plan. Folded jumpers need about 30 to 35cm of shelf depth and 30cm of height per stack. Shoes need 20 to 25cm of height per pair on a rack. A double hung section needs two 100cm drops, so it only works in a genuinely tall wardrobe.
If your calculations show you need more capacity than the wall allows, the honest answer is usually to split storage rather than force a larger wardrobe. Adding a modern wooden chest of drawers UK sale piece takes all your folded clothing out of the wardrobe and frees the rail entirely, which almost always works better than an oversized unit with a crowded interior.
Measure your hanging clothes first. Push them together on their current rail, measure the length in centimetres, and add 20 percent for air and for growth. That is your minimum rail length. Note the longest garment you own, because that sets your required hanging drop.
Then measure the room: wall width, ceiling height, clearance in front for door swing, and the delivery route through doorways, stairs and landings. That last one rules out more wardrobes than people expect.
Match the two sets of figures and the right size becomes obvious rather than a guess. Our modern wardrobes UK sale range lists full dimensions for every unit so you can check against your own numbers before ordering, and you can shop modern furniture UK at Furniture in Fashion. Free delivery is available to most UK mainland postcodes and returns are available up to 30 days.
Around 58 to 60cm externally, which gives roughly 55cm inside so hangers sit square. Anything much shallower forces clothes to hang at an angle unless the rail runs front to back.
Between 60 and 90cm of rail is a reasonable minimum for one adult, rising to 100cm or more for a larger wardrobe of clothing. A couple sharing usually needs 150 to 200cm with separate sections.
Most fall between 180 and 220cm. You need about 100cm of clear drop for shirts and jackets or 150cm for coats and long dresses, plus a shelf above. Always check you have enough ceiling clearance to tip the unit upright.
Allow 50 to 60cm for a hinged door to open and closer to 75cm to stand comfortably in front of it. Sliding doors need no clearance at all, which is why they suit compact rooms.
Two smaller units give more flexibility in awkward rooms and are easier to deliver and assemble. One large wardrobe usually offers better internal layout and a cleaner look. Delivery access often decides it.
Making your own wardrobe can take three quite different forms, and choosing the right one…
Sliding door wardrobe prices in the UK fall into three brackets: ready made freestanding units…
Wardrobe smells come from three things acting together: moisture, still air and worn clothing in…
Bar stools can often be shortened, but only some types, and telling them apart is…
Cut down your wardrobe by emptying it completely, sorting by category rather than by shelf,…
Building a built in wardrobe follows a fixed order, and the two stages that decide…
This website uses cookies.