Building a wardrobe from scratch means cutting a carcass from sheet material, joining the panels into a square box, adding a back for rigidity, fitting a rail and shelves, then hanging doors and adjusting them. The essential sequence is: measure the space, produce a cutting list, cut the panels accurately, assemble the carcass on a flat surface, square it before fixing the back, fit out the interior, and hang the doors last.<\/p>\n
It is a genuinely achievable project for someone comfortable with a drill and a saw, and the results can be excellent. The two things that separate a good outcome from a frustrating one are accurate cutting and getting the box square before anything else is fixed.<\/p>\n
Most homemade wardrobes are built from eighteen millimetre sheet material. Melamine faced chipboard is the cheapest and comes pre finished, so no painting is needed, though the edges need iron on tape and it does not hold screws especially well.<\/p>\n
MDF is the popular choice for anything being painted. It cuts cleanly, has no grain to fight and takes paint beautifully. The downsides are weight, dust when cutting, and its dislike of moisture, so it is not for a damp room without a good finish.<\/p>\n
Birch plywood costs more but is strong, holds screws well and looks attractive with the layered edge exposed and simply lacquered. It is the choice if you want the build itself to be part of the look.<\/p>\n
Buy sheets at eighteen millimetres for structural panels and use six or nine millimetre for the back. Twelve millimetres is adequate for interior shelves under light loads, but eighteen is better for anything carrying weight.<\/p>\n
Measure the space in three places for both width and height, as noted for any built in project, and work to the tightest figures. Then decide your external dimensions.<\/p>\n
For a standard hanging wardrobe, a total depth of around sixty centimetres gives clothes room on hangers without pressing against the door. Height depends on your ceiling, but leaving a couple of centimetres of clearance makes the unit far easier to stand up in the room. Width is your choice, but keep individual door widths under about sixty centimetres for hinged doors, since anything wider becomes heavy and puts strain on hinges.<\/p>\n
Now write the cutting list. Remember that panel thicknesses eat into internal dimensions: if the external width is one hundred centimetres and the sides are eighteen millimetres, the top and bottom panels between them are ninety six point four centimetres. Getting this arithmetic right on paper prevents the most common building error.<\/p>\n
Most timber merchants and DIY sheds will cut sheets to size on a panel saw for a small charge, and their accuracy will beat a hand held circular saw. Given that squareness depends on accurate cuts, having the panels cut for you is money well spent.<\/p>\n
Work on a flat floor with the panels supported. Assemble the box on its back, which is easier than trying to build it standing up.<\/p>\n
There are three common joining methods. Screws through the outer face into the panel edge are simplest but the fixings show, though they can be countersunk and filled if the unit is being painted. Cam and dowel fittings give a clean face and are what flat pack furniture uses, but they need accurate drilling. Pocket hole screws, driven at an angle from the inside, hide the fixings and are strong, and a pocket hole jig is inexpensive.<\/p>\n
Whichever you choose, drill pilot holes into sheet material. Driving a screw into the edge of MDF or chipboard without a pilot hole will split it or cause it to swell.<\/p>\n
Assemble sides to base and top first. Then, before doing anything else, check the diagonals. Measure corner to corner both ways and adjust until the two figures match. A square carcass is what makes the doors sit right, and once the back is on, the box is locked into whatever shape it was in.<\/p>\n
The back does the structural work of holding the box square, so it matters more than its thin material suggests. Cut it to the exact external dimensions of the carcass, lay it on, align one corner and one edge, then pin or screw along that edge. Work around the panel, pulling the carcass into line with the back as you go.<\/p>\n
Use plenty of fixings, every fifteen centimetres or so, and add glue if the unit is permanent. For a tall wardrobe, a mid height rail across the back adds useful stiffness and gives the back panel something to fix into.<\/p>\n
If the room has a damp risk, consider leaving the back off entirely on a unit that will stand against a wall, or drilling ventilation holes, so air can move behind the clothes.<\/p>\n
Fit out the interior before hanging the doors, while access is easy. A hanging rail on brackets at around one hundred and eighty centimetres from the floor takes long items; a double hang at roughly one hundred and two hundred centimetres suits shirts and folded trousers and doubles your capacity.<\/p>\n
Support any rail over a metre long with a centre bracket, and use proper rail sockets rather than improvised fixings. A loaded rail carries real weight.<\/p>\n
Add a shelf above the rail for bags and boxes, and a bank of shelves at one end for folded items if you want them in the wardrobe. If you would rather keep folded clothes elsewhere and use the full width for hanging, a separate modern chest of drawers UK sale<\/a> option is simpler than building drawer boxes, which are the fiddliest part of any wardrobe build.<\/p>\n Concealed cup hinges are the sensible choice, since they adjust in three directions after fitting, which forgives small inaccuracies. You will need a thirty five millimetre forstner bit to drill the cup recesses, and a jig helps get them consistent.<\/p>\n Use two hinges on doors up to about one hundred and twenty centimetres tall, three above that, and four on a full height door. Set the hinge positions symmetrically on each door so the pattern looks intentional.<\/p>\n Mount the hinge plates in the carcass, hang the doors, then adjust. Work on one door at a time to get an even gap all round, then set the second door against the first. Aim for a consistent gap of two to three millimetres between doors and around the edges.<\/p>\n Sliding doors are an alternative worth considering if the room is tight, though they need a track system and it is usually easier to buy a purpose made unit. Our modern sliding wardrobes UK sale<\/a> range shows how those systems are put together if you want a reference.<\/p>\n Fill screw holes and any small gaps, then sand the whole unit, working through grits. On MDF, seal the cut edges with a diluted coat of primer or a purpose made edge sealer before painting, or the exposed fibres will drink paint and look fuzzy.<\/p>\n Prime, then apply two topcoats of a hard wearing eggshell or satin, sanding lightly between coats. A small foam roller on flat panels and a brush on edges gives an even finish. Allow proper drying time before hanging clothes inside, since paint solvents can transfer to fabric.<\/p>\n Fit handles last, using a simple template or a marked strip of card so the positions are identical on every door.<\/p>\n Anchor the finished wardrobe to the wall with a bracket at the top, fixed into masonry or a stud. A tall carcass loaded with clothes has a high centre of gravity, and this is essential in any home, not only where there are children.<\/p>\n Check the wardrobe is standing plumb before anchoring, packing under the base where the floor dips. A unit leaning slightly back looks fine but the doors will swing shut on their own; leaning forward and they swing open.<\/p>\n Building your own makes sense when the space is unusual, when you want a particular height or depth, or when the process itself appeals. It gives you exactly the dimensions you need and a satisfying result.<\/p>\n For a standard opening, the cost of sheet material, hinges, rails, primer and paint adds up closer to the price of a manufactured unit than most people expect, and a bought wardrobe arrives with matched components and a proper finish. It is worth pricing both before deciding. Our full modern wardrobes UK sale<\/a> collection gives you a benchmark, and you can shop the wider bedroom range at Furniture in Fashion<\/a> with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.<\/p>\n What material is best for building a wardrobe?<\/strong> Eighteen millimetre MDF is the usual choice for painted units because it cuts cleanly and takes paint well. Birch plywood is stronger and looks good left exposed, while melamine faced chipboard is the cheapest and needs no finishing.<\/p>\n How deep should a homemade wardrobe be?<\/strong> Around sixty centimetres externally. That gives clothes on hangers enough room without pressing against the door, once the panel and door thickness are accounted for.<\/p>\n How do I make sure the carcass is square?<\/strong> Measure both diagonals corner to corner and adjust until the figures match, then fix the back panel while it is square. The back is what holds the box in shape.<\/p>\n What hinges should I use?<\/strong> Concealed cup hinges, which adjust in three directions after fitting and forgive small inaccuracies. Use two for short doors, three for tall ones and four for full height doors.<\/p>\n Is building a wardrobe cheaper than buying one?<\/strong> Not always. Sheet material, hinges, rails and paint add up, and a manufactured unit arrives with matched components and a factory finish. Building is most worthwhile when you need non standard dimensions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Building a wardrobe from scratch is within reach for anyone comfortable with a drill and a saw, provided the panels are cut accurately and the carcass is square before the back goes on. This guide takes the project in order: choosing between MDF, birch plywood…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":57787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3334],"tags":[361,5683,3144,5254],"class_list":["post-57786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-guide-for-your-home","tag-bedroom-storage","tag-carpentry","tag-diy-wardrobe","tag-home-projects"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hanging the Doors<\/h3>\n
Finishing<\/h3>\n
Safety and Stability<\/h3>\n
Is It Worth Building?<\/h3>\n
Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n