Fitted wardrobes or freestanding: what you actually gain

Not everyone needs fitted. It is worth being honest about which situation you are in.

What fitted actually gains you

Height and edges. A freestanding wardrobe stops at about two metres and leaves a dust shelf on top, and it cannot sit tight to a bowed wall, so you lose a strip down each side. Fitted goes to the ceiling and scribes to the wall, so on a three metre run you typically gain a whole extra hanging section and the entire top metre.

The awkward-space case

This is the strongest argument. A chimney breast, a sloping ceiling, a stair bulkhead crossing the wall, a boiler cupboard in the corner. Nothing off a shelf fits any of those, so the choice is fitted or wasted space.

When freestanding is the right answer

If you rent, if you expect to move within a couple of years, or if the room is a regular box with no obstacles and you are furnishing on a budget. There is no point paying for scribing in a room that has nothing to scribe to.

The bit nobody mentions

Fitted wardrobes stay with the house. They are a fixture, so they do not come with you, and they do form part of what a buyer sees. That cuts both ways depending on how long you are staying.