Fitted wardrobes or freestanding: what you actually gain

Fitted wardrobes earn their money when the room is awkward: a chimney breast, a sloping ceiling, a stair bulkhead, or walls out of square. In a plain rectangular bedroom freestanding is usually the better buy, because you would be paying joinery rates to solve a problem a standard 600mm carcass already solves. Most Brackla and Llanharan new-build box rooms fall into the first group, not the second.

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

What do you actually gain from fitted?

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.

What about an awkward space?

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 is freestanding 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.

What does nobody mention?

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.