Fitted wardrobes

zoemk12

Hi
looking for some opinions on fitted wardrobes for our master bedroom. 

Old house so big room with high ceilings. 320 W x 258 H. 

I’d like bespoke so they fit properly and look lovely, especially as walls/floor are probably slightly off, but parter thinks they will be too high and cost too much. 

Should we go with IKEA or somewhere like Sharps? Or is there anywhere in between? I’m struggling to find anything local. 

Thanks 

Doozergirl

Sharps aren't bespoke.  They pretend they are.   I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because they're no better than Ikea at multiples of the cost. 

I bought Ikea wardrobes and had them fitted in and hacked, so they are completely built in.  

At work, we've had our carpenters build from scratch, I've used genuinely bespoke companies that cost decent five figure sums and I just came back to "Ikea hacking" for us.  We made bespoke doors in our daughter's room.  

You need a good carpenter and a bit of imagination (or Pinterest)  is all.  

travis-powers

Doozergirl said:

Sharps aren't bespoke.  They pretend they are.   I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because they're no better than Ikea at multiples of the cost. 

I bought Ikea wardrobes and had them fitted in and hacked, so they are completely built in.  

At work, we've had our carpenters build from scratch, I've used genuinely bespoke companies that cost decent five figure sums and I just came back to "Ikea hacking" for us.  We made bespoke doors in our daughter's room.  

You need a good carpenter and a bit of imagination (or Pinterest)  is all.  

Just to add a lot of carpenters use eager products now who will cut to size all panels with the lamination of your choice edged and hinges and shelves pre drilled so all he has to do is minor adjustments and fit.
 If you are happy with painted mdf then you can have whatever you want!

PollyWollyDoodle

I had IKEA wardrobes in my last house, carpenter fitted them and added mouldings so they went floor to ceiling.  I have a real dislike of empty spaces that gather dust! They are good quality wardrobes and you can get lots of different fittings, I would go with that and paying a decent carpenter/fitter to make them work

FaceHead

I had these built into the chimney alcoves by a local carpenter (and then I painted them) for £1700 (SW London). Ceiling height similar to yours. I think it's about a 130cm alcove plus a 85cm alcove - I couldn't find something suitable to hack into the space so chose to have a carpenter make it from scratch. 

Seemed a bit steep at the time. As I started to understand the time and effort involved, it turned out to be (I think) a fair price. And they are good, so I'd do it again. 

Agree that the options for most of us are:
Hacking something shop bought (ikea or similar)
Getting someone local to hack something shop bought
Get someone local to make it from scratch

ispookie666

Have had two wardrobes from sliderobes. Expensive but has been fantastic, I'd always go back to them if I need anymore 

Rosa_Damascena

travis-powers said:

Doozergirl said:

Sharps aren't bespoke.  They pretend they are.   I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because they're no better than Ikea at multiples of the cost. 

I bought Ikea wardrobes and had them fitted in and hacked, so they are completely built in.  

At work, we've had our carpenters build from scratch, I've used genuinely bespoke companies that cost decent five figure sums and I just came back to "Ikea hacking" for us.  We made bespoke doors in our daughter's room.  

You need a good carpenter and a bit of imagination (or Pinterest)  is all.  

Just to add a lot of carpenters use eager products now who will cut to size all panels with the lamination of your choice edged and hinges and shelves pre drilled so all he has to do is minor adjustments and fit.
 If you are happy with painted mdf then you can have whatever you want!

I am told that mdf now costs as much as timber! ?£40/m.

Doozergirl

Rosa_Damascena said:

travis-powers said:

Doozergirl said:

Sharps aren't bespoke.  They pretend they are.   I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because they're no better than Ikea at multiples of the cost. 

I bought Ikea wardrobes and had them fitted in and hacked, so they are completely built in.  

At work, we've had our carpenters build from scratch, I've used genuinely bespoke companies that cost decent five figure sums and I just came back to "Ikea hacking" for us.  We made bespoke doors in our daughter's room.  

You need a good carpenter and a bit of imagination (or Pinterest)  is all.  

Just to add a lot of carpenters use eager products now who will cut to size all panels with the lamination of your choice edged and hinges and shelves pre drilled so all he has to do is minor adjustments and fit.
 If you are happy with painted mdf then you can have whatever you want!

I am told that mdf now costs as much as timber! ?£40/m.

Slightly weird comparison,  but any kind of wood costs as much as rocket fuel, definitely.  

d0nkeyk0ng

A couple of years ago, we decided to get fitted wardrobes as part of a bedroom renovation. We had Sharps give a quote. I think they wanted around £9000. Hammonds wanted £5000 for the same thing. We went with a local company that did it for £3500. 

zoemk12

Thanks for all your input. Going to either go with IKEA and try to hack using a carpenter or get a chippy to build from scratch. 

Did find a company that make doors for IKEA wardrobes, better quality etc, but still MDF. But just had a quote and that £2750 plus £450 for frame etc from IKEA so hardly money saving 😞… 

silvercar

15 years ago we bought from Sharps when they had a finance offer of a real discount if you took their 3 yr finance deal. We took the finance deal and then paid it off after 1 month to avoid the massive interest rates. When we came to re order for another room a couple of years later, the sharps rep was astounded at the price we had paid.