Fitted wardrobes are one of the most asked-about jobs I do - and one of the most mispriced in the industry. National franchises quote £9,000 to £15,000 for three-door builds that I install for half that. On the flip side, a £1,500 flat-pack IKEA PAX retrofit isn't really fitted joinery at all.
This guide explains what's actually in the price, where money genuinely has to be spent, and where it doesn't. All figures are 2026, include labour and fitting, with no VAT charged, and assume a job in the PR8, PR9 or L37 area - I do the same work across Southport, Birkdale, Formby and Ainsdale.
The short answer: what fitted wardrobes really cost in 2026
For a typical double or triple wardrobe in a Southport bedroom (floor-to-ceiling, hinged doors, one hanging rail, two drawers, standard white spray finish) you should expect to pay between £3,200 and £5,500 all-in. Below that you're buying a modified flat-pack. Above it, you're paying for hardwood, sliding systems or complex island shapes.
| Two-door alcove wardrobe (MDF, sprayed white) Up to 2m wide, 1 rail + 1 shelf | £1,800 - £2,600 |
| Three-door freestanding run (MDF, sprayed) 2.4-3m wide, 2 rails, 2 drawers | £3,200 - £4,800 |
| Corner wardrobe with return Two walls, internal lighting | £4,600 - £6,400 |
| Full wall of wardrobes (3-4m) with drawers Soft-close, internal drawers, LED strip | £5,500 - £8,500 |
| Walk-in dressing room fit-out Island, full carcass, mirror panels | £8,500 - £14,000 |
| Hardwood-fronted wardrobes (oak, ash, walnut) Hardwood veneered doors + oiled finish | +35-55% vs MDF |
Where the money actually goes
A lot of wardrobe pricing is opaque - which is why people end up comparing a £4,000 quote from me against a £11,000 quote from a franchise and feeling confused. Broadly, every honest fitted wardrobe quote breaks down roughly like this:
- Materials - carcass MDF, door MDF, spray primer + finish, drawer runners, hinges, handles, rails, LED strip. Typically 25-35% of the total.
- Labour - workshop construction, site fitting, scribing to walls and ceilings. This is the biggest chunk: 45-55% on a well-made build.
- Finish - spray painting a set of doors properly costs around £180-£260 per door if outsourced, or a day and a half of careful shop time if done in-house. People underestimate this.
- Hardware uplifts - Blum soft-close drawer runners add £30-£45 per drawer. Push-to-open hinges £8-£14 each. Touch-sensor LED strips £90-£140 per bay.
- Overhead and profit - insurance, van, fuel, the accountant, tools. On a one-man band it sits around 10-15%.
Anyone quoting under £2,500 for a full three-door build with drawers is cutting corners somewhere - almost always on the carcass material, the paint finish, or the fitting time. A £4,500 quote from a local joiner and a £12,000 quote from a franchise are generally buying you exactly the same thing.
The four factors that move the price most
1. Door material and finish
MDF sprayed in a factory-grade two-pack lacquer looks the same as painted hardwood and costs around half. Veneered MDF with real wood facing is a middle ground - roughly 20% uplift over painted MDF, with the look of solid timber. Solid hardwood doors are the biggest jump and usually only worth it on shaker-style frame-and-panel designs.
2. Sliding doors vs hinged
Sliding doors sound cheaper - no hinges, no hardware - but they cost more. The track, rollers and soft-close mechanism add £350-£700, and the doors themselves have to be heavier and stiffer. Sliders suit narrow rooms where a hinged door can't open fully. Hinged doors give you cleaner internal access and cost less.
3. Internal complexity
Every internal drawer is roughly £120-£180 installed. Every pull-out trouser rack, shoe shelf, jewellery drawer or mesh basket adds more. A client-facing 'built-in everything' fit-out can easily double the internal cost - but for 90% of people, two drawers and a shelved section is genuinely all they need.
4. The walls you're fitting into
Victorian houses in Birkdale and Churchtown often have walls that are 40mm out of plumb over a 2.4m run. Scribing to a crooked wall takes time. A modern new-build in Crosby takes an hour; a terraced Victorian in PR8 can take a full extra day of fitting. Good joiners price this in; cheaper quotes often don't.
What I'd avoid paying for
- Branded 'systems' - you're paying for the logo on the hinge. Blum and Hafele hardware is identical whether it's fitted in a £4k wardrobe or a £14k one.
- Trackless sliding doors - clever, but the mechanisms fail within five years and the repair parts are proprietary.
- Pre-designed 'bedroom packages' from large retailers - they're basically flat-pack built on site, priced as if they were bespoke.
- Finance offers at 19.9% APR. Most local joiners will stage-payment a big build without charging interest.
How I quote - and how long it takes to turn around
Every wardrobe quote starts with a site visit. I measure the wall, check the floor level, look at the ceiling for sloping plasterwork, and ask about your hanging vs shelving split. Then I email you a fixed-price quote within 48 hours with a breakdown like the one above - no pressure, no 'offer expires tonight'.
For most Southport jobs, the build itself is three to five days in the workshop followed by one to two days of fitting on site. Spray finishes add a day. Real-world lead time from accepting the quote to installation is usually four to six weeks, less in winter.
Related reading
If you're comparing fitted wardrobes against alcove units, my guide to alcove cupboards covers when a pair of simpler alcove builds works better than a full wall of wardrobes. If you're planning a whole-bedroom overhaul I'd also suggest looking at my staircase and skirting guides - you'll usually want those refreshed at the same time for a consistent finish.
Free written quote, usually within 48 hours of a site visit.